[janey1]

Well said P.

Janey

[janey1]

Wow, I can hear a lot of frustration in your post. Thank you for sharing such raw emotions with us, I know it can’t have been easy KB.

In order to access support from other friends and family members you will need to copy and paste this post into the “Friends and Family” forum so people can read it and respond to it. Friends and family members often only read the F&F forum so they will likely have missed your post here so please don’t feel ignored. You are far from alone here ??

I look forward to getting to know you better.

Take care
Janey

[janey1]

Hi Wizefox

Thank you for such a frank account of your recovery journey since leaving the project. I think many people may view rehab as a kind of “magic wand” but what you have highlighted is that recovery requires hard work long after the programme has finished and it’s never smooth sailing.

It sounds like you are developing your support network and putting barriers in place which is wonderful. Stay close to this site and to the support you receive from the projects because you’re not alone.

Take care
Janey

[janey1]

You’re doing difficult things under almost unbearable circumstances SJ. We admire and support you.

Take care
Janey

[janey1]

<

Hello

Thanks for starting a thread in the Gambling Therapy friends and family forum. This forum will provide you with warmth and understanding from your peers.

Feel free to use the friends and family group, you’ll find the times for these if you click on the “Group times” box on our Home page. Now that you have introduced yourself you’ll find that many of the people you meet here have already read your initial introduction and they’ll welcome you in like an old friend ??

If you’re the friend or family member of someone who is either in, or has been through, the GMA residential programme please take extra care to make sure that nothing you say in groups, or on our forums, inadvertently identifies that person. Even if your loved one isn’t connected with GMA, please don’t identify them either directly or indirectly just in case they decide to use the site themselves.

You’ll find a lot of advice on this site, some of which you’ll follow, some you won’t…but that’s ok because only you fully understand your
situation and what’s best for you and the people you love. So, take the support you need and leave the advice you don’t because it all comes from a caring, nurturing place ??

We look forward to hearing all about you!

Take care

The Gambling Therapy Team

PS: Let me just remind you to take a look at our privacy policy and terms and conditions so you know how it all works!

[janey1]

I see where you’re coming from and we would love to provide additional cover, ideally we’d like to operate a 24/7 service, but unfortunately we live in the real world where these services are expensive to run and as you know we already do what we can with the limited funds available to us. What I would ask of all of you is that you use the services that currently exist, (the forums, groups and helpline ), to a greater degree whilst they are running because at the moment we are in a bit of a chicken and egg predicament. In order to justify expanding the service the things we are already providing need to be used regularly and they need to be well attended.

With regards to the the un-moderated groups, would it be at all useful if we set up a section in this forum for people wishing to meet others in those groups to specify times and days they will be there so they are not “missed” by others?

When we are able to expand our coverage we will let you know ??

Kind Regards
Janey

[janey1]

If you’ve never accessed help before this is a pretty big day for you and we want to say a big WELL DONE for plucking up the courage to come here. We know it can’t have been easy! We’re easy going here, all we ask of you is that you participate, use the service responsibly and share what you’ve learnt with others here. If you’ve accessed help before, in whatever form, but it either hasn’t helped or you felt you needed to add a little more to you support network, we’re really pleased to see you here. Either way, we’re really looking forward to getting to know you. ?
If this is your first visit why not take your time and have a browse around the site? It can be helpful at first to read a little of what people have been talking about on our forums. That way you start getting to know people even before you’ve “met” them in a group and you can get a sense of how things work here. If you’re finding it hard to navigate around the site, you have questions or you’d simply like to talk to a member of the Gambling Therapy team, feel free to drop us a line via e-mail or access our one to one live advice helpline because we’re always happy to help.
I suppose the most important reassurance we can offer you at this stage is that you’re not alone, we’re here with you. As well as the caring and supportive Gambling Therapy Team, there are quite literally THOUSANDS of people here waiting to give you a helping hand on your journey towards recovery. So dive in and get started because you can do this.
One last thing, this is a FREE service but we are a charity and we rely on donations. So if you are able, please donate whatever you can afford by accessing the “Support Us” page.
Take care
The Gambling Therapy Team

PS: Please take a look at the terms and conditions and privacy policy.

[janey1]

Planning is a huge part of recovery but it’s not an easy thing for anyone with a gambling addiction to get used to doing on a regular basis. By planning to get to the bus stop on time and witnessing the consequences when we’re late we learn to make sure we get there on time next time.

Planning our time and respecting boundaries (both ours and others peoples) creates structure and structure creates safety. We want this to be a safe environment for all of our members and not maintaining our time boundaries isn’t a way to create that.

We want you at the bus stop, so please leave the house earlier next time there’s a metaphorical bus to catch ??

Thanks
Janey

[janey1]

Older threads have been difficult to transfer over to the new site from the old site, I’m led to understand this is a pretty common problem when moving data on large, somewhat unwieldy sites like our old one. We have recovered as much as we can really at this stage so all I can suggest is that new threads are started in place of the old ones as they work perfectly well. If anyone has a strong attachment to an old thread and wants us to attempt to recover it they can e-mail in, but I would ask that they think long and hard before making this request as we are a small charity with limited resources and it can be very time consuming to respond to these kinds of queries.
With regards to the 15 minutes restriction on group entry. This is something we have been considering for a while. What had started to happen, before the group attendance reduced due to “lags” etc., was that people didn’t want to be the first person in a group so they would leave it a while before logging in….of course when lots of people do this it means there is no one there until five minutes before the group ends and not a lot of work can take place in five minutes I’m sure you’ll agree ?? We also had a think about how face to face groups work and the impact it can have on groups members when people come in and out at will. It can sometimes be a little disruptive if people in the group, disclosing pretty personal issues, feel like they are in a room with a revolving door and others can come and “poke their head in” then leave. I personally don’t think that’s particularly conducive to a safe and comforting environment. If people know who’s going to be in the room with them for the next forty five minutes they can make an informed decision on whether or not to share.
If we look at what goes in to attending a face to face support group we look at preparing emotionally and physically…we might consider what we’ll talk about, how we’re going to get there and what we’re going to do to make sure we arrive on time. All of these thoughts put us into the right frame of mind for accessing help and by the time we get there we’re ready to really work on recovery. With online support people drop in and out as they please, they take what they need from the support and then leave and that’s the beauty of it?…….. but it does leave the groups open to being used like chat rooms. So, by asking our members to arrive within a fifteen minute window we hopefully create a little bit of structure and encourage people to plan their attendance and arrive with an idea of what they want to share during the session. Although we still don’t ask you to change out of your PJ’s if you don’t want to so you can still reap the rewards of accessing help online ?? ?
The fifteen minute window is something we are trialling for a short time to see if it has an impact on groups, if it transpires that it’s not working in the way we had hoped we will either only apply it to certain groups, change the amount of time in which you can log in, or abolish it altogether. For the moment we ask you to try it out and see what you think and if you still don’t like it in a few weeks time, when there are more people accessing the site, drop us a mail and let us know. If you want to drop in and out of groups with a greater degree of flexibility you can still use the un moderated groups or helpline and you can also use the forums whenever you like.
I hope that makes things a little clearer ?
Janey

[janey1]

Hi Latburn

Thank you for posting on the Gambling Therapy forum. Things have changed in terms of who Gambling Therapy support since you last accessed the site. As you are a GB resident you are entitled to free online support through the Gamcare website at https://www.gamcare.org.uk/ .

You could also consider residential treatment which you can find out more about by following the below link:

Home

As Gambling Therapy are unable to support people from Great Britain can I suggest that you now copy and paste your post into one of the Gamcare forums where you will receive responses from others in a similar situation to you from all over Great Britain.

You can also access online or face to face group support through Gamblers Anonymous:
https://www.gamblersanonymous.org.uk/

We wish you well in your recovery.

Kind Regards

The Gambling Therapy Team

[janey1]

What a lovely uplifting thread P ??

[janey1]

Hi Kathryn, what was the name of your missing post?

Janey

[janey1]

Hello Tootall
Thanks for starting a thread in the Gambling Therapy friends and family forum. This forum will provide you with warmth and understanding from your peers.
Feel free to use the friends and family group, you’ll find the times for these if you click on the “Group times” box on our Home page. Now that you have introduced yourself you’ll find that many of the people you meet here have already read your initial introduction and they’ll welcome you in like an old friend ??
If you’re the friend or family member of someone who is either in, or has been through, the GMA residential programme please take extra care to make sure that nothing you say in groups, or on our forums, inadvertently identifies that person. Even if your loved one isn’t connected with GMA, please don’t identify them either directly or indirectly just in case they decide to use the site themselves.
You’ll find a lot of advice on this site, some of which you’ll follow, some you won’t…but that’s ok because only you fully understand your situation and what’s best for you and the people you love. So, take the support you need and leave the advice you don’t because it all comes from a caring, nurturing place ??
We look forward to hearing all about you!

Take care
The Gambling Therapy Team

PS: Let me just remind you to take a look at our privacy policy and terms and conditions so you know how it all works!

[Author]

Posts