Gambling Counselling

Confidential help to understand the pull of gambling and take back control, for you or someone close to you, by secure video.

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Accredited therapists Fully confidential Evening & weekend times

Everything is confidentialWhat you say in a session stays in the session.

Secure video, Ireland-wideFrom wherever you feel comfortable, on any device.

No GP referral neededBook online in a couple of minutes.

Evening and weekend timesSessions that fit around work and family.

Maybe you have started checking your balance before you check the time. Maybe you are reading this because of someone else, and you have already had the conversation that went nowhere.

Either way, you do not have to wait until it gets worse. Support in Ireland is confidential, a good deal of it is free, and much of it now happens by video or phone, so nobody has to watch you walk into a building. You also do not need a formal gambling addiction diagnosis to be allowed to talk to someone.

What is online gambling counselling and how can it help me?

Online gambling counselling is ordinary counselling about gambling, delivered by secure video call, telephone, or in some services by live chat or email. No travel, no waiting room, no car park. You attend from wherever you feel able to speak freely.

A first session is mostly you talking and the counsellor listening. Nobody asks you to hand over your bank statements in the first ten minutes.

What you gamble on, how often, and what changed
What tends to set it off: payday, a row at home, boredom, a bad shift, being alone at night
The honest picture of money, debt and who knows what
Whether anxiety, low mood or drinking sits alongside it
What you actually want, which may be stopping, or may be cutting back and seeing how that goes

The work itself usually blends a few approaches: cognitive behavioural techniques for the thinking that keeps the bets going (the near miss that felt like a sign, the certainty that one more will square it), motivational work for the part of you that is genuinely in two minds, and relapse prevention, which is planning for the day it gets hard rather than hoping it will not.

Does it work? It can help a great deal, and the people who get most from it are usually the ones who keep turning up, including after a slip. No honest counsellor will promise you a guaranteed outcome.

Online counselling	Face-to-face counselling
No travel, easier to fit around work or childcare	Time out of the day, which some people find useful in itself
Nobody sees you arrive, which matters if the gambling is still private	Some find a room away from home easier for hard conversations
Opens up therapists anywhere in Ireland, not just your county	Depends on what exists locally and the waiting list
Needs a private spot and a decent connection	Privacy is handled for you

Plenty of people do both, or start online and move to in person later. Neither is the serious option.

How do I know if I need counselling for my gambling?

There is no threshold you have to cross. If you are asking the question, that is usually reason enough. Common signs people describe:

Chasing losses, betting more to win back what went
Hiding it: deleting apps before someone picks up your phone, lying about where money went
Borrowing, selling things, or dipping into money meant for something else
Trying to stop, managing a while, then starting again
Gambling to get away from stress, loneliness or a bad mood, rather than for the fun of it

Then there is the fallout: rows at home, lost sleep, being physically at work and mentally on a match, shame that makes you gamble again to get away from the shame. Short screening questionnaires from services such as GamblingCare.ie can be a useful starting point. They are a prompt for a conversation, not a diagnosis.

Not sure if this is the right fit?

A first session is just a conversation.

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Where can I access online gambling counselling in Ireland?

Citizens Information keeps a plain-English overview of gambling addiction services and how to reach them, which is a sensible first stop. Beyond that, a few names come up again and again.

Type of support	What it is	Where to look
Support directory	Listings of free and low-cost services around the country	GamblingCare.ie
Free counselling	Gambling-specific counselling, remote and in person, plus self-help material and a podcast	Extern Problem Gambling
Structured programme	A treatment programme for gambling and for affected family members	The Gambling Clinic
Peer support	Fellowship meetings, including online ones you can join from home	Gamblers Anonymous Ireland

Not everything listed as support is counselling. Helplines, live chat and email support are real help, and sometimes exactly what you need at eleven at night, but they are not the same as a scheduled hour with the same counsellor each week. Specialist strands exist too, including women's gambling support, where a room full of men talking about football accumulators has put people off before.

Waiting times vary by service, by how urgent your situation is, and by the time of year. Some free services can see you within days, others take weeks. If you need something soon, contact two or three at once rather than waiting politely on one list.

Is online gambling counselling free in Ireland?

Often, yes. Several charities and publicly supported programmes offer gambling counselling at no cost, which is unusual in Irish mental health care and worth knowing about.

The catches are ordinary ones: eligibility rules, a capped number of sessions, and waiting lists that move at different speeds depending on where you live. If a free service fits, start there.

Private online counselling costs money and gets you choice and speed. Before you book, ask:

What is the fee per session, and is there a reduced rate?
What is the cancellation policy?
Is the therapist accredited with a recognised body such as IACP?
Have they worked with gambling specifically, not just addiction in general?

If cost is the thing stopping you, say so plainly when you ring. A decent service would far rather point you to a free option than lose you.

What can I do alongside online counselling to stop gambling?

Counselling works better when the money is harder to reach. Put distance between the urge and the bet.

Self-exclude from every operator you use, online and in shops, and install gambling-blocking software on your phone and laptop
Ask your bank about a gambling block on your card, if yours offers one
Hand day-to-day money management to someone you trust, for now, and look at debts with proper advice rather than alone at 2am
Know your own high-risk hours and put something in them, even something small and unglamorous
Use the free recovery toolkits, self-help booklets and podcasts that Irish services publish, including material on why gambling gets a grip in the first place

Between sessions, keep a rough note of moods and urges: what happened, what you did, what helped. Not homework. Just something to bring in.

Can my family get online support because of my gambling?

Yes, and they do not need your permission or your readiness. Partners, parents and adult children can get counselling and peer support in their own right, and several Irish services offer it free by video or phone.

Counselling for the person affected, separate from the person gambling
Family support groups, including online meetings
Practical guidance on money: paying off a debt without a wider plan usually buys quiet, not change

If you are the one worrying about somebody, pick a calm moment and stick to what you have seen and how it has affected you, rather than what you suspect. Offer to sit with them while they make the call. Blame closes the conversation down, and you probably know that already.

Frequently asked questions

Can I speak to a gambling counsellor confidentially or anonymously?

Counselling is confidential, within the usual limits where there is a risk to someone's safety. Helplines and live chat can often be used anonymously. Ongoing counselling usually needs some basic details, and your GP is not told unless you ask for that.

Do I need a referral for online gambling counselling?

No. You can contact counselling and support services directly in Ireland; no GP letter is needed. A GP referral only comes into it for certain medical or residential routes.

What technology do I need to attend counselling online?

Less than people expect.

A phone, tablet or laptop with a camera and a reasonable connection
A link by email, usually with nothing to install
Headphones, which help more than anything else for privacy
Somewhere private: a spare room, a parked car, a walk with the phone to your ear

What should I do if gambling is causing an immediate financial or mental health crisis?

If anyone is in immediate danger, ring 112 or 999. If you are in distress or thinking about ending your life, ring Samaritans free on 116 123, day or night. For debt, get free money advice and tell one person you trust today, before you decide anything drastic.

How can I get online gambling support now?

One step today is worth more than a plan for Monday.

For yourself: contact a gambling service directly through the GamblingCare.ie directory or Extern Problem Gambling, and ask what they can offer online.
Worried about someone else: the same services support family and friends in their own right, and you can ring without naming the person.
Right now, before anything else: self-exclude from the app you use most, or tell one person the true figure.

If what is sitting underneath the gambling is anxiety, low mood, shame or a relationship coming apart, that is work we do here at Online Therapy Works, by secure video, with accredited therapists, anywhere in Ireland, including evenings and weekends. For the gambling itself, use a specialist service alongside it. Whenever you feel ready.