Behind the 8-Ball: A Guide for Families of Gamblers

I found this book to be an eye-opener, to the issue of compulsive gambling, and how a family can protect themselves from a family member's gambling compulsion...

I am Clinical Psychologist who treats gambling addiction. This book is an important tool for spouses of gamblers who are starting to come to terms with the problem. As one prior reviewer noted, it does not provide false hope for families who are being destroyed by this difficult addiction. What it does to is help a spouse wake up to the reality that if the gambler does not stop their lives will be ruined as well as that of the gambler. Pathological gambling is a very treatable issue and most people that I have worked with get better, but it certainly is not a perfect line from wanting to get better to never gambling again. This book will help prepare the spouse (it is more for a spouse than a parent or sibling) for the worse-case out come. Strongly recommended.... Eric Geffner, Ph.D. www.stopgamblingnow.com

This book is an excellent resource for an ever-growing problem in our society. It very effectively explores the origins, family responses, treatment, and prognosis for this form of addiction. It will help the spouse and family of an addicted gambler begin to understand and to get a grip on an addiction that has destoyed many families in recent times. It will give an understanding you may not find outside of a support group.

This book is an excellent resource for family members in a variety of situations. Whether they are just starting to learn about gambling as an addiction and need to know what signs and symptoms to watch for or whether they are well beyond that stage and needing to know what to do with an early or later recovery family member this book provides a clear, easy to read resource that is a good adjuct to counselling, group work or even as a stand alone resource.

I thought this book is one of the most thorough and helpful books regarding dealing with gambling addiction. It enlightens on how you can protect yourself from the throes of gambling. It provides information that will help you understand and deal with the illness. Excellent book!