Group therapy can be an effective treatment option for gambling addiction, especially when it combines cognitive behavioral therapy, peer support, accountability, and practical coping skills.
Dr. Samuel C. Peter, a clinical psychologist in addiction treatment from North Carolina, said group psychotherapy is not simply individual therapy with multiple people present.
“Doing group psychotherapy is not just doing individual psychotherapy with a bunch of people at the same time,” Peter said during a March 2026 webinar with the International Center for Responsible Gambling (ICRG).
In group therapy, individuals can gain support and skills through shared experiences with a therapist and peers, reinforcing the idea that recovery from gambling is achievable.
Key Takeaways
- Group therapy can reduce shame and stigma by providing a supportive environment.
- It gives participants a chance to learn from others at different stages of recovery.
- Group settings encourage accountability and social support, both vital in overcoming gambling addiction.
- CBT-based gambling groups teach skills like urge surfing and assertive communication.
- Group therapy may not suit everyone, underscoring individualized treatment.
Group Therapy Helps People See They Are Not Alone
A core advantage of group therapy is showing people that gambling addiction is a shared struggle, helping participants realize recovery is possible.
Peter described a patient who explained why group therapy felt helpful.
“It’s just nice to know that I’m not the only one going through this,” the patient told him.
Peter said the patient continued: “I can see that guy is early on in recovery, that guy just had a relapse, that guy’s been doing this for years, we’re all going through the same thing, and it’s not as hopeless.”
The sense of not being alone is powerful. Gambling problems are often hidden, and many avoid discussing the harmful impact on themselves and others. Group therapy normalizes shared struggles.
Peter said clients may not always have a clinical word for what they are experiencing, but the emotional effect is clear.
“There’s something empowering about recognizing that it’s not just me,” Peter said.
Group Therapy Accountability
Group therapy offers participants accountability.
Peter suggested that 12-step and group support are effective because participants voluntarily allow themselves to be seen and heard by others.
Some in treatment think about the group before deciding to gamble.
“I have a number of people that I see for one-on-one therapy who I also have in group therapy, and you wouldn’t believe how often they say things like, ‘I really thought about gaming, but I didn’t want to come back to the group and tell them what happened,’” Peter said.
Accountability in group therapy helps, as gambling addiction thrives in secrecy. Groups prompt honesty about urges, progress, and setbacks.
Social Support Is a Major Benefit
Group therapy restores social support for individuals—a resource often lost as gambling damages relationships, leading to isolation.
Peter said group support can help fill that gap.
“You want people who are in your corner, who are rooting for you,” he said.
He added: “Social support is a great predictor of progress.”
Support from therapy groups, Gamblers Anonymous, online communities, or other peer settings helps. Gamblers Anonymous is perhaps the most well-known, but not the only choice for help.
Group Therapy Allows People To Learn From Others
Individual therapy is one-on-one. Group therapy lets participants form interactions or relationships that help them improve.
Peter said those relationships can become part of the treatment.
“Each of those different types of relationships, you can think of as being an avenue for intervention,” he said.
People can learn by talking with the therapist, by hearing another person discuss a relapse, by watching someone practice a coping skill, or by seeing another group member challenge their thinking.
Peter gave the example of a group member who relapsed after several weeks without gambling. A therapist might help the person analyze what happened, but the rest of the group benefits too.
“Everybody else is also having the benefit of getting to watch and vicariously take in that treatment and think about how it applies to them,” Peter said.
This can be especially useful for people who are early in recovery. Participants can see that setbacks are common, that others have survived them, and that a relapse does not have to become a return to uncontrolled gambling.
‘Interpersonal Laboratory’
Group therapy provides a real-time setting to practice skills and get feedback.
Peter described group therapy as “an interpersonal laboratory,” where people can try new ways of communicating, thinking, and responding to difficult emotions.
For example, one person might describe a relapse and call themselves a failure. Another group member may respond by saying the person is being too hard on themselves and should view the event as a slip rather than a total failure.
Peter said that such an exchange can be therapeutic.
“They’re practicing cognitive restructuring out loud with each other,” he said.
Gambling addiction is often driven by distorted thinking: chasing losses, believing a win is due, or treating gambling as a solution to stress, boredom, loneliness, or debt.
In a group, participants hear and challenge those thoughts together.
CBT Groups Teach Practical Gambling Recovery Skills
CBT group therapy for problem gambling is designed to teach skills that help people understand and change gambling behavior.
This form of treatment helps people recognize when context drives gambling.
Three skills Dr. Peter highlighted were:
Assertive Communication
People may need to rebuild trust, set boundaries, ask for help, or decline invitations to gamble. Group therapy builds assertive communication skills.
He emphasized that people need to practice it, not just understand it intellectually.
“I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to actually get people practicing,” Peter said. “Assertive communication is the kind of thing that can make sense at the 5,000-foot intellectual level.”
In practice, people often realize they are more passive or aggressive than expected.
Trigger Awareness
CBT groups can also help participants identify what leads to gambling episodes. Peter explained this as understanding the trigger, gambling behavior, and consequence.
He gave examples such as getting a push alert from a gambling app, feeling stressed after work, or gambling at night on a phone.
The goal is to help participants spot behavior patterns.
Peter said one person might say: “I didn’t realize that most of my problematic gambling happens at night when I’m on my phone.”
Such insight can help change routines or block access to gambling.
Urge Surfing
Peter also discussed mindfulness and urge surfing, a skill that teaches participants to notice a craving without acting on it. Group therapy for gambling can feature collaborative discussion on surfing betting urges.
He described a simple exercise where people have a piece of candy and notice the urge to chew or swallow. The point is learning that urges can rise and fall without controlling behavior.
“It is possible to feel an urge to do something and yet not act on it,” Peter said.
For gambling addiction, urges can feel overwhelming. Surfing them teaches pausing, tolerating discomfort, and letting cravings pass.
Group Therapy Can Support Multiple Goals
Some in treatment seek to quit gambling, while others want to regain control or set limits. Peter said that those goals can coexist within a group.
“I have never seen someone’s group experience ruined when someone else has a different goal than they do,” he said.
Peter sees abstinence as a form of harm reduction.
“I try to think about abstinence as being a form of harm reduction; it’s just the most intense form,” he said.
Regardless of goal—quitting or regaining control—participants of group therapy can practice similar skills.
Group Therapy Is Not One-Size-Fits-All
Peter said group CBT for gambling disorder is an evidence-based option.
Research suggests group therapy or support often leads to better outcomes for problem gambling.
“Evidence suggests that people who engage in group support, whether it be informal or formal, fare better than people who don’t,” Peter said.
However, group therapy is not always suitable for everyone.
Peter said clinicians should think about whether group therapy is good for the individual and whether the individual is good for the group.
If someone in individual therapy is aggressive, intoxicated, or confrontational, they may hurt the group experience, he said.
In those cases, a clinician may need to “pump the brakes” before referring the person to a group.
The Bottom Line
Group therapy can help people with gambling addiction by reducing isolation, creating accountability, building support, and teaching practical recovery skills.
It can also give people something gambling often takes away: an honest connection with other human beings.
Peter said many people enjoy being part of groups, and many clinicians enjoy leading them.
“There’s a lot of people who really, really like leading groups; there’s a lot of people who really, really like being a part of groups,” he said.
For someone struggling with gambling, group therapy may offer a place to be honest, learn from others, practice new behaviors, and realize that recovery does not have to be faced alone.
As Peter put it, “I think the real heart of CBT is to try new things and do what works.”
Image credits: Pixabay.com