Online Coping Skills Counseling for Problem Gambling and Trauma
Online Coping Skills Counseling for Problem Gambling and Trauma
This randomized controlled trial examines the efficacy of two behavioral therapies. Seeking Safety, which addresses co-occurring problem gambling (PG) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is being compared to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for PG, which addresses only PG. Both models are delivered via telehealth.
Our key study question is whether an integrated focus on PG and PTSD (Seeking Safety; SS) offers a useful new option for clinical care compared to a purely problem gambling approach (Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for PG; CBT-PG). This question-the impact of integrated versus non-integrated treatment for co-occurring disorders-is one of the key issues in the field currently and has never been studied in relation to PG and PTSD.
Our aims are:
Our hypotheses are: (a) SS will do no worse than CBT-PG on the primary PG outcomes as both treatments are designed to address addiction; i.e., both will show improvement from baseline to end of treatment and maintenance of gains through the followup. (b) SS will show superior results on trauma symptoms as SS is designed to address those, whereas CBT-PG is not.
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria: