Evaluating a women's residential treatment centre for gambling harm

Gordon Moody opened a women’s residential treatment facility for harmful gambling in the UK in 2021, responding to a growing need for residential treatment for women experiencing gambling harm. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the programme. 68 women who attended residential treatment between November 2021 - November 2023 were evaluated for their gambling behaviours using the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI), psychological distress levels using Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation (Core-10), anxiety and depression before and after treatment. Women were support by trained therapists and support workers and took part in group and individual therapy sessions including: cognitive-behavioural therapy; motivational interviewing; interpersonal group therapy; and art therapy.PGSI scores significantly dropped from an average of 21.2 (N=64) to 5.9 (N=54) after treatment, and remained at a level of 5.9 three months later (N=31). Core-10 scores dropped from 18.8 (N=68) before treatment to 8.9 (N=57) after treatment, rising to 13.1 three months after treatment (N=29). Before treatment, the majority of women scored above the clinical threshold for anxiety (80.4% of women) and depression (78% of women). These levels fell significantly after treatment (44.4% of women scored in clinical range for anxiety and 47.7% for depression).Participating in this programme reduces the level of gambling severity and levels of anxiety and depression, and improves psychological wellbeing, in women suffering from gambling harm.