News and information

I am a Trainee Clinical Psychologist currently studying a doctorate at Canterbury Christ Church University. I am passionate about increasing the understanding of the experiences of significant others affected by gambling. For my thesis, I am carrying out a research study that looks at experiences of significant others who are in a relationship with someone who engages in harmful gambling and who are raising children with this person. 

Taking part in the study involves participants being interviewed for 60-90 minutes about their experiences. It can be a really great way for participants to have a therapeutic experience of talking to a trained mental health professional about their experiences and to also feel that they are contributing to research that can help to inform how NHS gambling services are provided to significant others in the future.

There is also a £10 Amazon voucher for taking part.

To take part, you must:

– Be 18 or over

– Be currently in a relationship and co-parenting children between ages 0-17 with someone who engages in harmful gambling, or have been in such a relationship within the last two years

If you’re interested in finding out more, please email Trainee Clinical Psychologist Melissa
Brown at: mb1831@canterbury.ac.uk who can forward you further details about the study.

I wrote She Doesn’t Look Like an Addict from a place I didn’t know how to explain any other way.

For a long time, I didn’t look like someone who was struggling. I looked functional. Capable. I kept going. And because I didn’t fit the picture people expect, I stayed quiet, even when things were unravelling.

This poem came from the shame of that silence. From the stories I told to cover what I was doing. From the fear that if I told the truth, I wouldn’t be met with help, but judgement.

There’s an unfairness in how women experience this. Women aren’t given much room to fall apart. We’re expected to cope, to care, to hold everything together. Admitting you’re not okay can feel like a failure, rather than a human response, and that belief keeps a lot of women quiet long after they need help.

Poetry gave me somewhere to put those truths without trying to make them acceptable. I didn’t write this to shock or confess, I wrote it because it was honest. Because recovery isn’t clean or dramatic. It’s hours of resisting urges, sitting with discomfort, and learning, slowly, to speak to yourself without cruelty.

Writing didn’t fix me. But it helped me stop lying to myself. It helped me name what was happening before I had the words to say it out loud.

This poem is part of my recovery, not a summary of it. And if it helps even one person feel less alone in their own silence, then it’s done its job.

Poem She Doesn’t Look Like an Addict

University of East London (UEL) are conducting a review of published works (academic and some non-academic) that has looked at connections between menstrual changes (associated with menstrual cycles, pregnancy/post-partum and menopause) and gambling in women.

We are seeking two experts by experience (EBE) who can provide input and help us shape the work at 3 different stages of the project. To be eligible you will need to have been in recovery for at least 1-2 years and will have undertaken some counselling during that time which helped you understand your own personal reasons for gambling. Ideally you will also have some awareness of how any menstrual changes may have affected your own gambling in the past; for example through physical or psychological changes you may have experienced.

This role involves attending three meetings with our team to discuss the project. Meeting agendas and related documents will be sent out for attendees to read several days ahead of each meeting (you would not be expected to spend more than 2-3 hours per meeting, on each of the three occasions – inclusive of meeting and reading time). Our EBE will be paid for their time (£150 per meeting) and will be invited to any dissemination events that we hold following completion of the review. Our team consists of four gambling focussed researchers and one highly experienced psychotherapist who specialises in working with women who gamble.

The project has just begun and runs to the end of June 2026. The 3 EBE panels will take place around Feb 2026, April 2026 and early June 2026. The meetings would be held on Teams, unless face to face meetings are a preference for either EBE.

To apply please email the lead researcher on the project Professor John Turner: j.j.d.turner@uel.ac.uk , sending a short statement, no more than 500 words detailing why you would like to work with us on this project. Alternatively, you can apply using the Lived Experience Research Hub, where this post is also being advertised: Experts by Experience advisors: Menstrual changes and gambling review – LERH: Lived Experience Research Hub

Closing date for applications is 31st Jan 2026 (midnight at the latest) and we would like to have our EBEs involved in the project from mid February.

In 2023 thrivin’ together held a number of focus groups with women with lived experience of gambling. Topics included relationships, barriers to support, finances, health and helped us identify themes and actions to help thrivin’ shape support and activities moving forwards. Thanks to a grant from ROSA and support from the Community Fund we will be hosting a webinar on what came out of those groups and what actions we’ve taken. Put the date in your diary and register your details here to allow us to send on a link nearer the time. #womengambletoo #affectedothers #livedexperience #co-production

Durham University are inviting women to participate in their study to create a support toolkit. This short video explains the aims of the project. If you wish to be involved please email DAGamblingharmsproject@gmail.com
Info sheet Gambling and Domestic Abuse – Supporting victims of gambling-related domestic abuse – A focus on women in social housing (durham.ac.uk)

A research project on people who have lived experience of contact with probation services and experiences of gambling/gambling harm are inviting women to take part. This includes:
Affected others impacted by the gambling of someone else
Maybe you gamble sociably, but have been convicted of an unrelated offence
You only started gambling while in prison for an unrelated offence
Ultimately the research aims to understand how gambling may (or may not) impact on the lives of people who have also had contact with probation services.
Please see the information document below for contact details.

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) are conducting a study on the relationship between gambling behaviour, suicidality and treatment support. They are inviting people with experience of both gambling related harms as well as suicidal ideations or attempts to join a Lived Experience Panel to support the research project.

The Lived Experience Panel would meet five times starting in June/July 2024 and will be conducted via Microsoft Teams. Panel members will be remunerated for their time at a rate of £75 for two hours to cover each engagement. An information sheet is below.

If you meet the criteria and are interested in becoming a panel member please email grhst@natcen.ac.uk

The GAMLINK research team at the University of Swansea are looking for a woman with lived experience of gambling and suicidality to join our Steering and Advisory group for a research project. The research project is examining the pathways from gambling to suicidality, and how people access healthcare services, such as GP’s and A&E, along this path. Additionally, we want to understand how we can help doctors and other medical professionals to identify people struggling with gambling. 

The Steering and Advisory Group member would be invited to 2-3 meetings across the next year to discuss the progress of the research and provide feedback as to how this can be more applicable to those who have lived experience. It is very important to us to include people who have experiences of gambling (either yourself or someone close to you) in our research, and your insight is invaluable to the progress of the study. 

If you are interested in taking part – please feel free to contact Pippa Boering (GAMLINK Research Assistant) at p.h.boering@swansea.ac.uk. We look forward to hearing from you!