GambleAware - Central Sydney, Blue Mountains and Western Sydney, and South Western Sydney

We offer hour-long sessions on a weekly basis, usually over a two-to-three-month period, depending on your needs.

In these sessions we will explore:

• how gambling has impacted your life
• look at your personal beliefs about gambling
• work with you to develop your treatment goals 
• and address any other problems you might be experiencing such as anxiety, depression and relationship issues. 

Our approach is effective for the majority of our clients, even for those people who have been gambling for decades.

Call us now on 1800 482 482 for no cost and we can provide confidential gambling treatment with a specialist clinician. No referral is necessary, but you do need to make an appointment.

We also offer counselling to partners and family members. We aim to help you support your loved one as they face their gambling difficulties, as well as guide you on how to look after yourself through this difficult process.

We also offer couples counselling for couples who are experiencing difficulties in their relationship, where at least one individual in the relationship is being affected by gambling harms. The aim of couples counselling is to improve communication between the partners in the relationship and learn how to resolve conflict more easily. Please note that the couples counselling sessions do not provide gambling treatment to either party.

GambleAware periodically runs DBT groups for those experiencing gambling harm and affected others. If you are interested in a group you may enquire over the phone about the current availability and/or waitlist for a group. Please keep in mind, these groups only run intermittently throughout the year, and we prioritize those experiencing gambling harm on our waitlists.

We have a profound respect for the dignity and privacy of our clients. We are also committed to developing culturally appropriate counselling responses to enhance the health and wellbeing of First-Nation peoples, and people from all cultures and backgrounds.

Our approach

At the Gambling Treatment and Research Clinic (GTRC), we are aware that gambling harm affects First-Nation Peoples and their communities at higher rates than individuals from other cultural backgrounds. That's why we are committed to developing culturally sensitive counselling practices of the highest standards, to enhance the health and wellbeing of First-Nation peoples.  

Cultural awareness training

 To provide culturally sensitive and aware counselling, our clinicians undergo training to ensure that our staff have an understanding and appreciation of the diversity of First-Nation cultures. 

Outreach programs

The Gambling Treatment and Research Clinic is proud to be building partnerships with The Shed, at Emerton, and the Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation at Campbelltown which supports members of the Aboriginal Community in the Mount Druitt region, greater Western Sydney and South Western Sydney regions . The clinic is in the process of building relationships with correctional services to target therapeutic interventions for gambling harm in correctional facilities, transitional centres and community justice settings, where both Aboriginal people and gambling harms are significantly overrepresented.

We run outreach programs year-round to promote gambling treatment as well as other more holistic psychological services, which adopt a Dadirri mindfulness practice developed by Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr from the Northern Territory. Dadirri represents "Inner deep listening and quiet still awareness". We also offer treatment for individuals with gambling harm and related issues, as well as their family members. We are proud to be working with these important organisations.

Call us on 1800 482 482 and we can provide confidential, free, gambling treatment with a specialist clinician. No referral is necessary, but you do need to make an appointment.

Professor Sally Gainsbury - Director GambleAware

Jacqui Swinburne – Operations Manager

Dr Christopher Hunt – Head Clinical Supervisor

Janine Bleakley – Clinical Supervisor South Western Sydney

Carmen Iancu – Clinical Supervisor Blue Mountains and Sydney

James Croft – Clinical Supervisor Central Sydney

Sophia Tran – Clinical Supervisor Central Sydney

Josh Battin – Psychologist

Paul Thompson – Psychologist

Kaitlin Sturges – Social Worker

Adrian Ienna– Psychologist

Melissa Sims – Psychologist

Nadine DeVilla – Financial Counsellor

James Gainsbury – Financial Counsellor

Djimi Barber – Financial Counsellor and Gambling Counsellor

Josie Schofield – Senior Administration and Project Officer

Laura Deehan – Senior Administrative Officer

Jack Hedges – Administrative Assistant

Lauren Forsyth-Smith – Client Liaison Officer

Jacqui Leather – Client Liaison Officer

Alexander Beauman – Client Liaison Officer

Namira Uddin – Client Liaison Officer

Sibyl Lin – Client Liaison Officer