An exploration of the therapeutic relationship and counselling outcomes in a problem gambling counselling service

This study examined the relationship between a number of counselling process variables thought to influence counselling outcomes in a sample of 150 clients undertaking short-term counselling in the state-wide government funded Gambler's Help problem gambling counselling services in Victoria, Australia. Factors measured included psychosocial well-being of clients prior to and after counselling, client readiness to change, self-reported gambling activity levels before and after counselling, self-assessment of current gambling behaviour, strength of therapeutic alliance, self-reported counselling outcomes achieved in the area of symptoms, life matters, and related problems and a measure of client satisfaction with the service. The therapeutic alliance was found to have the strongest predictive power with respect to the level of problem resolution achieved by clients across all but one of the problem areas. The implications of these findings for clinical social work practice and education of practitioners are noted.