Houghton House
Gambling addiction rehabilitation
Gambling addiction treatment in Randburg, Johannesburg
Gambling addiction can damage finances, relationships, and mental health before many people recognise it as an addiction that requires treatment.
Houghton House’s inpatient gambling rehab programme simultaneously treats both the gambling addiction and the mental health conditions that drive it.
Understanding gambling addiction
Gambling addiction, also known as compulsive gambling, gambling disorder, or ludomania, is a recognised behavioural addiction.
Gambling disorder is characterised by a persistent and uncontrollable urge to gamble, despite the negative consequences. Over time, gambling stops being a choice and becomes a compulsion that willpower alone cannot overcome.
Clinically, gambling disorder shares many traits with substance use disorders (SUD). Both are medical conditions that affect the brain areas responsible for reward, motivation, and impulse control. The act of gambling releases dopamine in a way that mirrors the effects of drugs or alcohol, reinforcing the cycle of craving and relapse.
Like other addictive disorders, gambling addiction rarely exists in isolation. Many gambling addicts also struggle with co-occurring mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, or impulse-control disorders.
When does gambling become a problem?
It can be difficult to recognise when gambling has crossed the line from recreation to addiction. Using criteria from the Canadian Problem Gambling Index, problem gambling may be indicated when:
- You bet more than you can afford to lose
- You gamble with larger amounts to get the same feeling of excitement
- You return to gambling to win back lost money
- You borrow money or sell possessions to gamble
- You feel anxious, guilty, or depressed about your gambling
- Others have criticised your gambling behaviour
- Gambling has caused financial stress or conflict in your relationships.
If several of these signs feel familiar, it may be time to seek treatment for a gambling problem. Our team can provide a confidential assessment and help you work out your next steps.
The rise of online gambling in South Africa
Online gambling addiction has grown rapidly in South Africa in recent years, fuelled by smartphones and easy access to gambling sites. Online casinos, sports betting sites, and mobile gaming apps operate around the clock, making it increasingly difficult for problem gamblers to set boundaries or take breaks.
This constant accessibility can intensify the addiction cycle, encouraging impulsive betting and financial loss. Many people report gambling at work, late at night, or during stressful moments — times when self-control is at its weakest.
At Houghton House, we recognise that online gambling presents unique challenges. Our treatment approach helps clients understand their digital triggers, rebuild healthy routines, and develop strategies to manage technology use as part of long-term recovery.
Treating the cause, not just the behaviour
Treatment that targets only the gambling behaviour, without addressing what drives it, leaves the conditions most likely to trigger relapse intact.
As one of the only rehabilitation centres in South Africa licensed as both a psychiatric hospital and an addiction treatment centre, Houghton House treats gambling addiction and any co-occurring mental health conditions simultaneously, without referring patients elsewhere.
In practice, this means a psychiatrist assesses every patient on admission and remains involved throughout treatment. Where the clinical team identifies depression, anxiety, trauma, or another qualifying condition alongside the gambling addiction, they treat both within the same programme.
What to expect from rehab for gambling addiction
Our inpatient rehab programme for gambling addiction offers a packed schedule that integrates therapy, education, and personal development. Every component is designed to help patients understand their addiction and practise the skills that reduce relapse risk.
A multidisciplinary team of psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors, and support staff develops each patient’s treatment plan and adjusts it as treatment progresses.
The treatment programme includes:
- Comprehensive intake assessment
- Personalised treatment plan
- Individual gambling counselling sessions
- Group gambling therapy sessions
- Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT)
- 12-step work
- Relapse prevention work
- Mindfulness and stress management
- Family involvement and relationship rebuilding
- Psychiatric care and medication management
A full daily programme, away from triggers
Gambling is accessible in ways most substance addictions aren’t. Online platforms are available at any hour, on any device. A residential rehab programme removes that access entirely, which is a significant part of what makes the first weeks of recovery workable.
Patients are engaged in therapeutic activity from 6 am to 8 pm each day. The schedule is consistent: therapy, group sessions, psychoeducation, and biokinetics run to a fixed timetable. For many people in early recovery from gambling, unoccupied time carries real risk. A full day of therapeutic activity removes much of that pressure.
How the programme addresses gambling thinking
Compulsive gambling involves specific patterns of thinking that sustain the addiction: the belief that a win is overdue, that losses can be recovered, that control is possible despite the evidence.
CBT targets those distorted thinking patterns directly and is central to the Houghton House programme.
The clinical team adapts its treatment approach to each patient based on their individual progress and needs. Individual counselling, group therapy, and 12-step work run concurrently throughout treatment.
Recovery support beyond inpatient care
Recovery from gambling addiction extends well beyond the end of inpatient care. Patients who complete the programme continue through our aftercare programme, which includes daytime and evening sessions, group counselling, and ongoing therapy.
For patients who aren’t ready to return home independently, our halfway house provides stable accommodation and continued support while they rebuild daily routines. Both options keep patients engaged and supported through the transition out of residential care.
Medical aid cover for gambling addiction treatment
Gambling disorder isn’t classified as a Prescribed Minimum Benefit (PMB) in South Africa, which means medical aids aren’t required to fund it directly.
However, most people who develop a gambling addiction also have a co-occurring condition such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or another qualifying psychiatric condition covered under psychiatric PMBs. In such cases, treatment may be funded through your scheme when it’s provided in an accredited psychiatric facility.
Houghton House’s dual-licensing as both a rehabilitation centre and a private psychiatric hospital means our patients can claim for psychiatric services for qualifying conditions even if medical aid won’t cover treatment for gambling addiction directly.
We work closely with all major medical aid schemes, including Discovery Health, GEMS, Bonitas, Fedhealth, and Momentum, among others. Contact our admissions team with your medical aid details, and we’ll confirm what cover is available under your plan and manage pre-authorisation on your behalf.
For those without medical aid
No medical aid? Free help for gambling addiction is available.
National Responsible Gambling Programme
Get free gambling counselling and support through the National Responsible Gambling Programme (NRGP).
The NRGP provides free, confidential counselling and referral services for individuals and families affected by problem gambling across South Africa.
Contact the NRGP
Toll-free gambling helpline:
NRGP WhatsApp helpline:
NRGP website:
Here’s how Houghton House helped people like you
Frequently asked questions about gambling addiction
If your gambling is causing financial stress, damaging relationships, or affecting your emotional wellbeing, it may be time to seek help. Warning signs include chasing losses, lying about gambling, or feeling anxious and guilty after gambling. Our team can provide a confidential assessment to determine the best next step.
The South African Responsible Gambling Foundation (SARGF) also has a self-assessment quiz that can help you determine whether or not you have a gambling problem.
Stopping gambling is about more than just making a decision to quit gambling — it’s about changing the thoughts, emotions, and circumstances that drive the behaviour. For most people, this requires structured support.
Start by acknowledging the problem and talking to a professional or trusted person. Limiting access to money, online betting sites, and gambling venues can help reduce temptation in the short term, but lasting change often depends on addressing the deeper causes of the addiction.
At Houghton House, treatment helps clients identify their triggers, rebuild self-control, and learn new coping strategies for stress, anxiety, and boredom — the emotions that often fuel gambling. Through therapy, peer support, and ongoing aftercare, recovery becomes not just possible, but sustainable.
If you or someone you care about needs immediate help, you can contact Houghton House for a confidential assessment at +27 11 787 9142, call our 24/7 helpline at +27 79 770 7532, or reach the National Responsible Gambling Programme (NRGP) helpline on 0800 006 008 for free support.
We treat gambling addiction through an integrated programme that combines psychological therapy, education, and relapse prevention. Clients take part in individual counselling, group therapy, CBT and DBT sessions, mindfulness training, and family support meetings — all within a structured and supportive inpatient setting.
Yes. Behavioural addictions such as gambling affect the same brain reward systems as substance addictions. Treatment therefore focuses on identifying triggers, changing thought patterns, fostering accountability, and addressing underlying mental health issues like anxiety or depression.
The duration of treatment depends on each client’s needs and progress. Most people begin with 24 days in our primary care facility, followed by six days in our secondary care or step-down facility. This can be extended to 18 days if needed.
After inpatient treatment, clients can continue recovery through our aftercare programme, outpatient treatment, and halfway houses. These resources provide ongoing therapy, relapse prevention, and community support to help maintain long-term stability.
Yes. Family involvement is part of the treatment model. Within the first week of admission, a family session is arranged with the patient’s treating psychologist. Patients may make calls from the facility landline, and family members are welcome to visit on weekends during visiting hours. Houghton House also runs a Thursday evening family support meeting, which family members can attend independently.
For those supporting a loved one with a gambling problem, Gamblers Anonymous South Africa also runs Gam-Anon meetings, a peer support group for the families and partners of people with gambling addiction.
Yes. Houghton House operates as a residential gambling addiction clinic within our broader inpatient rehabilitation facility in Johannesburg. Patients receive treatment alongside our other inpatient programmes, with clinical staff experienced in treating behavioural addiction as well as any co-occurring psychiatric conditions.
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