Licensed psychologist specialising in problem gambling and addiction
Suzanne Graupner Pike, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist in California who has built her career around the treatment of addiction. In 2003 she founded the San Diego Center for Pathological Gambling, an outpatient program in San Diego County for people with gambling problems and for their families.
What help looks like
How the San Diego Center for Pathological Gambling worked with gamblers and the people close to them.
A few honest questions
It started with a short list of yes-or-no questions about gambling. A yes to one or more was the signal to come in for an assessment.
A full assessment
The center measured the level of the gambling problem with the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) and other instruments, alongside a mental health and substance use examination that included screening for depression.
An individual treatment plan
Each client had an individual plan. Treatment was cognitive-behavioral and evidence-based, set within a relapse prevention framework, and dealt with money, self-care and relationships as well as gambling.
Family included from the start
Spouses, partners and family members were part of treatment from the beginning. A psycho-educational group gave them information, tools and boundaries to support a recovering gambler.
Individual, couple or family sessions
Therapy was offered to one person, a couple or a whole family, with the aim of bringing the gambler and the family back to a healthy balance.
Help at a distance
From 2008 the center also held sessions in an online chat room, and later by telephone and Skype video, for people who lived far away or found it hard to talk face to face.
Licence
Licensed psychologist, California PSY 16492
- Registry
- California Board of Psychology
- Licence type
- Psychologist
- Number
- PSY 16492
- Status
- Current
- Issued
- 2 September 1999
- Expires
- 31 May 2027