[Psychological treatment of gambling]

Pathological gambling is of serious public health concern with major implications for society and the individual. Brief intervention, motivational interviewing and cognitive and behaviour therapy are effective treatments. Treatment could be delivered in individual or group-format. Most studies proposed abstinence-based treatments. It appears, however, that controlled gambling is also a viable treatment goal. Although effective therapies exist, their uptake is limited to a small part of the target population. Screening procedure will be encouraged and followed by a tailored treatment. New interventions aiming to improve treatment accessibility have to be implemented and evaluated.