By David Wallace
C & G Staff Writer

FARMINGTON HILLS — A local resident who specializes in treating problem gambling hopes people learn more about its symptoms during National Problem Gambling Awareness Week March 7-13.

Farmington Hills resident Denise Phillips is a psychotherapist with several offices in Southeast Michigan. She said problem gambling’s warning signs include trying to win back losses or borrowing to finance gambling.

If people feel the need to lie or otherwise conceal the truth about their gambling, that’s another key sign.

With college basketball’s March Madness in swing, sports gambling is at the top of some people’s minds, but problem gambling includes many forms. The Internet is one avenue for gambling that people may overlook.

“Adolescents and college-age students are particularly vulnerable to that type of gambling,” said Phillips.

LaNiece Jones, vice president of programs for Neighborhood Service Organization, which runs the state’s problem-gambling helpline — (800) 270-7117 — said that most people do not have a problem with gambling, but nationwide, 2-4 percent of them do, said Phillips, whose statistics agreed with Jones’. “The statistics are similar in Michigan.”

Jones said that problem gambling mirrors other addictions in many ways, but a crucial difference is that unlike drug or alcohol addiction, problem gambling lacks physical signs.

“You don’t know until sometimes there are a lot of financial, social and emotional problems that have hit the family,” said Jones.

The state helpline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“These are trained professional people who just want to be there as the safety net,” said Jones.

Phillips is one of the people to whom the helpline sometimes refers callers. In practice for 25 years, she became interested in problem gambling because when she started practicing, few counselors specialized in or had experience with it. She talked about how therapy helps problem gamblers.

“It helps them to be able to recognize the consequences of problem gambling,” she said. Therapists also work to give patients the skills to abstain from gambling and to try to restore family relationships, which often suffer from distrust, she said.

In conjunction with National Problem Gambling Awareness Week, Phillips will offer a free question-and-answer session 2-4 p.m. March 13 at her Plymouth office, 409 Plymouth Road, Suite 120. Phillips asks that those who are interested call in advance at (313) 580-0362.

You can reach Staff Writer David Wallace at dwallace@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1053.