Florida Certification Board - Certified Gambling Addiction Counselor (CGAC)

Expand your scope of practice with specialized training in gambling disorders that addresses the unique psychology of process addictions and satisfies the specific domain requirements for the CGAC credential. This curriculum prepares counselors to work with a client population facing distinct challenges that differ significantly from substance use disorders, requiring specialized knowledge of the behavioral, financial, and psychological dimensions that characterize pathological gambling. Participants develop expertise in gambling counseling practice, learning treatment models designed specifically for gambling disorders and the documentation standards that reflect the unique nature of this addiction. The training addresses specific issues in gambling that distinguish it from other addictive processes, including the complex financial devastation that often accompanies gambling disorder, legal problems arising from gambling-related behaviors, and crisis management strategies for clients facing immediate consequences such as debt, relationship breakdown, or suicidal ideation triggered by gambling losses. Through addiction theories components, counselors explore the etiology and progression of gambling addiction, understanding how process addictions develop through neurobiological reward pathways similar to yet distinct from substance dependencies. The curriculum provides foundational knowledge of pathological gambling, including validated assessment instruments used to diagnose and measure gambling severity, prevalence rates across different populations, risk factors that predispose individuals to gambling problems, and the co-occurring disorders frequently seen alongside gambling addiction that require integrated treatment approaches.