Beyond the Bet: Integrating Clinical Practice and Public Health Approaches to Reduce Gambling Harm
Tracks
Marquis Room - In-Person Only
| Wednesday, May 27, 2026 |
| 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM |
Overview
Tucker Christou, Gambling Counselling
Details
Three Key Learnings
1. Understanding the Diversity of Gambling Pathways: Participants will learn how to apply Blaszczynski and Nower’s Pathways Model to identify different profiles of gamblers and tailor therapeutic interventions to each client’s motivations, vulnerabilities, and recovery needs.
2. Integrating Clinical and Public Health Approaches: Attendees will explore how individual counselling practices such as CBT, MI, and trauma-informed care can align with broader harm-reduction strategies, including public policy, community education, and prevention initiatives.
3. Translating Evidence into Practice: Participants will gain practical tools and frameworks for working with clients experiencing gambling harm, while understanding how to advocate for systemic change through ethical, culturally responsive, and evidence-based service delivery.
1. Understanding the Diversity of Gambling Pathways: Participants will learn how to apply Blaszczynski and Nower’s Pathways Model to identify different profiles of gamblers and tailor therapeutic interventions to each client’s motivations, vulnerabilities, and recovery needs.
2. Integrating Clinical and Public Health Approaches: Attendees will explore how individual counselling practices such as CBT, MI, and trauma-informed care can align with broader harm-reduction strategies, including public policy, community education, and prevention initiatives.
3. Translating Evidence into Practice: Participants will gain practical tools and frameworks for working with clients experiencing gambling harm, while understanding how to advocate for systemic change through ethical, culturally responsive, and evidence-based service delivery.
Speaker
Mr Tucker Christou
Partner
Gambling Counselling
Beyond the Bet: Integrating Clinical Practice and Public Health Approaches to Reduce Gambling Harm
Abstract
Australia continues to record the highest per-capita gambling losses in the world, with harm extending well beyond the individual gambler to families, communities, and systems of care. This presentation explores how counselling and public health frameworks can intersect to create meaningful change in reducing gambling-related harm.
Drawing from clinical experience in regional Western Australia and evidence-based models such as Blaszczynski and Nower’s Pathways Model (2002), the session examines the diverse motivations and pathways leading to harmful gambling behaviour. Case reflections and practice insights will illustrate how trauma-informed counselling, motivational interviewing, and cognitive-behavioural interventions can be adapted specifically for gambling clients addressing cognitive distortions, emotional regulation, and family impacts.
The presentation also highlights the importance of systemic reform. Current public health strategies, including the National Self-Exclusion Register (BetStop), restrictions on advertising, and local prevention initiatives in Western Australia, will be analysed through a harm-reduction lens. Attendees will gain practical strategies for integrating clinical interventions with community education, advocacy, and policy engagement.
By connecting therapeutic practice with a public health perspective, this presentation aims to strengthen cross-sector collaboration and promote more effective, sustainable responses to gambling harm in Australia and beyond.
Drawing from clinical experience in regional Western Australia and evidence-based models such as Blaszczynski and Nower’s Pathways Model (2002), the session examines the diverse motivations and pathways leading to harmful gambling behaviour. Case reflections and practice insights will illustrate how trauma-informed counselling, motivational interviewing, and cognitive-behavioural interventions can be adapted specifically for gambling clients addressing cognitive distortions, emotional regulation, and family impacts.
The presentation also highlights the importance of systemic reform. Current public health strategies, including the National Self-Exclusion Register (BetStop), restrictions on advertising, and local prevention initiatives in Western Australia, will be analysed through a harm-reduction lens. Attendees will gain practical strategies for integrating clinical interventions with community education, advocacy, and policy engagement.
By connecting therapeutic practice with a public health perspective, this presentation aims to strengthen cross-sector collaboration and promote more effective, sustainable responses to gambling harm in Australia and beyond.
Biography
Tucker Christou MACA, MCOS is Manager, Service Operations at Hope Community Services, overseeing AOD, FDV, youth justice, and mental health programs across Western Australia. He is also Counsellor and Partner of Gambling Counselling Australia, a private practice specialising in problem gambling and addiction counselling. Tucker is an accredited GamCare gambling counsellor and an experienced clinical supervisor, mediator, and first responder. His work focuses on trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and evidence-based service design that bridges individual therapy and systemic advocacy to reduce harm.
