Gambling addiction counselling in Barnsley and online

I'm Tracy Simpson, a Registered Member MBACP, and I offer private gambling addiction counselling in person in Barnsley and online across the UK. From 2014 to 2020 I worked as an associate counsellor with Krysallis, a GamCare partner agency, delivering GamCare-funded gambling addiction counselling to problem gamblers and their families. If gambling has stopped feeling like a choice, for you or for someone you love, this page will help you work out what to do next. That might be counselling with me. It might be one of the free services listed further down. Both are fine.

You don't need to tick every box, and you don't need to hit rock bottom before asking for help. If any of this is familiar, it's enough.

A way forward without shame

Counselling gives you a private space to understand what drives the gambling and to find healthier ways to manage the pressures underneath it, whether those are stress, boredom, escapism or something deeper. My approach combines CBT, which is the approach most gambling treatment services use, with person-centred work that makes room for the emotional side: the secrecy, the shame, the damage to trust at home.

I'll be straight with you about what counselling is and isn't. It offers support and space to work things through. It isn't a medical treatment or a quick fix, and no honest counsellor will promise you an outcome. What I can promise is that you won't be judged in this room.

Sessions can help with:

• Understanding the triggers and patterns behind your gambling
• Developing other ways to manage stress and difficult feelings
• Working through shame and secrecy
• Rebuilding trust in relationships affected by gambling
• Making a realistic longer-term plan, including what to do after a lapse
• Support for family members affected by someone else's gambling

My background with gambling

From 2014 to 2020, Tracy spent six years as an associate counsellor with Krysallis, a GamCare partner agency, delivering GamCare-funded gambling addiction counselling to problem gamblers and their families, using structured, evidence-based approaches including CBT.

Since then I've continued to work with gambling and other addictive behaviour in my private practice, alongside anxiety, stress and relationship work. I'm a Registered Member of the BACP (45587) and an Accredited Registrant with the NCPS (NCS20-00911). You can check both registrations through the links in the footer.

What happens in sessions

Everything starts with a free 10-minute call. No forms, no commitment. You tell me a little about what's going on, I tell you how I'd work with it, and you decide whether it feels right.

If you go ahead, sessions are 50 minutes, weekly or fortnightly, in person at my room in Barnsley town centre or by video. Individual sessions are £70. There's no fixed number of sessions and no contract tying you in. Some people come for a couple of months. Others stay longer because there's more underneath the gambling than they first thought. We review it together as we go.

What you tell me is confidential, with the standard exceptions every counsellor works to around serious risk of harm. I'll explain exactly how that works before we begin.

If it's someone you love

Partners, parents and adult children of people who gamble often carry the heaviest load: the discovery, the secrecy, the money, the question of whether to stay. You're allowed to get help for yourself, whether or not the person gambling ever does.

I work with affected family members individually, and with couples where gambling has damaged trust. The NHS Northern Gambling Service also supports family members directly, free of charge, and there's a dedicated page coming here soon on practical steps for families, including protecting household finances.

All your options, honestly

Private counselling isn't the only route, and it isn't always the right first one. Here's the full picture, because you deserve it straight.

If you want to talk to someone right now. The National Gambling Helpline is free, confidential and open 24 hours a day, every day: 0808 8020 133. It's run by GamCare, who've been doing this for over 25 years. They offer information, support and access to free treatment, and they also support family members.

Free NHS specialist treatment. The NHS Northern Gambling Service covers Yorkshire, including South Yorkshire, with a clinic in Sheffield and video appointments if travelling doesn't work. Their team includes psychologists and therapists, treatment is usually CBT over a series of weekly sessions, and they support affected family members too. You can refer yourself: call 0300 300 1490 or use the referral form on their website, and they aim to come back to you within a few days.

Peer support. Gamblers Anonymous runs free meetings across the UK, in person and online, using a 12-step approach. For many people, sitting in a room with others who get it is powerful in a way nothing else quite matches.

Blocking tools. GAMSTOP is a free self-exclusion scheme that blocks you from online gambling sites and apps licensed in Great Britain. Most banks now offer a gambling block on your card too. Tools like these don't fix the underlying pattern, but they buy you breathing space while you work on it. A full guide to blocking tools is coming here soon.

Money and debt. If gambling has caused financial problems, free and confidential debt advice is available from MoneyHelper on 0800 138 7777, StepChange on 0800 138 1111, and National Debtline on 0808 808 4000. You don't have to have the money sorted before you deal with the gambling. Most people do both at once, and if things feel desperate right now, Samaritans are on 116 123, free, any hour.

A note on changes. The way free gambling support in England is funded changed in April 2026, and some services are reorganising as a result. Everything above was checked in July 2026. If a number or link here ever stops working, the National Gambling Helpline will know the current route.

So where does private counselling fit?

Honestly? For some people, the free routes above are exactly right, and I'd encourage you to use them. People tend to choose private counselling with me because they want to pick who they work with, stay with the same counsellor throughout rather than a service, involve a partner in the work, or carry on beyond a fixed block of sessions. Some simply want something private and entirely separate. And it doesn't have to be either-or. Plenty of people use a blocking tool, get debt advice and see me, all at once. If you're not sure what's right, that's exactly what the free 10-minute call is for. I'll tell you honestly if I think another route would serve you better.

I'm based at the South Yorkshire Physiotherapy Centre on Day Street, near Barnsley town centre, with people coming from across Barnsley and South Yorkshire, including Wombwell, Hoyland, Penistone, Royston and Sheffield. Online, I work with people anywhere in the UK.

Questions people ask