Behind the 8-Ball

About the Book

Is someone you care about gambling your life away?

You don't have to be a gambler yourself to suffer from the often disastrous effects of excessive gambling. Behind the 8-Ball is the must-have guide to reclaiming your financial, legal, and emotional freedom.

Spouses, parents, siblings, children, friends, and coworkers of the gambler will learn how to:

• Understand why some people lose control of their gambling
• Recognize the compulsive gambler and realistically assess the financial and emotional damage he or she is causing you and others
• Accept that you can't control someone else's gambling
• Encourage the gambler to seek help
• Recover from being involved with a gambler

For anyone who is or has ever been involved with someone who gambles too much, this supportive, informative volume delivers all the tools and motivation you need to rebuild your life.

"This book is essential for gamblers, families, friends, and professionals who need to know more about the personalities of gamblers ... It is a precise, updated, and accurate look at how gambling affects families."

- Timothy W. Fong, MD, co-director, UCLA Gambling Studies Program

"This book remains as important today as ever and has remained the standard reference for family members of gamblers."

About the Author

LINDA BERMAN, MSW, LCSW

Linda Berman, a licensed clinical social worker, is a recognized expert in the field of gambling and other addictions. She is sought after as a consultant and speaker throughout the country on addictions and has appeared on numerous radio and television programs.

She earned a master’s degree from The Fordham University School of Social Work, and is a member of several professional organizations.

Her private practice of psychotherapy is in Westchester County and in New York City, New York where she sees individuals and families with a wide variety of problems.

MARY-ELLEN SIEGEL, MSW, LCSW

Mary-Ellen Siegel, a licensed clinical social worker holds the faculty rank of Clinical Instructor in the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. She is a graduate of the Columbia University School of Social Work in New York. She is in the private practice of psychotherapy in New York, and is a member of the National Council on Problem Gambling in addition to various other professional organizations. She has co-chaired and moderated academic conferences for health and mental health professionals as well as for the general public and she has made over 170 national radio and television appearances.

Mary-Ellen Siegel has contributed to numerous professional journals and books and is the author or co-author of the following books for the general public:

• Her Way: A Guide to Biographies of Women For Young People
• Reversing Hair Loss
• The Nanny Connection
• The Cancer Patient’s Handbook
• Finger Tips
• Dr. Greenberger’s What Every Man Should Know About His Prostate
• Safe in the Sun
• Feeling Dizzy: Understanding and Treating Dizziness, Vertigo, and Other Balance Disorders
• Chemotherapy Today: New Drugs, New Approaches, and New Strategies
• Shingles: New Hope for an Old Disease
• Beyond Companionship: Dogs with a Purpose
• Breast Cancer Today: A Guide for Patients and Those Who Care About Them