The University of Memphis’ Institute for Gambling Education and Research is expanding its services beyond the Mid-South to help more Tennesseans overcome their gambling addictions. 

The institute recently received a $1.2 million grant from the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, which will improve access to treatment options, including online resources and the opening of a second clinic in East Tennessee. 

“It centers on this idea of making an accessible and engaging evidence-based system of care that’s accessible to all Tennesseans,” said James Whelan, University of Memphis psychology professor and director of the Institute for Gambling Education and Research.

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“My long-term goal is to create a state-of-the-art platform for any Tennessean with a gambling problem to reach out and get help,” he said. 

The grant funding comes from the 5% of annual revenue earmarked for the department after Tennessee legalized online sports wagering in 2019. 

Tennesseans wagered $2 billion on sports events last year, and Whelan said symptoms of gambling addiction are increasing across the state with the ubiquity of sports gambling. 

Problem gambling is an understudied area of addiction, Whelan said.

For example, in 2021, the federal government spent more than $570 million in alcohol research, while gambling research received nothing. 

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More than 200,000 Tennesseans will experience some level of problems due to their gambling and another 100,000 will experience a level of harm that can be diagnosed as a gambling disorder. 

Yet, nine out of 10 people with a gambling problem never seek treatment.

“Behavioral addictions in particular are very stigmatized because people think they ought to be able to control them.”

James Whelan
Director of the Institute for Gambling Education and Research

Gambling includes slot machines, poker, lottery, sports, bingo and dice games, and can happen at venues such as casinos, racetracks, gas stations or online.

Whelan has earned an international reputation for research on prevention and treatment for gambling disorders since the Institute for Gambling Education and Research was established at the University of Memphis more than 20 years ago. 

It started in 1999 after the psychology department’s mental health clinic began seeing patients compelled to drive to casinos in neighboring states. 

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The gambling clinic and research laboratory at the institute developed evidence-based prevention, assessment and treatment for those with gambling problems. 

To date, the clinic has treated more than 1,200 people with gambling problems. 

Whelan said one of the main differences in gambling that makes it starkly different from other addictions, like substance use, is that gamblers are hopeful there will ultimately be a major payoff. 

“It’s an addiction that doesn’t have a substance, but what it does have is hope,” he said. “People really think things could all be made better with one big win. And the other thing that’s really different is that in gambling, there’s this drive to recover losses.”

But as with other addictions, there’s a great deal of shame and stigma around problem gambling. 

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“Behavioral addictions in particular are very stigmatized because people think they ought to be able to control them, that it’s an automatic willpower initiative,” Whelan said. 

Financial difficulties are the most common problem reported by those with gambling concerns.

They’re also more likely to suffer from mental health and substance abuse problems.

“We know that every person with a gambling problem creates significant harm for six other people,” Whelan said. “That’s close family, but there’s almost no literature on this. We provide consultations to family members about how to talk to the individual who’s having problems — how to be supportive and facilitate change.” 

Treatment typically includes eight to 10 sessions, with both in-person and telehealth treatment options, and no one is turned away for inability to pay. 

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“We have this continuum of empirically supported intervention that a person who struggles with their gambling can utilize and hopefully make some changes in their life,” Whelan said. 

Tori Horn, a graduate student in the University of Memphis’ clinical psychology program whose research focuses on gambling addictions, has spent several years working in the Memphis clinic. 

She said some clients are reluctant to seek care at a training clinic. 

“Our clinic is valuable, and some providers would argue that we are better suited as students to treat clients because we have the most up-to-date knowledge of the research,” she said. 

In fact, the new East Tennessee Clinic, which opened in July in Johnson City, is led by Meredith Ginley, who studied under Whelan in Memphis. 

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“The opportunity to build this kind of across-the-state system of care is a big step forward for us,” said Ginley, now an assistant professor of psychology at East Tennessee State University.

She’s training graduate students to work in the clinic she leads. 

“We’re very new but we’ve received favorable feedback in the region from people who’ve heard about us,” she said. 

The East Tennessee clinic focuses on treating residents of rural and Appalachian communities while the University of Memphis clinic focuses on treating ethnic minority and urban communities. 

“It’s an addiction that doesn’t have a substance, but what it does have is hope. People really think things could all be made better with one big win. ”

James Whelan
Director of the Institute for Gambling Education and Research

Together, the clinics will evaluate the efficacy and effectiveness of gambling disorder treatment among historically underserved communities. 

Both clinics will also cross-train clinical psychology graduate student therapists in telehealth and in-person services.

And the recently announced state funding will increase access to treatment through the creation and evaluation of a statewide online portal for gambling assessment and treatment, set to launch in January.