Gambling
It gets noticed late. As long as you win from time to time, everything seems under control, and the people around you see nothing.
Gaming
Gambling addiction — understanding what the game is really after
Gambling addiction describes a gaming habit — gambling, sports betting, video games — that has become hard to stop despite its consequences. It does not depend on the sums at stake or the time spent, but on the role gaming has taken on: it becomes the only moment of the day when you feel alive, calm, or competent.
Three practices, three ways in
The word "gaming" covers very different uses. What they have in common is how hard it is to step away from them when you decide to.
Sports betting
It mostly affects young men. The app is in your pocket, the bet goes through in three seconds, and Sunday's match ends up no longer being watched for its own sake.
Video games
They raise a different question: where is the line between a passion and a dependency? It does not lie in the number of hours. It lies in what happens when you are not playing.
What gaming fills in
Gaming does not settle in by chance. It answers something: a tension you don't know how to soothe any other way, a weighing boredom, a need to feel in control of something, a moment to yourself that nothing else gives you.
As long as that need goes unanswered, stopping is like removing a crutch without having treated the leg. That is why willpower alone rarely holds for long — and why the guilt you inflict on yourself after a relapse changes nothing.
Addiction as a messenger →How I work
We start by identifying what gaming is really after, before even talking about stopping. This is often the part people have never explored, because they have mostly been told to hold on.
Then we work on the triggers — the time, the place, the emotional state that comes before the bet — and on what can answer the need differently. I use interactive hypnosis, coaching and tools drawn from CBT.
Sessions take place in Caen, at the Studio du Nice Caennais, or by video call.
A first conversation, no commitment
The first conversation lasts 45 minutes, it is free and without commitment. Its main purpose is to see whether the way I work matches what you are looking for.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to have lost a lot of money before seeking help?
No. The amount is not the criterion. What matters is the place gaming has taken and how hard it is to step away from it when you decide to.
Are video games really an addiction?
Playing a lot is not enough to call it an addiction. The sign is what happens when you are not playing: irritability, emptiness, finding it hard to take an interest in anything else.
Do my family and friends need to be involved?
It is not compulsory. Some people come on their own and don't tell anyone for a while. Others prefer the people around them to understand what is going on.
Is it reimbursed by French social security?
No, private coaching and hypnotherapy sessions are not covered by the Assurance maladie (French national health insurance). Some mutuelles (French top-up health insurers) offer a wellbeing or hypnosis allowance — check your policy.
What happens during the first conversation?
The first conversation lasts 45 minutes, it is free and without commitment. Its main purpose is to see whether the way I work matches what you are looking for.