We are the East Midlands Gambling Harms Service. Let us introduce ourselves to you
Paul Sanger
Who am I? Paul Sanger, Operational Lead
What is my role? I am the operational lead for the service. The focus of my role is to ensure that the service maintains high standards of care and operational effectiveness.
Why do I work in the gambling service? Working within specialist addiction services has always been a passion of mine. Joining the East Midlands Gambling Harms Service has given me the opportunity to develop a new service designed to support individuals experiencing gambling-related harm. It has also enabled me to collaborate with a range of services across the East Midlands, raising awareness about the importance of early identification and making sure that people can access the right support when they need it most.
What is the most rewarding aspect of my role? I am proud to work alongside a dedicated team of professionals, supporting their development and working collaboratively to overcome challenges. Together, we are focused on delivering an exceptional service, providing the best possible care for individuals across the region.
Michelle Mackin
Who am I? Dr Michelle Mackin, Principal Counselling Psychologist and Clinical Lead.
What is my role? I qualified as a Counselling Psychologist in 2007. I have been in this team since January 2024. I co-facilitate some of the preparation sessions and CBT groups. I am an accredited CBT therapist, but I also provide additional therapies within the service such as cognitive analytic therapy, schema focused therapy and EMDR ( eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing). I have recently developed a mindfulness group and I am also interested in the use imagery and compassion focused strategies to help people within their recovery from gambling harms. With it being a new service, the role is still developing and that’s what I love about being part of this team!
Why do I work in the gambling service? What drew me to this service was that it is a new service, and I feel strongly that support should be provided within the NHS to help reduce the harms caused by gambling. I like that I can be involved in developing a new service and I enjoy the peer support and group focus of our service – I think that is really important aspect of recovery.
What is the most rewarding aspect of my role? It has been great to be part of a new service that is still developing. Gambling harms can lead to people feeling judged and isolated and so it is particularly rewarding to see people coming together as a group, sharing experiences, feeling accepted and getting their lives back.
Dorian Carr
Who am I? Dorian Carr, Specialist Cognitive and Behavioural Psychotherapist
What is my role? I provide cognitive and behavioural psychotherapy, to help those that have struggled with the harms of gambling on their journey of recovery. I do this by making sure that our service provides the most evidenced based psychotherapeutic interventions.
Why do I work in the gambling service? I work in this service because it has always been a specialist interest of mine. We get to work and experience a variety of psychological skills. It is always developing and the opportunity to be part of the research and evidence that provides such support to those that we support is both meaningful and rewarding.
What is the most rewarding aspect of my role? To have the opportunity to see the positive difference that can be made when people take back control of their lives.
Trevor Mossop
Who am I? Trevor Mossop, one of the mental health practitioners within the team.
What is my role? The main focus of my role is to conduct the initial assessments of people who have been referred into the service. During the assessment we look at the start of the gambling and how it is has developed, along with some background information about you. I also perform a duty role where I can help people who call into the service looking for further information or advice.
Why do I work in the gambling service? I have worked as a community nurse within my local team and the crisis team, and on the 24 hour mental health support line. I have seen the effects of problematic gambling within those different roles. I wanted to help deal directly with this specific problem that afflicts many people within our communities.
What is the most rewarding aspect of my role? Being a part of the recovery journey and seeing people change from near hopelessness to developing the skills they can use that show them a different pathway and brighter future.
Jayne Kirkland
What is my role? I am the team administrator for the service. I book assessments for the clients, organise and book in the group sessions, send teams invites out and handouts to the clients, keep a track of referrals into the service and prepare spreadsheets with various information on regarding the areas they have referred from. I also attend team meetings and type up minutes, answer incoming emails and calls from clients with queries and forward them onto the relevant person.
Why do I work in the gambling service? Having previously worked as a support worker with the homeless and working with people with drug and alcohol addiction, I wanted to broaden my knowledge of addiction so decided to join the East Midlands Gambling Harms Service as I would still be helping people but in a different capacity.
What is the most rewarding aspect of my role? Seeing people refer into the service who have gambling addiction and seeing these people go through our treatment process and have a positive outcome.
Selina Ahmed
Who am I? Selina Ahmed, Specialist Mental Health Practitioner
What is my role? Once you have referred yourself to our service you will receive a welcome call (from myself or Trevor) to explain our assessment and treatment process and alleviate any concerns you may have. You are then booked in for a psychosocial assessment which will look at your gambling history and leading up to the referral as well as your mental health, physical health and personal history. After the assessment is completed, it is handed over to the rest of the team and we collaboratively discuss the best treatment plan for you. Throughout your treatment I am always available for clinical support if needed.
Why do I work in the gambling service? I joined the service last year when we launched and at the time it was all very new to me. I initially wanted to gain further knowledge and experience in gambling addiction however have grown fond of what are service offers and the support we give to our service users. I am keen to see how our service develops over time and improves, and I want to be a part of that journey.
What is the most rewarding aspect of my role? The most rewarding aspect of my role is helping people, as cliche as that sounds! I assess a number of service users weekly at different recovery stages, but the common denominator is always how gambling has taken over their lives and how they need support. Often, I am the first person they have openly been able to discuss their gambling with and I can see the relief and weight lifted during the assessment. I'm often thanked for listening! It is those little things that I find so rewarding. At times I may cover as 2nd Faciliator for CBT sessions, and I will come across service users who are halfway or near completing CBT and its always rewarding to see how far they have come and the positive change in them.
Christine El Hadri
Who am I? Christine El Hadri- Medical Secretary
What is my role? I provide support to the Consultant Psychiatrist and clinical team
Why do I work in the gambling service? I have a background working in addiction services, so supporting the Gambling Harms team was a logical next step
What is the most rewarding aspect of my role? Being able to help the team in a high quality service delivery and learning along the way
Laurie-Anne Foster
Who am I? Laurie-Anne Foster – Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist
What is my role? I am one of three psychotherapists that provide Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a talking therapy that can help you manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave. CBT is based on the concept that your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and behaviours are interconnected and can create a maintenance cycle that keeps a problem going. CBT therapists aim to help you break down these cycles and create positive change.
Why do I work in the gambling service? I have always enjoyed working in specialised services providing targeted care for complex situations both as a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist and a Registered Mental Health Nurse. Problematic gambling is a complex and multifaceted issue that impacts many areas of a person’s life. Treating problematic gambling requires understanding, compassion, problem solving and a holistic approach to aid recovery. As a more newly recognised addiction, treatment approaches for problematic gambling are constantly being researched and evaluated. This means I can be part of innovative area of mental healthcare, helping to develop effective and supportive treatments to those struggling with problematic gambling.
What is the most rewarding aspect of my role? The impact of problematic gambling can be profound and extensive. Therefore, the impact of helping someone overcome this can equally be so. Being able to see how somebody’s life has changed for the better in a multitude of ways is very rewarding. People take away different things from our CBT programme. It is interesting to discover what helped individuals with their recovery and to learn from those with lived experience.
Dr Mahalingam
Who am I? Dr S Mahalingam, Consultant Psychiatrist in addiction and gambling services.
What is my role? I have been working in Derby for the last 16 years as a Consultant Psychiatrist in the field of substance misuse. I joined the East Midlands Gambling Harms Service as the Consultant Psychiatrist when it was launched in 2023. As a Clinical Supervisor, I am able to attract core trainees and higher trainees to be regularly placed with our team. I also have higher trainees who do special interest sessions with the East Midlands Gambling Harms Service. These trainees will have exposure of working with the East Midlands Gambling Harms Service therefore increasing their repertoire in the field of behavioural addiction. When we discuss patients in our weekly multidisciplinary meetings, I am able to provide advise and support from a biopsychosocial perspective addressing their physical and mental health needs.
Why do I work in the gambling service? With my background in Addiction Services, I work with patients who have drug and alcohol addiction for many years. I also look after patients who have co-morbid mental health issues in addition to their drug and/or alcohol issues. I wanted to bring my clinical experience to benefit patients across the East Midlands experiencing gambling related harm.
What is the most rewarding aspect of my role? As part of working in a multi-disciplinary team which comprises of a wide range of experts in mental health, psychiatric and psychological approaches in delivering the best treatment pathways/interventions for patients, I am able to share my knowledge and at the same time, I learn from our multidisciplinary team members. It is always rewarding when our patients are successfully discharged after completing their sessions. There are patients who do drop out of treatment however some of these patients do return back to our service and complete their recovery journey with us.
John Brace
Who am I? John Brace – Trainee Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist
What is my role? My main roles are my involvement with both group and 1:1 CBT sessions aimed at aiding people’s recovery from problematic gambling. I also spend a lot of time working with the team to improve the service we provide using evidence based research.
Why do I work in the gambling service? I have worked in the field of mental health for around 14 years, and have seen first-hand how gambling harms can affect every aspect of a persons’ mental and physical health. This role allows me to tackle gambling harms head on, and make a positive difference for those who often feel alone, isolated and trapped by the disorder.
What is the most rewarding aspect of my role? The most rewarding part of my role is getting to know people over the course of treatment, and seeing the positive changes people make in their lives as their recovery progresses. People are often surprised when they look back at how far they have come, and how many changes they have made in their lives.