Forgotten Voices: The Hidden Impact of Gambling Harm

Our 10th Annual Delaware Problem Gambling Awareness Conference brings together individuals concerned about gambling harm — including persons in recovery, affected others, advocates, and dedicated professionals — for a day of connection, learning, and action. This year's theme, "Forgotten Voices: Gambling Harm and Affected Others," shines a light on the often-overlooked experiences of spouses, parents, children, and others whose lives have been shaped by someone else's gambling. Through compelling personal stories and meaningful dialogue, we work together to deepen understanding, break down stigma, and build stronger support for all those impacted.

Info: Start your morning with us! Registration opens at 8:00 AM, and a complimentary continental breakfast will be available as you check in. We encourage you to arrive early, grab a coffee, and take time to connect with others in the community before welcoming remarks begin at 8:30 AM.

Info: Our welcoming remarks set the tone for the day, offering a brief overview of the conference, this year's theme, and what attendees can look forward to.

Info: When teenagers develop gambling problems, the behavior is often the last thing adults notice. The pressure came first. The silence came first. The isolation came first.
This session is presented by a rabbi, educator, and addiction therapist who did not set out to specialize in gambling—but was pulled into the work after witnessing capable, high-achieving teens quietly struggle with an issue few adults were prepared to recognize. What began as pastoral conversations and school concerns became a professional commitment to treating addiction at its roots.
Drawing from clinical experience and years working inside family and educational systems, this session explores the relational dynamics that frequently precede youth gambling: unspoken expectations, achievement culture, shame, and the fear of disappointing the very people teens most want to please.
Rather than focusing solely on warning signs, this presentation challenges professionals to examine the ecosystem surrounding adolescents.

Info: When a partner’s gambling addiction is hidden, the person who never placed a bet often carries the heaviest burden. The financial fallout, the emotional exhaustion, the slow erosion of trust, and the painful realization that the person closest to them was living a secret life, all of it lands on someone who had no part in the addiction itself.
In this candid and personal panel, Paige, Samantha, and Mackenzie share what it was like to uncover a partner’s concealed gambling addiction: the shock, the financial devastation, and the hard work of rebuilding trust in themselves when trust in the relationship had collapsed. They will speak honestly about confronting denial, navigating the decision to stay or leave, and finding a path forward, whether that meant saving the relationship or leaving it behind.

Info: One of the hardest truths for affected others is this: you cannot force someone into recovery from gambling disorder. No amount of pleading, monitoring, rescuing, or threatening can make another person choose change. So what does that mean? Are families supposed to stand by and watch the destruction unfold? Absolutely not. The focus is on two critical realities that affected others often need to hear: you cannot control another person’s recovery, but you can protect yourself, financially, emotionally, and psychologically. Family recovery does not depend on the person who gambles entering treatment. Affected others can take meaningful action to stabilize their lives, reduce harm, and reclaim their own wellbeing regardless of their loved one’s choices.
This session is for anyone who has ever felt trapped between wanting to help and knowing that help alone is not enough.

Info: In this first half, parents of young adults impacted by gambling disorder share what that experience was really like, from the earliest signs they didn’t recognize, through the emotional and financial toll on their families and their marriages, to the complicated and long often lonely work of finding their own footing while their child was still struggling. They will speak honestly about the fine line between support and enabling, the importance of protecting their own wellbeing, finances, and relationships, and the hard truth that their healing could not wait for their child to make different choices. They will also reflect on what helped, what hurt, and what they wish they had known sooner. What began as a private crisis for each of them ultimately became a catalyst for helping others — in ways both personal and professional — and their stories reflect the remarkable resilience that can emerge when parents find their voice and refuse to carry this alone.

Info: Following the break, the conversation shifts. Two of the families from the first half return to the panel together — parents and their adult sons sitting side by side — to share what the road to reconciliation looked like from both sides.
Facilitated by a seasoned clinician with extensive experience supporting individuals and families affected by gambling harm, this honest and hope-filled conversation examines the most difficult moments, the pivotal turning points, the ongoing work of rebuilding trust, and what it truly means to heal together as a family, not merely exist side by side. This session is for anyone who wonders whether things can ever really get better. They can.

Info: For many families touched by gambling harm, the hardest part isn’t just the crisis itself. It’s the silence around it. The absence of people who understand. The feeling that there is nowhere to turn and no one who has been where you are. By this point in the conference, you have already heard from Mackenzie, Kim, and Linda. You know something of what they have been through. This session asks a different question: what do you do with an experience like that? How do you take something that nearly broke you and turn it into something that holds other people up? This conversation will be moderated by Rob “ODAAT” Minnick, a podcaster and social media influencer whose own work in the gambling harm space has brought him into contact with some of the most powerful voices in recovery and advocacy — including voices like these.
If you have ever wondered whether anything good can come from something this painful, this session is for you.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Delaware Council on Gambling Problems