Abstract
Brief intervention, also known as minimal intervention, refers to a set of treatment procedures generally applied at the early or secondary prevention level (Barber, 1989). It involves minimal face-to-face counselling but places greater emphasis on appropriate client self-management of problems. Brief interventions have been used to address health issues such as drinking, smoking, herion and marijuana use, HIV risk behaviours and are increasingly being applied to other areas including problem gambling. Such interventions are not necessarily a panacea for all problematic behaviours, or an alternative for pathological drinking or gambling. However, there is increasing evidence such interventions can be helpful to a large percentage of problem gamblers who may have difficulty accessing services or who prefer to be supported in self help approaches. Brief intervention, have been found by research psychologists and others to be cost effective and have sound evidence of treatment effectiveness (Miller, 1989).