DANVILLE — With a new casino soon opening in Danville, two local counselors who treat gambling addiction predict the need for their help will grow.

Kicking the habit is possible, they say, but it isn’t easy.

“It’s as hard, or harder than alcohol,” said Kerrick Kiley, president/director of Alpha Omega Counseling Services, which offers treatment in Champaign and Danville for compulsive gamblers.

Alpha Omega is also one of a handful of treatment providers in Illinois where people with gambling addictions can sign up to voluntarily ban themselves from casinos and sports wagering, but Kiley said he’s only handled voluntary self-exclusions for a couple of people from the Chicago area in the last few years.

He became a contract gambling-treatment provider for the state when plans for a new casino in Danville were first being discussed, he said.

Kiley attributes the lack of people in the local area signing up to exclude themselves from casino gambling to the fact that there hasn’t been a casino near enough for them to patronize on a regular basis, but that will change when the Golden Nugget Danville opens, he said.

The Illinois Gaming Board has offered voluntary self-exclusion since 2002, which gives with gambling problems a chance to keep themselves out of casinos to help regain control over their lives.

Currently, there are 14,733 people on the state’s voluntary self-exclusion list, and anyone interested in joining will also be able to enroll at the Golden Nugget, according to Joe Miller, director of policy for the state gaming board. Once people sign up, they agree not to enter or gamble in a casino. If they’re caught returning to a casino in the state, they agree to donate all chips, tokens and vouchers in their possession to designated state agencies dealing with problem gambling.

Once on the list, getting off is difficult, according to the gaming board. Self-excluded people can request to be removed from the list after five years, but they must provide an affidavit from a licensed mental-health professional who is also a certified gambling-addiction counselor attesting that that they’re no longer problem gamblers.

The state also offers a voluntary, confidential registry for problem gamblers, in which emails are sent providing information on problem gambling and where to find treatment.

But there’s no mechanism to keep compulsive gamblers — even those who self-exclude themselves from casinos — from gambling in slot-machine parlors and using machines in bars and restaurants, Kiley said.

With gambling opportunities so pervasive in society, he said, the chances for relapse are high. And, Kiley said, “if you’re a problem gambler, if you’re addicted to gambling, the only way you can successfully stop gambling is abstinence, period.”

The Rev. Nelson Cuevas, an addiction-treatment counselor who operates Alpha Omega’s counseling offices in Champaign, treats both English- and Spanish-speaking people with gambling addictions. He, too, sees the potential for more people in the area needing help after the Golden Nugget opens.

While gambling is as difficult to kick as other addictions, Cuevas said, “I think gambling is more complicated, discreet and serious, due to the fact that the outcome of gambling is usually a high suicide rate.”

Still, he and Kiley said, overcoming gambling addiction is possible for people who make the decision to get help.

“There is treatment, there is hope, and there’s resources to help them overcome,” Cuevas said.

He’s seen the success stories, he said.

Step 1 is recognizing the problem, Kiley said. By the time that happens, he said, people are often very behind on bills and their spouses are threatening to leave them if they don’t get help.

Step 2 is making the call for help, he and Cuevas said.

Many make the call when they’re at the stage of filing for bankruptcy, Cuevas said.

Kiley said he calls recovery from gambling addiction a miracle, because multiple factors have to be present — including the gambler truly recognizing the problem and wanting to stop — for treatment to succeed.

“There’s a lot of miracles,” he said.

Need help with a gambling problem? Tax money from Illinois casinos and other gambling businesses helps pay for gambling-disorder treatment and education through 29 treatment and recovery service organizations in the state. For the current fiscal year, the state appropriated $10 million for that purpose, according to Department of Human Services spokesman Patrick Laughlin.

He encouraged those aware that they have gambling problems, or who know problem gamblers, to seek confidential help 24/7 through the state Gambling Helpline at 800-426-2537, or check out the website areyoureallywinning.com or text “ILGamb” to 833234.