Board of Directors

Johan Eklund 🇩🇰

Clinical psychologist, Research Clinic on Gambling Disorders (Forskningsklinikken for Ludomani) in Aarhus, Denmark

Johan is an authorized psychologist and has helped individuals and families with problematic gaming (computer games) behavior since 2011 and treated people with gambling addiction since 2013.

Johan has experience with using individual cognitive behavioral therapy and involvement of the patients’ close relatives to overcome gambling addiction at the Research Clinic on Gambling Disorders (Forskningsklinikken for Ludomani) in Aarhus, Denmark. Johan has cofounded the company Checkpoint Therapy, which pioneered help for problematic behavior around computer games in Denmark. Concerned parents and their underage children are the primary clients, when the concern is around computer games. When working with families with underage children a systemic framework is chosen, where the primary aim is to rebuild the relations within the family, which in turn has the effect of reducing the time spent gaming.

The recent years has shown new problems where randomness elements from gambling has been designed in to traditional skillbased computer games. Examples are skinbetting and lootboxes. Besides offering counselling to those affected by this new form of gambling, Johan and Research Clinic on Gambling Disorders are working to establish a dialogue between game designers and legislators.

Inka Silvennoinen 🇫🇮

Manager at the Peluuri Gambling Helpline

Inka Silvennoinen is a manager at the Peluuri Gambling Helpline and at the Information and Support Point Tiltti. Peluuri offers nationwide counselling and support e-services directed to gamblers, their close ones and those facing PG in their work. Tiltti offers peer support and professional support for problem gamblers and their close ones. Both Peluuri and Tiltti are part of the Gambling clinic’s service entity. Peluuri is provided by A-clinic Foundation and the Finnish Blue Ribbon and Tiltti by Finnish Blue Ribbon.

Before starting at Peluuri and Tiltti in 2018 Inka worked nine years in the field of prevention of problematic gambling and gaming.

Axel Lyckberg 🇸🇪

Data Analyst / Responsible Gambling Adviser at Svenska Spel

Axel Lyckberg has worked with problem gambling prevention and responsible gambling since 2010 for the Swedish state owned lottery Svenska Spel. With a data science and behavioural science background Axel has been at the frontier of finding and measuring different behaviours and potential markers of harm as found in gambling behaviour data and how to meet these with preventative measures. Working with the responsible gambling tool Playscan Axel has had the opportunity to work with problem Gambling prevention for several Nordic gambling companies.

Niri Talberg 🇳🇴

Special adviser/researcher Centre for Addiction Issues (KORUS-Øst), Norway

Niri Talberg has a master and PhD in Education and has written both his thesis on poker players learning processes, dropout and stigma. Since 2019 he has been working at Centre for Addiction Issues (KORUS-Øst) with the field of gambling and video game addiction. He is involved in several ongoing research projects about gambling, gaming and treatment of gambling problems. KORUS-Øst is one of seven regional competence centers which have a regional responsibility on the field of substance abuse and addiction problems. In addition to this task, the Directorate of Health has given KORUS-Øst gambling addiction and video game addiction as a national responsibility. Our purpose is to share knowledge about gambling addiction and video game addiction in Norway.

Bergþóra Kristín Ingvarsdóttir 🇮🇸

SÁÁ, Iceland

Bergþóra is a clinical psychologist working at SÁÁ, the Icelandic alcohol and drug treatment and rehabilitation centre. She offers counselling interviews for problem gambling, CBT for gambling addiction as well as weekly outpatient treatment for problem gambling, combined of a lecture and peer support group.