SUPPORTING RECOVERY

by Jim Wuelfing (pictured left), CPP-R, NRPP, Director of Prevention and Recovery, the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling

The essence of the Council’s mission is reducing the social, financial and emotional costs of problem gambling.  Intervention and access to quality treatment are core components in helping the problem gambler. Additionally, the Council seeks to support gamblers in recovery by referring to 12-step self-help groups and by both referring to and offering recovery support services.

Recovery support services are designed to support people in early recovery to identify and overcome obstacles that make maintaining recovery more difficult and by strengthening factors that are known to support recovery such as connecting to the recovery community.

The Council has developed a recovery space at its office where people in recovery from gambling can find a supportive environment with access to staff, a library, a computer and internet access. We have begun a weekly all recovery meeting at the office. These meetings offer many benefits to the recovering gambler including; offering a supportive environment where connections to the recovery community can be made, supporting gamblers who may have more than one addiction, and offering another choice of a peer support meeting in addition to GA.  Beginning in 2011, we have held an annual All Recovery Retreat to much success. We are advocating that the six recovery centers in Massachusetts offer all-recovery meetings to increase the opportunity of recovery support to gamblers. We have also begun to offer Telephone Recovery Support, an evidenced-based practice of ongoing support and information through weekly or biweekly phone contacts.

We are in the process of developing a cadre of recovery coaches, specifically trained to assist gamblers in recovery. A Recovery Coach is anyone interested in promoting recovery by removing barriers and obstacles to recovery by serving as a personal guide and mentor for people seeking or in recovery.

Giving input into these recovery support services and offering suggestions for new supports is the newly formed Recovery Advisory Board (RAB). The board is made up of recovering problem gamblers and family members. It will meet 2-4 times a year to given input to the Council on its programs and plans.

The need to support people in early recovery has been well established.  We are excited to build upon our efforts to do so to continue the vision and mission of our founder, Tom Cummings, to reduce the suffering caused by problem gambling.

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LOVE & PROBLEM GAMBLING

by Marlene Warner, Executive Director,

The Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling

As we consider one of America’s biggest “Hallmark” holidays, I was going to write to you about love and how important it is to do so.  I was going to write to you to say that love is what gets people to drop stigma and increase wellness with regard to problem gambling.  And I was going to discuss with you how love allows people to work in this field.

But then, as is typical for me, I got sideswiped by a thought this weekend when I attended my church services and the minister showed a You Tube video clip of the comedian Dave Chappelle talking with Dr. Maya Angelou, a famous sage, poet and voice of our day, on the Iconoclast show.  In this very brief clip, she stated “Courage, you have to have courage to love somebody, because you risk everything… everything.”

Well truer words have never been stated when you consider addiction.  This is never easy for ANYONE involved.  And it is raw, difficult and as Maya Angelou expressed so eloquently, takes a whole lot of courage because frankly you put everything on the line.  When you open yourself, and your love, up to someone who is vulnerable or scared or in capable of giving back, you give a very special type of love. 

I think of that every time I talk with a family member who “can’t believe he went back out again” or a person struggling who walks into the office and blames all that is wrong with his or her life on someone else, or even the professionals who laugh off some of the ideas and considerations of their clients discussing their thoughts on winning and losing during their gambling streaks. 

Talking, dissecting, refuting, understanding and just approaching these topics takes love.  It takes patience, maturity, security, confidence, and these all come from love.  It takes one adult loving another unconditionally and with no expectations in return.

Love is really at the root of my work.  And the work of everyone else that decides to be upfront and personal with people who are in the heart of their addiction.  I recently purchased a sign for my office that says “Do one thing everyday that scares you”—what would be more effective and helpful is if it said, “Do one thing everyday that scares you; love someone when no one else is willing”  That my friends take a lot of courage and shows the ultimate form of love.

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NEW WEBSITES FOR LATINO AND ASIAN AUDIENCES

by Margot Cahoon, Communications Director, Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling

In an effort to make problem gambling information available to all people who need help, the Mass. Council has recently developed three new websites and a new brochure.

Last year, we launched www.asianproblemgambling.org in English and Chinese. This year, we have expanded it to include both Vietnamese and Khmer languages.  The website(s) includes information about problem gambling, specifically as it relates to Asian Americans. It also includes information about what the Council is doing to help people in these cultural communities, as well as local referrals for help.

We have also developed a new website for Latino audiences:

www.latinoproblemgambling.org. The site is available in both Spanish and English. It includes information about common cultural characteristics among Latinos and how these beliefs influence problem gambling.  The website also includes information about where Spanish-speaking individuals can find services to help address gambling problems.  In addition, the Council has developed a Spanish / English brochure, which is available for download off the website or by contacting the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling at 617-426-4554 / info@masscompulsivegambling.org.

Please visit the websites when you get a moment. We would love to hear what you think.

Adolescent Brain Development and Gambling

by Amanda Poggenburg, Program Specialist, Prevention & Recovery, The Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling

On August 23^rd, I attended a webinar held by the National Center for Responsible Gaming entitled, “Adolescent Brain Development: Implications for Understanding Youth Gambling.” This webinar discussed the effects of gambling exposure on youth. It was very interesting in that it discussed how the brain develops and the possible link between brain development and youth gambling problems.

A brain is not mature until age 25, so if the average age youth begin gambling is 11, that leaves a lot of the development incomplete. An immature brain means that the youth is more open to taking risks. It also means that the brain doesn’t have good “brakes,” and that the “go” motivation develops faster than the “stop” motivation.

Early brain development is focused on motor development, emotions, and motivation while later brain development works on judgment. This means that if a youth begins gambling early on, he or she is more susceptible to developing a gambling problem because they might not know when to quit. As the brain is developing, this leaves youth more attracted to physical actions, high excitement and rewards, and novelties.

Novel stimuli release dopamine, which gives a feeling a pleasure or satisfaction, making such events more attractive to youth. What does all this have to do with youth and gambling? Youth are more willing to take risks for the reward of a dopamine burst, and they are less willing to consider the negative consequences or controlling their emotions. They have a tendency toward high excitement activities, a sensitivity to novel experiences, and they have less capacity for good judgment. All of these together make gambling very attractive to a developing brain, but very dangerous because of the lack of good judgment.

Links for further interest -

From The Journal on Gambling Studies:

 http://www.springerlink.com/content/m8g2724u70576530/

NCRG Archived Webinar:

 http://www.ncrg.org/public-education-and-outreach/webinars/archived-sessions

From Parenting for Prevention Newsletter, Tarrytown, NY: http://www.sascorp.org/PFPNewsletters/March__2011.pdf

HEALTH-E GAMBLING SUMMIT

by Marlene Warner, Executive Director, Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling

What do your cell phone; teenagers and health have to do with one another? Apparently, a great deal more than ever before…

In November, Jim Wuelfing, our Prevention Director, Marty Toomey, a K-12 prevention contingent employee, and I made a 24-hour trip to Las Vegas.  We had been asked to discuss our role in developing and our impressions of the new Health-E Gambling Tool being created between by the Division on Addictions at Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School (HMS/DOA) in collaboration with entities such as us (the Mass. Council on Compulsive Gambling), the Nevada Council and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV) at the Health-E Gambling Summit.

Facilitated by UNLV, and paid for by The Lincy Institute, this day-long Summit served two purposes:

1. To introduce the topic of gambling disorders and the ways technology is impacting the topic, and

 2. To determine our weaknesses, strengths and biases when technology, health-studies and interventions are further explored.

The Health-E Gambling Tool is an innovative tool, modeled off others in substance abuse that will allow young people to be prompted by their smart phone to think about their gambling and whether their current behaviors warrant further personal investigation and change.  In addition, it takes you to a website that you can personalize—similar to facebook—that has resources and connections that fit your needs. 

The Mass. Council is encouraged by the response thus far.  This past spring focus groups were held at Medford and North Brookfield High Schools in Massachusetts. Students there helped to design and mold the language, feel and follow-up of this tool and the information it is trying to convey.  And most importantly, they feel like this is a tool that they will use and promote among their friends.

We feel that the Health-E Gambling Summit and tool are going to move this field a step closer to the revolution needed to end the stigma associated with gambling disorders and increase the knowledge and resources devoted to it. 

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COUNCIL INTERESTED IN FORMING WOMEN’S PROBLEM GAMBLING GROUP

 by Karen Sicher, Administrative Manager, Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling

My name is Karen and I am a compulsive gambler.  I have been in recovery for compulsive gambling since 2007 and feel very lucky to have found support from friends, family members and the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling.

When I hit rock bottom, I contacted the Mass. Council on Compulsive Gambling and I was given caring, compassionate support on how to handle what I was going through and referred to a wonderful, trained clinician who really understood my addiction.

Following is my story: 

I started gambling when I was in my early 40’s and it quickly became a way of life for me.  No one in my family or in my circle of friends knew that I was gambling because I was too embarrassed to tell them.  I gambled because it made me feel good and had filled a void in my life.

I was so drawn into the thrill of winning and the excitement that surrounded it.  I was heavily in debt and found myself taking money from an employer.  I said to myself on many occasions, I will take it and win big and put it back, but unfortunately I never did.  It came to the point were it was overwhelming and it consumed me – my every thought.  I hurt my friends and family and became an embarrassment to many but no one really understood what I was going through. 

Ultimately, I was incarcerated in federal prison for 27 months. There, I had the opportunity to get to know many women just like myself - professional women who got lost along the way – women who got caught up in gambling problems.  After serving my time, I returned to Boston and selected to do my community service at the Council.

I am proud to say that I was recently hired by the Council. I have started to rebuild my life. Yet, not a day does not go by where I do not think of the women out there who are still in the same position that I once was.  I believe strongly that women need to support one another – especially women who have experienced problems with gambling … For this reason, I am interested in forming a women’s group for women in recovery (or interested in recovery) for problem gambling. Does this sound like something you might want to be a part of? If so, please contact me at 617-426-4554 / karen@masscompulsivegambling.org. I look forward to hearing from you!

GAMBLING-FREE WEEKEND

Your First Step to Change: a Gambling-Free Weekend by Victor Ortiz, MSW, LADC II, Intervention and Treatment Support Director, Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling

Friday, November 18 through Sunday, November 20, 2011, the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling hosted Your First Step to Change: a Gambling-Free Weekend retreat at the International in Bolton, MA.

The retreat provided much needed support to individuals directly impacted by gambling disorders. Each of the 9 participants was accompanied by a support person throughout the course of the weekend, which featured workshops, meetings and activities aimed at introducing, addressing and encouraging recovery from problematic gambling.

Workshop topics included: Decision Making, Whose Problem is it Anyway? and Not Betting No Matter What.  In addition, all participants, along with their support persons, were offered the opportunity to participate in clinical consolations aimed at connecting individuals to recovery resources.

Gambling-Free Weekend allowed the Council to provide recovery awareness and direct support to people struggling with problem gambling and their families. Following are just a few comments shared by participants:

From the beginning, I felt I was in a knowledgeable, nurturing, caring and non-judgmental environment.  I felt welcomed and that I was among people who encouraged me to be open and honest about my gambling addiction.

The retreat was very beneficial for me, I am in recovery and after this weekend I can honestly say that I will stay this way.

Everything, from the rooms to the meetings, were the greatest. The group from Mass. Council was  so great. Thank you so much.

The staff was exceptionally kind, intelligent, sensitive, and motivating. Thank you!

The Mass Council staff exceeded my expectations in all areas. I am very thankful for the experience.

I am so grateful for the compassion and the commitment of the presenters and the Council. The facilitators were way beyond my expectations I feel very comfortable with my journey to recovery now, taking it one day at a time due to this retreat. I would love to come again and know about other events.

I feel like the weekend was a great success.  Thank you to all of you for your hard work on behalf of individuals and their family members who struggle with gambling disorders. We are looking forward to next year’s retreat.