Connections: Healthy Gambling and Gaming

Meet guests Jose Garcia, CGAC-I, CADC-II, and Antonio Sosa, SUDP, WSCGC-I, in this Connections podcast episode. They share their experiences about being a part of the rich Latino/a culture and hear about how they raise awareness for mental health and help care for and heal their communities.

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What is “two-spirit?” What’s the difference between two-spirit vs. LGBTQIA+? What does it mean to be a “settler?” And what does all this have to do with gambling or gaming, recovery, and behavioral health?  Listen to find out.  With special guests:

Harlan Pruden and Ryan Stillwagon

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People may often think of treatment professionals, peers, and 12-steps when they think of recovery help services, but who else is behind the scenes?  Who helps the helpers!?  Who can they turn to for assistance in implementing evidence-based practices, creating a contingency-management program, training on specific topics, and more?  The NW ATTC and ECPG have been partnering on training for over three years now, if you don’t know what they do, here’s a good opportunity to find out.   

Dr. Cash and Dr. Diez-Morel share how they got interested in studying and treating Gaming Disorder, why they have stayed involved in it, what inspired them to contribute to sharing knowledge, and recruiting others to the field.  They share the literature that has taught them a lot about the field, what they’ve studied, and what still needs to be researched.  Check it out! 

Guests’ Websites and Publications: 

Stephanie Diez-Morel 

“I finally got Rob on the show!”  If you didn’t know, March is national Problem Gambling Awareness Month (PGAM).  Here at ECPG, we get all kinds of questions like “what exactly is PGAM?”  “Anything interesting happening this year?”  “You guys seem really busy this month, what’s going on?”  So, we wanted to do an episode all about PGAM, with a “behind-the-scenes" look at the trends we’ve seen and the stuff we get excited about, such as the partnerships and teachable moments we’ve had with our advisors on equity and social justice. Kudos to Rob for coming on the show as a guest, to our whole team, partners, and everyone across the country who works incredibly hard to raise awareness and access to services for gambling-related concerns.  But always, congratulations to those who are changing their lives for the better.   Resources: 

Cait Huble with NCPG and Kristi Weeks with Washington’s Lottery explain what “Gift-Responsibly” both around the holidays and all year means and why lottery and scratch-off tickets are not appropriate gifts for minors.  Then we do a little “un-boxing” of our own as we open the gifts we sent each other before the episode recording.  Wow, were we in for a hilarious surprise!

#GiftResponsibly Lottery Tickets Aren't Child's Play

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TRIGGER WARNING: this episode discusses numbers, pros and cons of gambling, and mentions thoughts of suicide.

Author, advocate, and person in recovery from sports betting, Joel Soper (author of Never Enough Zeros) talks about how he finally found peace after the exhausting “hamster wheel” of Gambling Disorder. Finding he could be more successful in life, relationships, and purpose through recovery than in “the chase for vicarious thrills” through gambling. He grants us a raw view of his life and struggles in the depths of gambling harm from the betting which took everything from him. As well as how he fought, and continues to fight, for freedom, purpose, and autonomy with a variety of healing strategies...including some unconventional means. 

https://www.evergreencpg.org/podcast/life-after-sports-betting-season-3-episode-9/

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Tanna Engdahl describes her life and what led her to become a Cowlitz Tribal Elder, and what that means for her now.  The stories and wisdom of her grandmother are passed on through her, and she shares the importance of being a role model and a servant to the community, as she says, “we are ALL elders in waiting.”

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Sharing his story of addiction and recovery from sports betting on American basketball, football and more, Dare joins us from Australia in hopes that his story might reduce stigma and help others recover.  He opens up about how it became an addiction, leading to huge financial and relationship losses, suicidal ideation, and eventually to a decision that changed everything.

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You may have heard that women are now nearly 50% of gamers, but that data generally includes all genres including mobile games.  When it comes to online multiplayer and first-person shooter games, it’s still very male-dominated.  What’s it like for women gamers in these settings?  Dr. McGinnis shares a fascinating view from her 20 years of experience as a female gamer, a researcher of video games and anger, and her experience as a professional counselor, about what it’s like for women in a male-dominated gamer culture.

Special Guest:

Connections welcomes Kelvin Peprah, MA, LMCH, advocate and therapist on cultural/racial identity issues with a passion in working with youth and students of color. We talk about how people of color are represented in video game characters, players, and streamers, and what kind of impacts this might have on young gamers.  As well as the opportunities and potential that the gaming industry has to reduce discrimination and promote social justice and equity.  Have you noticed a difference?

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Pros and Cons of Telemental Health – How to make the most of it

This episode is a playback of one of our earlier ECPG LIVE! episodes. If you missed it then, you can catch it now! Telemental Health services are now available more than ever before and it looks like they aren’t going away. They have some clear benefits, as well as some drawbacks. Whether you are trying to determine if virtual counseling is right for you, a family member, or your own business, this episode will give you some good things to consider, and how to make the most of it.

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You might have noticed a rise in sports betting advertisements when you go to watch your favorite game lately. Why is that? What is the industry doing to educate their staff and customers about responsible gaming and problem gambling, and provide resources for betting responsibly? Also, what can players use to bet smart, enjoy the game, and protect themselves? 

Kara Fox-LaRose, ilani Casino and Resort President and GM, co-hosts this episode on sports betting with Tana. They get the scoop on what responsible gaming looks like in the world of sports betting from an agency you might have heard of – DraftKings. We are thrilled to welcome DraftKings Director of Responsible Gaming, Chrissy Thurmond, and the previous Connections podcast co-host Julie Hynes, this time in the hot seat as a guest.

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What exactly is a Social Casino and why have they faced so many legal challenges? Defining what it is, and what it is not, is part of the problem. A social casino may look like, sound like, and play like a traditional gambling game, just on a mobile device. Many people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a gambling site and a social casino site.

Today’s episode is co-hosted by Jennifer Shatley, Responsible Gaming Consultant, Logan Avenue Consulting, with special guests Keith Whyte, Executive Director, National Council on Problem Gambling, and Todd Logan, Partner, Edelson PC. Together they explore how social casinos, given their potential for addiction, harm, and access by minors, can operate without the industry standards, consumer protections, and responsible gaming guidelines in place for gambling establishment counterparts. 

Host Tana Russell, SUDP, WSCGC-II, NCTTP

The Story of Advocacy in the Aftermath of Suicide

Ronda Hatefi, founder of Oregonians for Gambling Awareness and a true force of nature, shares her story of the loss of her brother to suicide due to gambling disorder in 1995, before anyone even knew to call it that.  Families across the country may relate to what her family went through as gambling took over her brother’s life and the aftermath of losing him.  She has honored his memory by using his story to help others and save lives for the past 25+ years.  She’s appeared in a number of TV segments and news stories and honors us in this episode by sharing what she feels most people really need to hear about this deadly disease, overcoming it, and the strength and love of family and friends who advocate for help.

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From apples to peaches we have Kristi Weeks with the Washington Lottery and Bradley Bohannon with the Georgia Lottery joining us to talk about what responsible gaming can look like for lotteries and their customers.  Corporate responsibility is critical for the industry, important to customers, and is actually great for business too.

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How does a state lottery promote Responsible Gaming?  Townley Cheek, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at the North Carolina Education Lottery, talks about lessons learned in her career about effective Responsible Gaming and prevention messaging.  Find out what they are doing now, the data that shows that it’s working, and why customers like it.

Dave Yaegar: Military, Addiction, Recovery, and Advocacy

Julie and Tana discuss the current trends in gaming and gambling convergence, including loot boxes and other monetization strategies within video games. They discuss a 2021 report from GambleAware (linked below) which reviews evidence that links loot boxes to problem gambling and problem video gaming, and provides recommendations for future policy. They discuss what video game warning labels mean, and how that might change if loot boxes start being regulated as gambling. They also talk a lot about food.

Note: After recording this episode, Big Fish Customer Support was contacted about their self-exclusion process to find out if their website developers could make it more stream-lined, and they replied “we are continually looking to improve our procedures and we will raise this with our RG team for further consideration.” They have Responsible Play guidelines on their website and have been invited to participate in a podcast on responsible play and limit setting for apps.

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Guests on this episode are Amy Gabrila and Ray Fluette, two supervisors with Massachusetts GameSense, a program licensed by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission and operated by the Massachusetts Council on Gaming and Health. Amy and Ray’s workplaces are actually inside of two Massachusetts casinos. In this episode, they share how GameSense educates casino patrons and community members on myths and facts of gambling games, shares ways to play responsibly, and helps them access resources when gambling starts to cause problems.

March is Problem Gambling Awareness Month (#PGAM)

Problem Gambling Awareness Month (PGAM) is a time to increase public awareness of problem gambling and the availability of prevention, treatment, and recovery services, as well as to encourage healthcare providers to screen their clients for problem gambling and to make referrals for help services.

Learn more about PGAM and what's happening in Oregon, Washington, and around the US.

In this episode we interview Dr. Deborah Haskins, President of the Maryland Council on Problem Gambling and leader in social justice and equality advocacy work.

Standing tall not just in height at 6’2”, Dr. Haskins is one of the truest advocates for Black voices in the problem gambling field and longtime advocate for integrating cultural diversity into mental health services.

We could listen to Dr. Haskins for days, and hope you enjoy this longer episode as we cover issues such as the more recent “pressure cooker” of racial injustice and the Black Lives Matter movement, trauma, burnout from social justice work, and how the pandemic has changed how we must advocate and take care of ourselves. As Dr. Haskins says, “All we’re really required to do, honestly, is breathe.”

We interview Jon, a successful graduate of the residential treatment program at reSTART Life, a center specializing in Behavioral Addictions and co-occurring conditions such as video gaming, compulsive tech use, gambling and more.  He talks to us about how his video game play started at a young age, turned into gambling inside video games, progressed through his teens and ended after one of the worst years of his addiction, when he finally found treatment that addressed “the tech side of things.” Find out what he did to be successful not only with staying game-free for the past 3 years, but managing healthy tech and screen use throughout his daily routines.  We hope that you will be inspired, as we were, and find hope.

We catch up with Brain Hatch and Jeff Wasserman from All In: The Addicted Gambler’s Podcast who provide insight into what they have learned over several years of interviewing guests from across the nation and beyond. Together with host’s Tana Russell and Julie Hynes they discuss passions, podcasts and lessons learned from the world of gambling recovery. To make sure we can keep our podcasts easy to digest, and make sure you don’t miss out on any of this great conversation, we’ve broken this episode into two parts so you can listen easily at your leisure.

Find All In: he Addicted Gambler's Podcast on Spotify and other popular platforms:

We catch up with Brain Hatch and Jeff Wasserman from All In: The Addicted Gambler’s Podcast who provide insight into what they have learned over several years of interviewing guests from across the nation and beyond. Together with host’s Tana Russell and Julie Hynes they discuss passions, podcasts and lessons learned from the world of gambling recovery. To make sure we can keep our podcasts easy to digest, and make sure you don’t miss out on any of this great conversation, we’ve broken this episode into two parts so you can listen easily at your leisure.

Find All In: he Addicted Gambler's Podcast on Spotify and other popular platforms: