Problem Gambling Seminars Scheduled One Session Will Be For Addicts, Another Will Train Counselors

Mental health counselors wishing to treat people with gambling problems - and problem gamblers themselves - will have a chance to get some help in October.

Two seminars are planned on gambling addiction in Spokane: one for the addicts and one for those who might treat them.

The seminars come at a time when gambling is growing rapidly in Spokane. Since last November, seven mini-casinos have opened in the area and a $17 million tribal casino is planned for Airway Heights.

Despite the proliferation of gambling in the area, neither Spokane nor Coeur d’Alene has any counselors specifically trained to deal with gambling addiction.

Each city has a single Gamblers Anonymous group. While the organizations are good for support, studies show few gamblers kick their addiction solely attending GA meetings.

The only study conducted in Washington on gambling addiction indicates .9 to 1.9 percent of the adult population has moderate to severe problems with gambling.

If those rates are applied to Spokane County, roughly 5,000 people may have some sort of gambling problem.

“There is definitely an interest in some training,” said Gary Hanson, director of the Washington State Council on Problem Gambling, a nonprofit group with a neutral position on gambling.

The council is hosting a one-day seminar on gambling addiction for mental health professionals Oct. 15 at Cavanaugh’s Inn at the Park.

“This is mainly for people already in counseling or health care professions,” Hanson said.

A free seminar for people with gambling and other money problems will be held Oct. 3 at the Central United Methodist Church. It will be led by Kim Jones, a state-registered Christian counselor. Jones said she is neutral on the morality of gambling.

“It is just a public information kind of day for people who think they might have a gambling problem or for people who know someone with a gambling problem,” said Jones, who is part of the management team of American Behavioral Health, a residential treatment facility for alcohol and chemical dependency in Spokane.

The seminar is for people who have problems with gambling, spending and shopping. It is called “The Money Pit.”

“I’m a Christian and everything has a bit of that flavor,” said Jones, a former director of Safekey Ministries in Las Vegas.

“But this seminar will not be heavily religious. Non-religious people would be very comfortable,” she said.

If enough people are interested, Jones will organize a weekly recovery group that would run four to six months. Those meetings would be based on the Alcoholics Anonymous textbook, used as a model for many 12-step groups including Gamblers Anonymous.

Jones is not affiliated with the Washington State Council on Problem Gambling. Though she does not have national certification for gambling addiction counseling - the only certification currently available in Washington - Jones has worked with problem gamblers in Las Vegas, where she lived for 40 years before moving to Spokane.

The counselor training seminar offered by the Washington State Council on Problem Gambling will be led by Charles Maurer, a Ph.D. clinical psychologist and the foremost authority on gambling addiction in the state.

Counselors will be given a background on problem gambling, learn how to identify if someone has a gambling problem and what treatment is available.

The Washington State Council on Problem Gambling is developing a state-level certification program for counselors who want to treat problem gamblers.

The guidelines for the certification program should be completed in early 1999, Hanson said.

Counselors wishing certification can use the October seminar to meet some of the program’s requirements, he said.

This sidebar appeared with the story: GAMBLING SEMINAR Mental health professionals wishing to register for the Washington State Council on Problem Gambling’s training seminar can call 1-800-547-6133 or 206-546-6133. Cost is $75. Kim Jones’ seminar for problem gamblers will be Oct. 3, from 10 a.m. to noon in the United Methodist Church at Third and Howard. It is free and open to the public.