Conference on Gambling and Addiction

Research on genetics, Texas Hold’em, decision-making, college gambling and the use of video games in the treatment of gambling disorders are just a few of the intriguing poster topics that will be presented at the 2010 NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction. This month’s edition of Issues & Insights provides information about the 35 posters selected for the poster session on Sunday, Nov. 14, 2010.

Removing barriers to treatment and recovery from addiction is one of the featured topics at the 11^th Annual NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction, scheduled for Nov. 14-16, 2010, at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino and the Las Vegas Convention Center in Nev. Mark Vander Linden, coordinator of the Iowa Gambling Treatment Program, and Janet Zwick, a healthcare consultant with Prairielands A.T.T.C., will present on “Improving Access to and Retention in Treatment: The NIATx Program in Iowa.” Founded in 2003 as the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment, NIATx is designed to help payers (e.g., health insurance and government) and behavioral treatment providers improve the quality of and access to treatment for clients with addiction.

The early bird registration discount ends this Friday, Oct. 8!  Register now for the 11th annual NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addition, so you don’t miss your chance to learn how current issues in the field are redefining the way we diagnose, treat, study and prevent gambling disorders and how new research is impacting responsible gaming programs.  The conference will be held Nov. 14 – 16 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino and the Las Vegas Convention Center in Nevada.  For more information or to register, visit the NCRG Conference website

The National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), the largest counselor credentialing body in the U.S., has designated the Institute for Research on Gambling Disorders as an approved provider of continuing education. The primary purpose of the NBCC is to certify masters-level professional counselors. This approval means that counselors participating in educational activities sponsored by the Institute and the NCRG will earn continuing education hours that can be applied to the National Certified Counselor (NCC) credential.

The Employee Assistance Certification Commission (EACC) of the Employee Assistance Professional Association (EAPA) has approved the 2010 NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction for 14 Professional Development Hours (PDHs).

Defining and categorizing disordered gambling will be one of the featured topics at the 11^th annual NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction this November. In a presentation titled “Conceptualizing Problem Gambling: Cautionary Lessons from the Over-Pathologization of Depression and Substance Use,” Jerome C. Wakefield, DSW, PhD , a professor at New York University School of Medicine, will critique what he sees as psychiatry’s failure to draw adequate distinctions between disordered behavior, eccentric or unconventional behavior, and normal responses to stress (Wakefield, 2010).

Dr. Wakefield’s presentation will be a counterpoint to a preceding conference session focused on the proposed changes to pathological gambling in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) (American Psychiatric Association, 2010). The DSM is the handbook of mental disorders in the United States, used daily by health care providers, researchers, insurance companies and government agencies.

The use of Native American traditions to heal addiction is one of the featured topics at the 11^th Annual NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction on Nov. 14-16, 2010, at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino and the Las Vegas Convention Center in Nev. Don Coyhis, a member of the Mohican Nation, will hold a session titled “The Wellbriety Movement: Drawing on Native American Tools to Heal from Addiction.”

Wellbriety, a combination of the words “well” and “sobriety,” is a concept of recovery that focuses on a “quality sobriety.” This concept is rooted in Native American cultural values such as respect for all living things and responsibility to self and the community. Coyhis has been teaching the concepts of Wellbriety for 20 years and has held trainings in more than 100 Native American communities, personally training more than 2,000 leaders.

The use of Native American traditions to heal addiction is one of the featured topics at the 11^th Annual NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction on Nov. 14-16, 2010, at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino and the Las Vegas Convention Center in Nev. Don Coyhis, a member of the Mohican Nation, will hold a session titled “The Wellbriety Movement: Drawing on Native American Tools to Heal from Addiction.”

Wellbriety, a combination of the words “well” and “sobriety,” is a concept of recovery that focuses on a “quality sobriety.” This concept is rooted in Native American cultural values such as respect for all living things and responsibility to self and the community. Coyhis has been teaching the concepts of Wellbriety for 20 years and has held trainings in more than 100 Native American communities, personally training more than 2,000 leaders.

The American Academy of Health Care Providers in the Addictive Disorders has approved 14 hours of continuing education offered by the NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction, scheduled for Nov. 14-16, 2010 in Las Vegas. Clinicians who attend the conference will be allowed to apply the 14 continuing education hours toward their certification as Certified Addiction Specialists (CAS) and Certified Gambling Addiction Specialists (CGAS).

The American Academy of Health Care Providers in the Addictive Disorders has approved 14 hours of continuing education offered by the NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction, scheduled for Nov. 14-16, 2010 in Las Vegas. Clinicians who attend the conference will be allowed to apply the 14 continuing education hours toward their certification as Certified Addiction Specialists (CAS) and Certified Gambling Addiction Specialists (CGAS).