Struggle
A NEW professional development certificate, Studies in Gambling Addiction: Counseling the Pathological Gambler, has been created to provide training for those who counsel individuals struggling with gambling addiction. The certificate is a partnership between the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) Continuing Education and the North American Training Institute (NATI).
With an increase in the number of gambling addicted individuals comes an escalating need for health care professionals with specialized knowledge and skills in the assessment and treatment of a gambling addiction. This certificate addresses this growing need.
The certificate provides 60 hours of online professional education (noncredit) for counselors, employee assistance professionals, substance abuse providers, nurses, clergy and pastoral care, human resources, educators and an array of other mental health providers. Its online format also establishes accessibility for gambling-specific education for health care professionals in rural areas of the country where there is an urgent need for gambling addiction treatment providers. Many agencies report a workforce of fewer than 75 gambling treatment providers serving an entire state.
Besides benefiting those directly affected by gambling addiction, this certificate provides education and professional development for career professionals in the closely related field of substance abuse counseling. Individuals with a gambling addiction often have co-occurring problems with drugs, alcohol abuse or mental health illness. According to research by Dr. David Hodgins, a University of Calgary psychologist, “People with gambling addiction have a risk four times greater toward abusing alcohol and a six-fold greater risk of abusing drugs.”
