1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Choices Treatment Center: Gambling Problem pt. 2-March 14th

Episode Date: March 14, 2022

Choices Treatment Center: Gambling Problem pt. 2-March 14th Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

You're listening to One-on-One with DP. Sponsored by Beatrice Bakery on 93-7 The Ticket and the Ticketfm.com. Welcome back to one-on-one special conversation with the folks from Choice's Treatment Center here in Lincoln. Deb Hammond, Mike Chandra. Before the break, we were talking about spousal involvement and boundary setting and those things. But I wanted to give you guys the opportunity to put out information that is, of priority to you. So in your messaging and in your operation,

Mike, I'll start with you. I would say the biggest thing is the understanding that, first of all, you're not alone. If you're experiencing a problem, if your family members experiencing a problem, somebody you care about is experiencing a problem, know that you're not alone. Just know that there's help out there.

There's resources out there. And that's what I'd like to speak about the most is that the gambler's assistance program here in the state of Nebraska offers free treatment for gamblers and their families. And that's a huge piece to understand is that, because money, like we've talked about already, is a tool used in gambling,

but is obviously can be a factor once the money runs out. Where does that funding come from for you guys to be able to provide this free service? So it comes from the different gambling sources that are currently in Nebraska, with Kino, lottery, all the non-charitable gaming, any of that, is where they take a certain percentage out of what is brought in as revenue, and they use that towards treatment. In 1993, when the lottery was legalized, the bulk of that our treatment dollars came from the Nebraska lottery, and it still does.

It's a half of one percent of the net proceeds of the lottery is, after the first $500,000, is set aside, and every quarter there is a drop of funds into the Gambler's Assistance Program. That funding now is up to approximately 1.2 million, but that has to service the entire state. And so there is oftentimes somewhat of a shortage of funding, depending upon how extensive the case is. How can folks help with this then? If they want to contribute and say, listen, what you guys are doing, you're doing good work. You're doing great work. how can we make sure that your responsibility is taken care?

Well, unfortunately, I'm not sure that you can drop money into a state fund. I don't know. I do know that there is a not-for-profit called Creating Family Choices Inc. That raises money primarily for co-occurring disordered individuals in their families. So, like, for example, that organization has helped people. and Scott's Bluff to pay taxes, and then they in turn pay back the monies. So it's a do-good. It's pay it forward. We have a golf tournament every year that we raise money with that golf tournament. Of course, not over the pandemic, but. Is Jake involved?

He will be. I'd like to be. Any golf tournament, I'm in. Okay, there we go. Yeah, that's an easy match right there. Right. We're looking to bring that back in choices in the the rest council on compulsive gambling and would team with the creating family choices ink to raise funds for that. The lottery is extremely charitable in that event as well. We're looking that the casinos will jump on board with that. I can't imagine that they won't. The gaming industry is behind us.

I have to say that they are on board 100%. Give a message, you know, get out there and make people aware and let's talk about it. But let's be real about it. well are there areas of the state that are more likely to be involved in this at a higher rate risk number than others so this is not exclusive to lincoln slash omaha this is the entire state oh this is a statewide issue and actually the ironic thing is that we're actually have a shortage of gambling counselors in the state of nebraska right now that was the next question was where do you get your counselors for the folks who answer the phones right there is a process to being able to answer phones

and be able to have the right information available to help people long. Prior to the pandemic, Choices was a teaching facility, and I would draw interns from either the University of Nebraska or from Wesleyan and Done. Our clinical director, clinical psychologist, was Dr. Thomas Gilligan until he retired, and then Kate Speck has also worked very closely with us. And we currently, I only have two interns right,

now they're both one's going to be substance abuse and gambling where Mike is going to be from a story aspect and then his his marketing piece adds great depth for us then then I have I said two but I three or four now that I say that out loud there's an individual that's coming through the program but it's difficult right now for anybody to to even consider it partly because the pay wasn't all that great. I mean, it wasn't. It is steadily getting better. But when a mental health therapist has to take on an extra class, they got to go back to school. We have standards for the counselor. They have to learn about the gambling addiction. You cannot just be substance abuse and mental health background and attempt to try and handle this. Although it is in the mental

health scope of work. If you're a mental health practitioner, it is in your scope of work to treat addictions. Let the folks know how, if they're sitting and pondering and somebody comes to mind, right, that might need assistance. How do they find you? How do they reach out? Where do you to direct them? Okay. Well, the first thing I'm going to give you is the two different hotlines that are available. Those are available 24-7. The first one's the Nebraska gambling helpline. It is 1-833. bet over, so that's 238-6837, or you can go to the website, which is problemgambling. combe.com.com. If you type in problem gambling, if you Google problem gambling Nebraska, you should be able to find that pretty easily. It's the dot-gov one that you're going to find there.

It's a great website. It has all the resources on there. It has the phone number on there. It has stories. It has Justin, who's in charge of our phone line, of the problem gambling phone line. He's on they're talking about everything. And it's just a really great resource. There's also the National Problem Gambling Helpline. That one is 1-800-522-4,700. So those are great places to start. We also have a 24-hour helpline.

So you can always contact us, 402-476-2-2-2-2-2-3-300. We have a website as well, Choices Treatmentcenter.com. Any of these places are great places to start. The thing is, is that you're going to speak to someone live, someone who cares, someone who's going to listen to you, and then help you find that next step. Deb, I think for what you guys do, and again, they're low-key people will say this is necessary, but I will say it's heroic because you're going to change and affect lives in the positive way that,

you know, sometimes day-to-day you forget those things. You get lost in the wash that this is difficult. That's very kind of you. I do appreciate that because I do think that all, well, first of all I put my staff up against anybody in the continental United States because I've trained nationally. Secondly, I think that the providers that GAAP has, they're some of the best. There's providers, other providers here in Lincoln, and you can find those on the website. Then there's a provider in Northfolk. There's a provider in South Sioux City.

We are moving to expand into Columbus when the casino. goes there, opens up. There's two providers, three providers. You've got two in North Platte and then one in the Carney Grand Island area. We are definitely short though. Beatrice has a therapist. That's Justin who actually answers to help line. We could use more providers. We will definitely need more providers as the casinos come on. The more accessibility to gambling, the more we will have problems for a period of time, but then we'll level out again and hopefully awareness messages. And like I say, the casinos are willing to put it out there. They don't want to see a suicide.

They don't want to see trafficking. They don't want to see prostitution. These are the things that are attracted around a casino type area. And so those activities need to be openly talked about as well. We can't avoid them. I really want to say thank you for guys for coming in today and giving us direction. Having a North Star for how things are supposed to be handled in advance is where we come up short sometimes. And I appreciate you guys coming and setting the standard and putting this stuff out there because this is big.

Well, we're just grateful to have you guys as partners and the ticket has been great to us. And we look forward to having a relationship in the future. Let them know how to find you. at Choices Treatmentcenter.com, 402, 476, 2,300. Deb Hammond, and Mike Sondra. Thank you guys for doing this. We'll toward a break. We'll come back.

We'll close out one-on-one. Head it over to the captain here on 93-7 The Ticket. Watch live on Facebook, YouTube, or Twitch. You're listening to One-on-One-on-One with DP on 937 the Ticket and the Ticketfm.com.