Ask an Expert: Module 6

Welcome to Ask an Expert: Learning about Problem Gambling from Researchers, Clinicians, Advocates, and People with Lived Experience. In Module 6: Understanding Co-morbidities, you will learn from five experts on the topics of (1) integrated treatment of problem gambling and other expressions of addiction, (2) gambling and self-harm, and (3) dialectical behavior therapy for concurrent treatment of alcohol use disorders, gambling, and other expressions of addiction. Module 6 includes 3 videos and a 10-question quiz. These videos have been professionally captioned, and we recommend watching them with closed captions turned on.

Learners will earn 1.0 hour of continuing education (CE) credit for completing each module, which includes passing a 10-question post-module quiz..

About the Experts

Dr. Elda Chan, PhD,  is Director of the St. John’s Cathedral Counselling Service and Assistant Lecturer at the University of Hong Kong. Dr. Chan has over 30 years experience in the prevention and treatment of mental health issues and addictive disorders, couple and family therapy, student counseling and guidance, and teacher training. Dr. Chan is conducting a multi-year study of patients at the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals in Hong Kong. The goal of this research is to establish an epidemiology of addiction across various expressions of addiction, including alcohol and other psychoactive drugs, gambling, sexual behaviors, and online gaming.

Dr. Mark Albanese, MD, is the Medical Director of Physician Health Services, a nonprofit corporation founded by the Massachusetts Medical Society to address issues of physician health. Dr. Albanese is a graduate of Harvard College and Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University. He trained at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Massachusetts Mental Health Center. Prior to joining Physician Health Services, Dr. Albanese was at Cambridge Health Alliance, where his roles included Director of Addictions and Director of Outpatient Psychiatry. He is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and continues to teach at Cambridge Health Alliance. Dr. Albanese is board-certified in both psychiatry and addiction psychiatry.

Mr. Dan Spencer is Head of Safer Gambling for EPIC Risk Management. In that role, he combines his lived experience with gambling-related harm alongside his years in learning and development. He and his partners at EPIC provide gambling industry partners with consultation, training, and coaching to improve compliance, best practice, and wellbeing.

Dr. Heather Gray, PhD, is the Director of Academic Affairs at the Division on Addiction, Cambridge Health Alliance, and Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Gray leads the Division on Addiction’s efforts to develop and implement the Massachusetts Technical Assistance Center for Problem Gambling Treatment, or M-TAC. In addition, she and her colleagues recently published a scoping study that surveyed all of the published research examining how gambling is associated with self-harm, broadly defined. In this interview, she shares some of the findings of that study.

Dr. Marco Cavicchioli, PsyD, is a psychotherapist who specializes in the treatment of addictive disorders and personality disorders using Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). He is the Research Manager of the Italian Society of Dialectical Behavior Therapy and a researcher at the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan in the Department of Psychology. Dr. Cavicchioli’s research interests include the study of psychological, neuropsychological, and neurobiological mechanisms underlying addictive disorders; therapeutic mechanisms linked to the effectiveness of DBT Skills Training adapted for addictive disorders; core features of Borderline Personality Disorder; and models of emotion regulation.

Continuing Education (CE) credits

• American Psychological Association (APA) – The Division on Addiction is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Division on Addiction maintains responsibility for this program and its content. This program offers 1.0 hour of continuing education (CE) credit.
• National Association of Social Workers (NASW) – This program has been approved for 1.0 Social Work Continuing Education hours for re-licensure, in accordance with 258 CMR. NASW-MA Chapter CE Approving Program, Authorization Number D91244.
• Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC) – The Massachusetts Technical Assistance Center for Problem Gambling Treatment is authorized by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to sponsor, conduct or approve continuing education programs for alcohol and drug counselors/assistants (LADCs). This program offers 1.0 hour of continuing education (CE) credit.
• National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC) – This course has been approved by the Division on Addiction, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for 1 continuing education (CE) credit. NAADAC Provider #84058, the Division on Addiction is responsible for all aspects of its programming.
• The Massachusetts Board of Substance Abuse Counselor Certification (MBSACC) – MBSACC does not accredit online trainings but will recognize most online trainings approved by NASW.