Pitt School of Social Work to Launch Nationally Certified Gambling Counselor Training Program in February 2008

PITTSBURGH-As city planners, sports team representatives, and Northside residents wrangle over plans for the new Pittsburgh slots parlor, the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work (SSW) is preparing to train and certify counselors to handle one of the consequences it fears may be a result of the new casino-a spike in compulsive gambling.

Social workers have seen the scenario play out many times over.

"People may begin to spend part of their household budget on gambling," says Jody Bechtold, a SSW field education coordinator at Pitt who recently received her national certification in compulsive gambling addiction counseling. "They'll borrow from friends and family and be unable to pay it back, or they could do something illegal."

The six-month Nationally Certified Gambling Counselor Program, which Bechtold will help administer, is expected to get under way on the Pitt campus in February 2008.

There are only a handful of professionals across the state with national certification in compulsive gambling addiction counseling, the credentials recommended by the Washington, D.C.-based National Council on Problem Gambling.

The Pitt program will be unique in that it will offer "one-stop shopping" for participants, who most likely will be human service professionals who already work in the mental health or substance abuse fields. They will receive 30 hours of gambling-specific training and four hours of supervision under a national board-certified consultant, while they accrue 100 hours of gambling-related counseling activities involving gamblers and their family members.

Prior to this, counselors seeking national certification in Pennsylvania had to overcome a number of obstacles.

"I had to travel throughout the state and out-of-state to get my training," explains Bechtold. "I went to Ohio for my supervision, and had to wait for the test date, which only occurred three times a year." Under the new Pitt program, participants are trained in one six-month program in a setting where they can accrue 100 hours, and they can be tested on the Pittsburgh campus.

Applicants to the program need a bachelor's degree or higher to enroll. Pitt's Nationally Certified Gambling Counselor Program is in accordance with the National Council on Problem Gambling regulations, and the certificate is recognized in other states as well as Pennsylvania.

For more information, call 412-624-4582.

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10/24/07/tmw