Identifying the Resistance to Counseling Problem Gamblers in the State of Vermont

The Vermont Council on Problem Gambling is a non-profit corporation, founded and incorporated in 1995, with a mission to provide helpful resources for the problem gambler and his/her significant other(s) in the State of Vermont. The Council has received funding for the past five years to provide these resources and in so doing has identified a need for trained counselors to work with this population. The State of Vermont has certified and licensed over two hundred counselors to work with clients with recognized addictions, i.e. alcohol, drugs, food, and cigarettes. The issue of problem gambling has not been recognized as an addiction and training has not been provided for this disorder. The research represented in this capstone attempts to assess the resistance to acquiring training for this addiction and working with these clients. The conclusions drawn from the research are supportive in that the counselors are trying to be supportive but lack training to counsel the recognized psychiatric disorder of problem gambling. An outcome of the survey was that the Program Directors throughout the state have invited me to present the need for trained counselors and requested a Training Proposal. The Vermont Lottery has offered a sizeable amount of funds to sponsor an all-day conference on how to treat problem gambling to be held in Vermont this coming May 2003