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Live Webinar

Gambling Harm in the Digital Age: Recognition, Impact, & Treatment

Suzanne Koch Eckenrode, LMFT, BACC, ICGC-II, CCGC-II
Marc Lefkowitz, ICGC-II
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Information

Date & Time

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • Identify at least 3 key indicators of gambling disorder (behavioral, financial, and psychological) across mental health and substance use settings.

  • Describe at least 2 ways modern digital gambling environments (e.g., sports betting, online platforms, high-risk trading) increase access, reinforcement, and risk.

  • Explain at least 2 underlying drivers of gambling behavior, including emotional regulation and belief-based patterns.

  • Apply at least 3 stabilization strategies, including behavioral, financial, and digital interventions, to support early treatment.

  • Differentiate at least 3 phases of a trauma-informed, phase-based treatment model for gambling disorder.

Educational Goal

This training provides clinicians with a practical, modern framework for identifying and treating gambling disorder in today’s digital landscape. Participants will learn how to recognize gambling-related harm, understand underlying drivers, and apply stabilization-focused, trauma-informed interventions to support effective treatment.

Description

Gambling-related problems are increasingly showing up in clinical settings—but are often missed, misunderstood, or misidentified. In today’s digital landscape, behaviors such as sports betting, online gambling, and high-risk trading can blur the line between entertainment, strategy, and addiction, making detection more complex. This training provides clinicians with a clear, modern understanding of gambling disorder and how it presents across mental health and substance use settings. Participants will learn to recognize key behavioral, financial, and psychological indicators; understand reinforcement and brain-based reward processes; and explore how gambling often functions as a way to manage overwhelm, internal pressure, and underlying belief patterns. The training introduces practical, trauma-informed strategies for early intervention, emphasizing stabilization—including financial and digital containment—along with accountability and real-world behavior change to support safer and more effective treatment outcomes.

Target Audience

  • Addiction Professional
  • Counselor
  • Marriage & Family Therapist
  • Psychologist
  • Social Worker

Presenters

Suzanne Koch Eckenrode, LMFT, BACC, ICGC-II, CCGC-II
Suzanne Koch Eckenrode, LMFT, BACC, ICGC-II, CCGC-II is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Board Approved Clinical Consultant (BACC) with 25 years of experience in the problem gambling field. She is a clinician, trainer, supervisor, and consultant specializing in gambling disorder and its relational impact. Suzanne integrates an attachment-focused EMDR approach to treating gambling-related harm, including betrayal trauma, financial instability, and trust rupture. Her work emphasizes early stabilization, accountability, and nervous system regulation, along with the underlying emotional and belief-based drivers of gambling. She provides professional training, clinical consultation, and supervision for clinicians, and develops treatment models, assessments, and curricula for gambling recovery programs.
Marc Lefkowitz, ICGC-II
Marc Lefkowitz, ICGC-II, has been a certified gambling counselor since 1998 and brings more than two decades of experience in problem and responsible gambling treatment, training, and recovery. Marc served as Director of Training for the California Council on Problem Gambling for 12 years, where he trained therapists and counselors and worked directly with individuals impacted by problem gambling. He also worked with the UCLA Gambling Studies Program, providing therapist training and coordinating outreach efforts for California’s gambling treatment programs. In addition, Marc has held roles as Program Director and Consultant for multiple inpatient gambling treatment programs. His work in Responsible Gambling includes developing educational content and delivering training in more than 50 casinos in California. Marc is a nationally recognized speaker who has presented on responsible gambling, financial recovery, self-help support, recovery, and gambling in the media. In recognition of his contributions to the field, he received California’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 and the Jeff Beck National Recovery Award in 2021. Marc has also been in personal recovery from gambling since 1983, which deeply informs his professional work and commitment to helping others.

Financially Sponsored By

  • Carlsbad Beach Recovery