Speaker Bio's
03/10/2026 Pre-Conference: Wellness Focus
Welcome
Speaker Bio
Break
Speaker Bio's
03/11/2026 Conference Agenda
Registration Open, Partner Resource Tables Open
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Speaker Bio
Break
Workshop 1
Quantifying Prevention: How to turn everyday stories into data that advocates for prevention
Speaker: Elizabeth Shoots
Speaker Bio
Description: This session will focus on quantifying the impact of gambling prevention programs so that donors, funders, and community stakeholders can clearly see the return on investment. Participants will learn how to use five simple survey questions to measure knowledge gained, awareness of gambling risks, personal reflections, and the most impactful information shared. Through real-world examples and data visualization tools, the workshop will demonstrate how to translate prevention outcomes into compelling stories and graphs that resonate with funders. Attendees will leave with practical templates and tools to effectively communicate the measurable value of prevention.
Continuing Education Credits: Coming Soon
Cognitive Restructuring in Action: Leveraging the BDAT Simulation in Gambling Treatment
Speaker: Dr. James Broussard
Speaker Bio
Description: This session will equip clinicians with a powerful experiential tool, the Brief Digital Accelerator Treatment (BDAT), to enhance cognitive restructuring for clients with gambling disorder. This is an app-based intervention designed for delivery on a computer, tablet or smartphone. Participants will learn how to use the BDAT's hands-on digital simulation to make abstract concepts like long-term odds and the "house advantage" tangible and undeniable. Through a live demonstration, clinicians will see how this data-driven approach directly challenges clients' biased beliefs about winning in a way that verbal discussion alone often cannot. The workshop provides a step-by-step guide for integrating this tool to facilitate concrete conversations about gambling harm and collaboratively set goals for behavior change.
Continuing Education Credits: Coming Soon
GAM-ANON: What Makes Our Recovery Program Unique?
Speaker: Coming Soon
Speaker Bio
Description: This session will allow participants to learn about the 12-step Self Help Program and how the 24/7 peer recovery network supports families and friends affected by someone else's gambling disorder. Panelists will share their stories of recovery, what brought them to Gam-Anon, and barriers they might have faced. Each speaker will focus on a Tool of the Program that has been most helpful in their recovery.
Continuing Education Credits: Coming Soon
Invisible Struggles: Problem Gambling and Accessibility Gaps for Deaf & Hard of Hearing Individuals
Speaker: Kevin Poore
Speaker Bio
Additionally, Keven is the co-chair of the Test Development Committee under the Center for Assessment of Sign Language Interpretation (CASLI), where he plays a pivotal role in shaping the standards for certification in the interpreting profession. Keven holds a Master’s in Mental Health Counseling from Gallaudet University and continues to be a leader in bridging the gap between interpreting, mental health, and addiction services for the Deaf community.
Description: This session will discuss strategies to address these gaps, focusing on the need for inclusive, accessible, and culturally sensitive services. Attendees will learn practical approaches to better support Deaf individuals, including the importance of qualified sign language interpreters, adapting prevention programs, and providing accessible resources. By the end of the session, participants will have a deeper understanding of how to support Deaf individuals with gambling issues and promote equitable access to services.
Continuing Education Credits: Coming Soon
Lunch and Networking
Speaker Bio
Break
Workshop 2
Adolescents and Gambling
Speaker: Paul Lavella
Speaker Bio
Description: With the proliferation of access to gambling and the rates at which our youth are being exposed to gambling behavior, professional and community groups may stand to benefit from learning more specifically about how these behaviors impact our youth. With the normalization of gambling in our current culture, teenagers, with still developing brains, may be more susceptible to the advertised rewards. This presentation aims to take a closer look at adolescent culture, how it intersects with gambling, what behaviors to be aware of, and how to intervene when needed.
Continuing Education Credits: Coming Soon
Beyond the Algorithm: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Providing Problem Gambling Treatment
Speaker: Steven Perdek
Speaker Bio
Description: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the landscape of mental health care and problem gambling treatment, from chatbots offering cognitive behavioral interventions to predictive algorithms identifying suicide risk. As this technology advances, mental health treatment professionals must understand both its clinical potential and its ethical, legal, and professional implications. This session provides a clinically grounded, evidence-informed exploration of how AI is currently used in mental health and problem gambling treatment, what benefits it may bring, and what critical risks must be considered.
Continuing Education Credits: Coming Soon
The Evolution of Gamblers Anonymous (Meeting Today's Changing Climate)
Speaker: Robert, Bruce and Alan
Speaker Bio
Description: This session is a wonderful introduction to the Gambler's Anonymous principles and supports. This overview will be beneficial to treatment professionals as well as offer another support to those in recovery. Attendees will gain an understanding of disordered gambling from the point of view of someone struggling. Focusing on "One Day at a time" attendees will learn how GA works, how we assist in a crisis and the tools we offer.
Continuing Education Credits: Coming Soon
Beyond the Couch: Culturally Attuned Treatment for Gambling Disorder in Diverse Urban Populations
Speakers: Shevanie Clark
Speaker Bio
Description: Participants will understand adolescent gambling as a public health issue and engage in action planning to more effectively address this issue in their respective settings. The session will start with a brief framing discussion about gambling and problem gambling, including prevalence in NYS and adolescents as an at-risk population. Case studies of adolescents treated in our outpatient SUD program who are engaging in gambling will be presented. Session to be a discussion among presenters and participants regarding what can be learned from prevention/treatment of adolescent substance use and applied to the prevention/treatment of adolescent gambling; and how to intervene faster and more effectively.
Continuing Education Credits: Coming Soon
Break
Workshop 3
WAKE UP! It's Not Just a Game: Unmasking the Dangers of Youth Gambling
Speakers: Danielle Piatkowsky and Ashley Huie
Speaker Bio
Description: Participants will understand adolescent gambling as a public health issue and engage in action planning to more effectively address this issue in their respective settings. The session will start with a brief framing discussion about gambling and problem gambling, including prevalence in NYS and adolescents as an at-risk population. Case studies of adolescents treated in our outpatient SUD program who are engaging in gambling will be presented. Session to be a discussion among presenters and participants re: what can we learn from our experience in prevention/treatment of adolescent substance use and apply to the prevention/treatment of adolescent gambling; how can we intervene faster and more effectively?
Continuing Education Credits: Coming Soon
Utilization of Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) with the Problem Gambler
Speakers: Marcus Daugherty and Kevin Ambrose
Speaker Bio
Description: This session will review the CRAFT approach which has shown success in use with problem gamblers, is responsive to concerned significant other’s self-care needs, and supports the problem gambler’s recovery process. CRAFT’s effectiveness is dependent on family members and professional’s basic awareness, knowledge and understanding of the techniques and appropriate implementation of key interventions within the approach.
Continuing Education Credits: Coming Soon
Building Resilience Through Advocacy in Gambling Recovery
Speaker: Chris Assini, FOR-NY
Speaker Bio
Description: This session will explore the vital role of advocacy and policy in our everyday lives, especially as it relates to problem gambling. Participants will learn how to effect meaningful change from within by harnessing the power of their lived experience—as peers, professionals, and advocates. The workshop will cover current policies related to problem gambling, discuss practical and political solutions, and examine how advocacy at all levels can help build personal and community resilience in a rapidly changing world.
Continuing Education Credits: Coming Soon
Gambling Disorder with our Incarcerated Individuals
Speaker: Julianah Abimbola Ogundimu
Speaker Bio
Description: This session will help participants in the conference learn the effects of Gambling Disorder with incarcerated individuals and the attention needed to avoid isolation or relapse. Attendees will learn comprehensive gambling approaches related to awareness, prevention, intervention, and treatment options for individuals who are incarcerated.
Continuing Education Credits: Coming Soon
03/12/2026 Conference Agenda
Registration Open, Partner Resource Tables Open
Opening
Speaker Bio
Through compelling storytelling, research-backed strategies, and practical tools, participants will gain insight into how trauma-informed, healing-centered approaches can shift outcomes for youth and families, strengthen prevention ecosystems, and support sustainable self-care for professionals. This keynote is both an inspiration and a call to action.
Stretch / Networking Break
Workshop 4
Coming Soon
Speaker: Coming Soon
Speaker Bio
Description: Coming Soon
Continuing Education Credits: Coming Soon
Reframing the Parents Role in Gambling Harm
Speaker: Tracey D. Little
Speaker Bio
Description: This training gives insight into the real-life impact of adult gambling on parents and families. It highlights how language, role confusion, and lack of support can deepen harm—and how helping parents work on themselves is key to recovery. By listening to lived experience, providers learn practical ways to improve treatment, prevention, and family engagement.
Continuing Education Credits: Coming Soon
Addressing Gambling Harms: RCOCs Leading the Way
Speakers: Rachel Lauria and Lillian McCarthy
Speaker Bio
Description: In this session, participants will explore the need to build the capacity of RCOCs and other recovery focused agencies/services to address gambling harms through highlighting the need found in 2024 surveys of RCOCs across NYS. The workshop will review highlights and lessons learned from collaboration between NYCPG and 8 RCOCs in 2026. Attendees will walk away with knowledge of steps they could take to build capacity of their program/agency/services to address gambling harm.
Continuing Education Credits: Coming Soon
Autism and Gambling: Understanding Risks and Interventions
Speaker: Richard Anemone
Speaker Bio
Description: Participants will learn that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder face unique challenges related to gambling disorders. Participants will first explore the existing research that sheds light on how these two issues intersect, which is crucial for understanding the broader implications. Next, we will delve into the unique challenges therapists face when working with individuals diagnosed with ASD, emphasizing the need for tailored approaches. Finally, we will identify various strategies that can be employed to effectively treat individuals with both ASD and gambling disorders.
Continuing Education Credits: Coming Soon
Lunch and Networking
Workshop 5
Addressing Gambling Harms through a Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care Approach
Speaker: Angelia Smith Wilson
Speaker Bio
Description: This session will inform the gambling community on the elements of a ROSC and the application of a ROSC in addressing gambling harms. Attendees will learn how to intregrate a recovery oriented approach when working with individuals.
Continuing Education Credits: Coming Soon
Integrated Treatment of SUD & Gambling Harms through Family Systems Lens
Speakers: Martina Deeb and Nicolas Vecchiarelli
Speaker Bio
Description: This session will support participants in exploring how co-occurring gambling and SUD impact individuals & family systems, and highlight the importance of integrating treatment for best positive outcomes. Presentation emphasizes showing how problem gambling affects family roles, communication, and stress levels, and how family involvement in treatment can support recovery and reduce harm.
Continuing Education Credits: Coming Soon
Coming Soon
Speaker: Coming Soon
Speaker Bio
Description: Coming Soon
Continuing Education Credits: Coming Soon
Complexities of Finances and Gambling
Speakers: Jim Huh and Janice Pierce
Speaker Bio
Description: This session will provide a better understanding of today's gambling environment from a financial perspective. Attendees will learn to identify risky behaviors and warning signs by looking at finances and gain a better understanding of financial literacy and wellness and support those struggling through open discussions.
Continuing Education Credits: Coming Soon
Speaker Bio
As Peer Manager at Vibrant Emotional Health in New York, NY, Scott leads a team of Peer Supervisors and Specialists, fostering performance through innovative coaching tools. He holds multiple credentials, including Certified Recovery Peer Advocate (CRPA) with a focus on problem gambling, International Gambling Recovery Specialist (IGRS), Board Approved Recovery Advisory (BARA), and Peer Supervisor Professional (PSP).
Actively engaged in legislative advocacy since 2021, Scott has supported initiatives such as the Safe Bet Act and the GRIT Act to promote responsible gambling practices. Prior to peer recovery services, he built a successful career as a CPA and financial advisor. His unique blend of financial expertise and lived experience strengthens his advocacy, leadership, and commitment to empowering recovery communities.
