Trauma Forever or Wakanda Forever? Trauma Recovery for Culturally Diverse Clients with Disordered Gambling

CEU’s: 2

Research documents that disordered gamblers are more likely than the general population to experience trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  Culturally diverse clients and communities also experience trauma, but are often overlooked due to disparities in access, cultural mistrust of mental health treatment, and the influence of social injustice on help seeking behaviors. ‘Wakanda’ is a fictionalized African society which respects and empowers African-descent men, women, and children.  What would it look like for gambling treatment professionals and preventionists to also create culturally empowering trauma recovery and prevention services?  This session will highlight experiences of trauma among gamblers (including collective/cultural experiences of trauma) and identify empowering strategies and prevention tools to support recovery.

Objectives:

1. Understand the sequelae of trauma and how to use a trauma-informed recovery approach in the treatment of disordered gambling.
2. Understand the impact of cultural and “missed” social justice related trauma.
3. Identify two trauma informed strategies to integrate into disordered gambling treatment and recovery settings.