VA offers gambling addicts treatment

By Liz Benston

Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2003 | 11:06 a.m.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has opened its first problem gambling treatment program for veterans in Southern Nevada -- one of few such programs available in the region for compulsive gamblers.

The VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System program consists of two-hour treatment sessions two times a week in the evenings for six weeks. Follow-up sessions also are available up to a week following the intensive treatment program.

A lack of treatment centers to which veterans can be referred, coupled with the fact that Las Vegas is still "the gambling capital of the world," led to the development of the program, said Pat Duncan, chief of mental health at the VA of Southern Nevada.

The program is free for veterans. It is not open to their dependents or non-veterans.

The program will be supervised by Dr. Rena Nora, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Nevada Medical School at UNLV and a longtime proponent of problem gambling treatment.

Nora, former chief of psychiatry for the VA Southern Nevada system, has treated veterans with compulsive gambling problems on an individual basis for more than eight years and has about 22 years of experience in the problem gambling field.

The VA has already had many requests to expand the program to non-veterans, Nora said.

"Here we are, the most available and accessible area for gambling opportunities and we only have a handful of treatment programs," she said.

The program will join the Problem Gambling Center, a doctor-supervised, pro-bono treatment program dedicated to counseling problem gamblers in Southern Nevada.

There are many private practitioners who also deal with addiction problems in Southern Nevada for a fee.

And Nellis Air Force Base offers free problem gambling counseling for enlisted personnel as part of its family services programs.

Also Tuesday, the Problem Gambling Center announced the addition of new programs to complement an existing six-week treatment program.

The center has opened a family counseling program for family members who are affected by an individual's gambling problems. Soon to open are daytime treatment sessions for people who work graveyard shifts.

The existing program serves about 200 to 300 people a year through treatment sessions that run four nights a week for several hours a night. After six weeks, gamblers attend follow-up sessions once a week for a year and are encouraged to attend therapy groups offered by Gamblers Anonymous.

Problem Gambling Center is a nonprofit funded by casinos and other private donors, including Station Casinos Inc. and slot maker International Game Technology. IGT recently made a commitment of $50,000 each year for the next five years -- money will go to the daytime treatment sessions, center Director Dr. Robert Hunter said. The family counseling program is funded through a separate recent grant from the Lee family in Las Vegas, owners of the Eureka casino chain, he said.

"We support anyone who's trying to help," Hunter said of the VA program. "Rena Nora is a very well respected professional."

The VA has a long history with problem gambling services. The late Dr. Robert Custer, a top mental health official with the VA, in 1972 founded the nation's first treatment center for problem gamblers in Ohio. His efforts at the center led to the recognition of compulsive gambling as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association.

Last year, the Salvation Army in Las Vegas began offering gambling treatment for people already enrolled in the nonprofit's residential program for alcohol and drug addiction. The Salvation Army is seeking funding to offer a separate program for problem gamblers.

Several months ago, Trimeridian Inc. closed its fledgling treatment center in Las Vegas. Indiana-based Trimeridian is a nationwide, for-profit company offering inpatient and outpatient treatment for gambling problems.

"It's hard to make money treating problem gamblers" who often can't pay for services, said Hunter, a former member of Trimeridian's advisory board.