We are happy to announce a new offering of the Introduction to Problem Gambling course that will take place this upcoming winter from February 5^th – March 8^th, 2024.

This five-week, online course will be facilitated by Peter Chen (HSc, Bed), and will provide a basic understanding of gambling and problem gambling, including definitions, gambling concepts, understanding addiction, risk factors and harms, cognitive distortions, screening, assessment and relapse prevention.  It is intended for addiction and mental health service providers who may be in a position to support someone with issues related to problem gambling.

The four online modules include a mix of didactic content, readings and forum discussions and will take approximately 2-3 hours each week to complete. In the final week (March 4^th – 8^th, 2024), learners will attend a live webinar where they will role-play with a simulated patient, directly, based on a case study from the course. A simulated patient is someone trained to play the role of a client. The webinar will take approximately two hours, which includes preparation time.  Please note that participation in the live webinar is required in order to receive Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

By the end of this course, learners will be able to:

1. Distinguish and differentiate between activities to determine if they are gambling;
2. Identify different reasons for gambling;
3. Explain fundamental concepts in gambling and describe how they apply to gambling;
4. Compare and contrast different conceptualizations of problem gambling and addiction;
5. Select relevant risk factors, pathways, harms, co-occurring disorders, and cognitive distortions to develop a treatment plan;
6. Compare evidence-based treatment approaches for problem gambling to approaches used in one’s practice; and,
7. Apply unique assessment considerations and relapse prevention strategies for problem gambling.

This continuing professional development activity is held under the auspices of Continuing Professional Development, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto and The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).  It has been assessed for up to a maximum of 12 hours.

This course has also been accredited by the Canadian Problem Gambling Certification Board and the Canadian Addiction Counsellors Certification Federation for 12 Continuing Education Units/Hours.

To learn more about the course and register, please click here:

https://kmb.camh.ca/ggtu/trainings#courses-122