Parents, teachers and family members often fail to recognize the unique risk factors of gambling when interacting with teens and young adults.On today’s episode our expert panel discusses the preventative solutions for gaming and gambling harm while dealing with this young and vulnerable demographic.

LGBTQ-identifying individuals face a greater risk of developing substance use and mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression and suicidality. Sometimes accelerating these issues, many LGBTQ people find community and support in party and drinking culture, which can make seeking treatment and recovery more isolating. We address this and other barriers - like cost and gendered programs - and what all treatment centers can learn from organizations such as Center on Halsted to reduce these barriers.

Center on Halsted Director of Behavioral Health Ing Swenson, LCSW and CADC, has been working with the LGBTQ population since 2001 to decrease stigma and increase access to care.

Learn more by emailing [email protected], visiting centeronhalsted.org or calling 773.472.6469 ext. 460.

What if you could go to substance use detox then the dentist on the same day, in one place - and your insurance would cover it? At PCC Community Wellness Center, this is the norm. PCC provides integrated healthcare to underinsured and uninsured individuals. Although we don't downward-dog in a PCC yoga class or get into the weeds of the organization's urban farm in this episode, we discuss the benefits of integrated care, especially for mothers and babies with substance use disorders, and theorize about what it would take to become a Vision Zero world - where overdoses cease to exist.

PCC Chief Population Health Officer Amanda Brooks, LCSW, CADC, is a graduate of the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration and a recovering Rockette.

Learn more by visiting pccwellness.org or contacting [email protected].

A 2016 study found 20 percent of the 13,000 lawyers and judges sampled had alcohol use disorders, and even more classified as problem drinkers. Additionally, 28 percent of the lawyers reported depression and 19 percent experienced anxiety. We sit down with Illinois Lawyers' Assistance Program (LAP) Executive Director Robin Belleau, JD, LCPC, to find out why and what can be done to help.

Robin practiced law for eight years, specializing in juvenile, criminal and family law, before entering the field of behavioral health medicine. She served for four years as clinical director of Illinois LAP, which offers free substance use and mental health services to Illinois judges, lawyers and law students, before becoming executive director.

https://illinoislap.org/

A senior PR specialist at CG Life and an editor of the Illinois Science Council blog, Ben Marcus studied molecular and cellular biology at University of Illinois then neurobiology for his Ph.D. at University of Chicago. He builds bridges between science and the general public and between the lab and the clinic. We talk to Ben about the relationship of substance use and one of life's greatest mysteries - the human brain.

http://www.illinoisscience.org/blog/

https://cglife.com/

After serving more than 30 years as executive director of Peer Services and being recognized with Mental Health America’s George Goodman and Ruth P. Brudney Social Work Award, Kate Mahoney now helms The Chicago School of Professional Psychology’s Naomi Ruth Cohen Institute as executive director. We talk to Kate about the need for medication assisted treatment, harms of mental health stigma, and power of building lasting community connections.

https://naomicoheninstitute.org

http://peerservices.org/