0 items - $0.00
Lanie's Hope

Problem Gambling Awareness: A Community Engaged – March 9, 2019

Problem Gambling Awareness: A Community Engaged – March 9, 2019

East Las Las Vegas Community Center
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Saturday March 9, 2019
1:00PM – 4:00PM

Problem Gambling is a community and public health matter. So is Recovery!  If you don’t think problem gambling impacts you…think again.  Statistics show that 6% of Nevadans are, or will become, problem  gamblers.  Statistics also show that for every ONE compulsive gambler, another TEN individuals are impacted – their spouse, children, parents, employer and friends.   Behind the “statistics” are people:)  That’s why the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling is hosting this event  focusing on “the very human side of problem gambling.”

I  like that the Council is focusing on the “Celebration” of Problem Gambling Awareness month! The focus is on the solution and supporting a healthy lifestyle.  We will hear from folks in recovery, peers and professionals, who will share how and why they became engaged in promoting awareness. These same folks will share actives that encourage healthy living, joy and recovery.  (I’ll be doing a line-dancing demo so THAT should be fun.  LOL.  I’m definitely a beginner!)

Whether you’re an advocate, a person in recovery, a policy maker or an engaged community member, please join me and Lanie’s Hope as we support the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling for Problem Gambling Awareness: A Community Engaged.

 

 

 

Mid-Central Problem Gambling Symposium -Oct 24-25, 2018

Mid-Central Problem Gambling Symposium -Oct 24-25, 2018

Mid-Central Problem Gambling Symposium

This educational program on Gambling Disorder and Recovery is hosted by the Indiana Council on Problem Gambling Indiana Council on Problem Gamblingand affiliates, This years conference will be held at the Lawrenceburg Event Center in Lawrenceburg Indiana. Lanie’s Hope will be presenting two sessions on Wednesday afternoon. “Hope and Healing” will look at the importance of Hope and Community in the recovery process. “No Wrong Door” explores the may pathways to recovery.  Many individuals seek mutual aid 12-step programs, and that’s great! 12-Step programs are ONE door, but they’re not the only door. Faith-based recovery programs, secular programs, professional therapy and intensive outpatient are just a few alternative “doors.”  As long as individuals struggling with Gambling Disorder seek help, there is nor wrong door to enter for recovery!

 

 

Four Directions Conference -Oct 1-4, 2018

September 30, 2018Bea AikensBlog, Upcoming Events0

Four Directions Conference -Oct 1-4, 2018

The 10th Annual Four Directions Problem Gambling and Health Awareness conference will be held in Shelton, WA at the Little Creek Casino Resort October 1-4, 2018. Conference information is available at Four Directions Problem Gambling and Wellness Conference

Conference topics range from mindfulness, to communication, and other culturally based practices in healing from Gambling Disorder.

Lanie’s Hope Founder, Bea Aikens, will present two sessions and introduce a newly released video on Gambling Disorder Recovery on Thursday October 4th.

 

 

Suicide seemed like the only way out from gambling addiction

Lost in my Gambling Addiction
Tammy P

November 12, 2012
I awoke in the hospital and l remembering looking over and seeing my son. I thought I was dead, because I had not seen him in over three months yet we live less than five miles from each other. Earlier that week all my lies had finally caught up with me. I hated myself and no longer wanted to live. I have only one child and had no relationship with him due to my gambling addiction. If I didn’t have him, I though, I have nothing. My gambling addiction was so out of control that I would look in the mirror and not even recognize myself. I was on high blood pressure medications because my blood pressure was so high due to the stress. I was lying, cheating stealing, whatever I could do to get the money to go and gamble and it was all coming to an end. I could not take the pressure of my actions. I had been found out by friends. My shame was so great. I needed an escape and I thought dying was the best solution.

I came home from my counseling appointment that day and decided I couldn’t do this anymore. I had no control over my gambling addiction. I wrote letters to my son and a few friends apologizing for my actions over the past few years. I remember thinking my son deserved a better mother than me. I thought he had a great wife and two beautiful children and he would be all right without me. I had hurt so many people in my life, some that do not even know yet about my addiction. I remember thinking before I closed my eyes on that day, after taking 110 pills that I was scared and I didn’t want to die. I thought it was too late. I had taken all those pills and I was going to die. I didn’t even get to tell my son I loved him, only through a letter. Well as I closed my eyes I felt I was finally going to get some peace, something I had not had in my life in a long time.
Read more →

“Casino” by A Woman in Recovery Carson City, Nevada

Here I sit with lifeless eyes,
Playing my machine…it’s do or die.

With the spin of the wheel I place my trust,
I’m gonna’ win…I must.

I think to myself I’ve gotta’ be nuts
My money is gone and I’ve gone bust.

Tomorrow’s a new day and I need more cash
“Money Tree” is up the street; so there I dash.

What the hell, I can’t lose this time.
I feel so lucky. I feel just fine. Read more →

Will you “Answer the Call”?

The Nevada Council on Problem Gambling has been doing more with less for several years. Recent budget cuts have impacted the Council’s ability to serve our community, and yet through the remarkable work of a small, focused and impassioned staff, this community service organization continues to provide exceptional resources on problem gambling, supports those impacted by problem gambling, and NEVER let’s the phone go unanswered!  They need the support of our community! It is unfathomable to me that, as of this writing, only two individuals have contributed to this drive to keep the phone lines going. I can only guess that this is because the generous Las Vegas community does not know the need exists. Please consider a contribution to keep the phone line (a life line to many) alive!
www.razoo.com/story/Anyone-Anywhere-Anytime
Read more →

Jan’s Story

I learned to play cards at the age of 5 or 6. I came from a large Italian family and my Dad taught us to play cards. I loved it and none of the adults let us kids win. We had to know how to play or had to leave the table. From that point on I loved to take chances. In 1951, at age 14, our family moved from Ohio to CA. I was always betting on things: whether or not I would get a good grade in class, dollar bill numbers…whatever. It was all fun. Read more →

From Entitled Self-Destruction to Earned Serenity and Recovery

Deborah F  2-19-12
I was raised by a child-molester. He was my stepfather from age 1 year. I let it define my life until I walked into Gambler’s Anonymous in 2005.I believed that I had a right to my addictions. After all, my childhood was less than desirable and I had come through it without going to jail, abusing my children or becoming a societal deviant, or so I thought.
Read more →

Her First Bet at Age Six Lead to a Lifetime Obsession with Gambling

I always knew that I was a gambler, willing to take risks and bet money I didn’t have from a very young age.  I can recall stealing money from my mother’s coin purse to feed my addiction of flipping cards and coins, playing marbles, and paying off lost bets at about 6 years old.  My first gambling venture was attending a weekly bingo at the local Officers Club with my mother at the age of 12 and winning a television set…..that pretty much hooked me early on for playing bingo.  My bingo playing got out of hand in Arizona in the early 80’s and I was obsessed with playing 7 days a week to feed my addiction; including driving roundtrip up and down an unlit, dirt mountainous road in order to make bingo in Phoenix each weeknight.  Read more →

Recovery Changed My Life

Jeff B.  2-4-12
I am 15 years without a bet, and they have been the best 15 years of my life. I have found direction and purpose, structure and clarity. Confusion and aimlessness has become focus and drive. I have begun to achieve the potential held dormant through years of gambling.  Read more →

Don’t Miss “Life Choices: The Event” March 23-25!

“Putting the pieces together” is inherent in addiction. Living a life of purpose and passion is the gift.

Recovery has given me the greatest gift of all – a new lens through which I view the world and the perspective to see the blessing in having twelve dollars to my name after a year of abstinence from gambling.  I share my personal journey in recovery in a story entitled “Twelve Dollars” in the book “Life Choices: Putting the Pieces Together.”  

My life’s purpose, serving as a catalyst for social change in problem gambling, was illuminated through the heartbreaking experience of losing Lanie, and is shared in the ”book “Life Choices: Pursuing Your Passion.”

Another gift of recovery is that my new lens shows me clearly that it’s not “all about me!” That’s the irony of addicts. We enter recovery with high egos and low self-esteem.  We are lonely and yet we isolate. Today my perspective is that I am here to serve – as a messenger of hope  and a conduit for change. And I am not alone! I am joined in this journey with 26 incredible authors who share their message, their experience, strength and inspiration with heart and authenticity.

And now YOU have the opportunity to hear their stories, to be inspired and to ignite your own passion by attending Life Choices: The Event, March 23-24, 2012 at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas!

Read more →

A Compelling and Passionate Speaker
Bea Aikens couples her personal experience with extensive knowledge of the disease of compulsive gambling to build a compelling platform for civic, community and national organizations seeking knowledge and understanding of the disease of disordered gambling. To engage Bea for your upcoming event, contact her at
Contact Info
Lanie's Hope
P.O. Box 60214
Boulder City, NV 89006
702.812.1922
Follow Us