A Seasoned Mental Health Practitioner’s Perspective | Sandra Beecher

Sandra is a compassionate mental health advocate that brings passion, experience and empathy to her profession.  She has spent several years in the field as a proponent for providing disordered gambling services and eliminating the stigma often associated with problem gambling.

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Transcript:

WAGER DANGER EPISODE 10: A SEASONED MENTAL HEALTH PRACTITIONERS PERSPECTIVE – SANDRA BEECHER

Host: Shane Cook

Hey, everyone. Shane Cook here with Wager nature. We really had a fantastic opportunity with this Latinx conference, and hopefully you had a chance to go back and listen to that episode. But it provided an advantage for us to be in the same room with a lot of different practitioners, a lot of mental health service providers. And one of the people that we had the opportunity to sit down with is Sandra Beecher. Sandra has been with Gateway for a little over four years, but brings with her a wealth of knowledge as it pertains to gambling disorder as a mental health issue and to have the opportunity to sit down and have a conversation with her very frank. 

She’s one of the first people that I met when I joined the team here at Gateway and really provided a good amount of structure for our program to begin with. And it ended up giving me the opportunity to build upon the work that she and some of the other people that were involved initially really rolled out here at Gateway. So very grateful to have a few minutes of her time and sit down and explore some different topic areas with her. And I think one of the things you’ll find out very quickly is how compassionate she is, the fire that she has, the real desire to truly get out and help people with this addiction. So enjoy my conversation with Sandra. 

Host: Shane Cook

Sandra is one of our business development coordinators at Gateway. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about what you do in that role? 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

Well, I wear many different hats, so I guess it’s more about building relationships really is my strength. So I’ve been doing it for many years throughout different treatment facilities. But I’ve been at Gateway almost, let’s see, it’ll be four years in July. 

Host: Shane Cook

4 years. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

Yeah. Okay, so building relationships and really my passion is helping other people and getting them help with services, no matter what that is. 

Host: Shane Cook

Yeah. So you’re out in the community just doing outreach events, talking to other community providers, community partners, I should say. What would be some of the partners that you would come in contact with and just represent Gateway in front of them? 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

Well, I think a lot of them is we do what we call recovery ordinance. Systems of care is huge right now of just building a lot of different resources and tapping into either psychiatrists or counselors, other treatment providers. We also do that on a national level to kind of promote our programs, because we have a lot of programs here at Gateway. 

Host: Shane Cook

Sure. I would assume that allows for the free flow of ideas. So you pick some things up from those other providers, the other agencies that you’re working with, but it also allows us to do referrals back and forth, reciprocate referrals right. For services that may be provided that we don’t offer and vice versa. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

Yes. 

Host: Shane Cook

Okay. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

That is exactly right. And I think that it’s a huge thing. Some people call it partnering or collaborating with one another. But as we know with the patients that we serve, it needs to be holistically. And we can’t be all, do all. So the more partners we have to help, others holistically with someone that is dealing with a lot of different things. We need help from everybody in the community right now. 

Host: Shane Cook

Are there other people at Gateway that provide this, that do the same thing that are Business Development Coordinators? 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

Well, yeah, they do, but I have that clinical background, so I’m really in the weeds and really advocating for families and individuals because, one, I’m seasoned. Okay. I am called a Senior Business Development Coordinator. So I’m the only one within the Business Developments Coordinators that have that title. And it’s just because I’ve been doing it longer and I do anything from checking benefits and if we can’t help them, I mean, I get a lot of different calls for different services. Maybe I need a psychiatrist or they’re coming from California and they’re coming back here and need help that way. So it’s just a resource for a resource, and I love that part. 

Host: Shane Cook

Sure. Well, you’re one of the first people that I met when I joined Gateway, and very quickly I learned that you have a passion for gambling disorder, providing gambling disorder services. Where does that history come from or where does that passion emanate from? 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

Well, I think growing up with several in my family that were gamblers, not really knowing the devastation, but there was a lot of addiction in my family. So having gotten into this field and really understanding addictions and what that means as far as that genetic piece and being able to help so many, and my passion has always been either making a difference or really being that being there for people. People don’t know what questions to ask. They don’t where do I get help? And with the passion with gambling, it’s so hidden and to make people not make people, but to help people feel comfortable with asking and talking about their problems. With gambling, it’s energizing for me because once they feel comfortable and start talking, then you realize where you can get them to the appropriate place and feel comfortable advocating for them. 

Host: Shane Cook

Sure. I think it’s interesting we’re both attending this Latinx conference here today in Cicero. It’s been largely coordinated by the Illinois Council on problem Gambling in conjunction with Cicero Family Services here at Morton College. One theme that has come through loud and clear today, and you just touched on that in your previous remarks, is the destigmatization of problem gambling. And I know it wasn’t necessarily intended as a topic, but everybody that’s talked so far on the agenda today has in some way addressed the very real stigma that exists around problem gambling. How do you think we get beyond that? 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

Gosh, Shane, that’s a tough question, and it’s a good question. And I think the more and more people, again, they touched on it in the presentations where you don’t know what you don’t know, and trying to help educate others and help families educate their kids and continuing on down the chain throughout extended families to educate. And I don’t know that we’ll ever get beyond the stigma. It’s better than it was. But you just talk about the stigma of addiction and mental health. Young people that come on, and you feel like you can kind of pass the baton to them. They’re experiencing the same things that we’ve experienced as seasoned helpers, heal, help the helpers. And I think just continuing to grow in communities and continue to build that with that education. 

Host: Shane Cook

Yeah, my personal belief, too, is a lot of it has to do with awareness and creating that awareness. I think the destigmatization of alcohol abuse and drug abuse has gotten a long way over the years. And gambling, because it’s a hidden addiction. We don’t see it, smell it, taste it, anything, right? The more we talk about it, the more we get the messages out in the communities. The new marketing campaign that’s been developed that is being rolled out statewide, I think will have a great impact on this as well. I know it’s a tough one. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

It is, but we’ll keep I think I started in maybe 2007, and when I kind of started in this career, as far as the business development coordinators, I had some mentors, kind of the forefathers of what I called. And my mentors, they developed a gambling program, and they were kind of like the three fathers and doing presentations. And I’d put on many 30 hours gambling programs to where they can get certified and just being really passionate about that and training and teaching others to help train others and continue. Now, they do a lot of 30 hours trainings and try to get people credentialed and things of that nature to help others. But in all of that, I still think the same. They talked about it in a presentation today about the acceptability, the accessibility. 

And when I think when I started using that same language about acceptability and accessibility, my gosh, you can go in the bathroom and gamble. And it’s just trying to help people to understand that you can do it from anywhere and just the flip of a button. 

Host: Shane Cook

It’s amazing to me, and I get this question often, and I’m sure you do, too, is why is gambling such an issue? Why should we care? Why are we spending so much time talking about this? And every time I come back to it’s, because it’s so accessible today that anybody can be twenty-four, seven, you don’t have to leave the house. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

No. 

Host: Shane Cook

And you look at where we’ve been as a population over the last couple of years. Everybody’s stuck at home, other venues being shut down, it’s very easy to turn to your pocket or reach into your pocket and pull up a gaming app. Yeah. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

And I think just at the end of the day, when we talk about gambling and I still talk to so many people that will call me and talk about counseling and credit counseling and the devastation and the stories, that you hear when it’s too late and it’s never too late but still it’s just the reality check when it comes to head and the job loss and the money loss. And seniors that lose their whole retirement that they’ve worked all their life for just gone in the blink of an eye. You can’t come back from that very easily. 

Host: Shane Cook

Yeah. Heartbreaking story that was shared today of the widow who was left $400,000 and it was gone in a matter of well, I’m sure for her, it felt like it was overnight. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

Oh, I’m sure. 

Host: Shane Cook

But it’s just heartbreaking. There are many stories like that, and it’s sad. So just very fortunate that you’re out there within the community and talking to people and making sure that they have access to treatment. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

Thank you. 

Host: Shane Cook

Yeah. So when you’re on the road and you’re talking to potential partners, other agencies, maybe out in the community talking to individuals, what’s the one thing that you want that audience to take away? 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

Good question. You mean like when I’m doing my presentation? 

Host: Shane Cook

Sure. When you’re given a presentation, and maybe even when you’re just one one with someone who may be hinting that gambling might be a problem for them. And what’s the one thing that each and every time I want this person to walk away with this information or what is it? 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

I think for me, even just on an individual level, it’s just allowing them to tell their story. 

Speaker 1:

Okay. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

And a lot of people, not a lot, but most that are gamblers and hidden and have so many underlying issues that’s going once they tell their story and feel comfortable, we talk about building relationships and being just listening, they feel non-threatened. Once you listen to their story and they really cry out for help in their story, it’s nice to get other people connected with them and do that kind of warm handoffs when you have those resources with other partners, you know, who is available and can do that same thing. 

Host: Shane Cook

Yeah. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

But then in presentations, I think my big takeaway is the holistic part. Sometimes people don’t understand where you’re talking about just gambling. You’re talking about underlying issues such as depression and anxiety and suicide. And then you’re also talking about the devastation of their financial needs and then other things. As far as family, when you talk about addiction, it devastates every area of your life. It’s not just one sector. And we use the language of it used to be hit rock bottom. Well, that’s not the language we use anymore. It’s more about getting off the elevator before you hit rock bottom. 

Host: Shane Cook

Okay. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

So just trying to educate that. It has to be the whole person. And if one person or one treatment center can’t do all, be all, then partner with others that can help you while they’re taking care of each piece in their life. 

Host: Shane Cook

Okay. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

And setting them up, a lot of people say, well, what do you treat first? Do you treat the alcohol use disorder, or do you treat gambling? Well, I think you need to treat both of them together also with the underlying issues of anxiety and depression and suicide and all of those things that they’re feeling. And set them up with credit counseling, set them up with the things that they need so that they feel like when they start getting healthy, then one doesn’t exacerbate the other. 

Host: Shane Cook

Sure. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

It’s a really big thing because if you take care of the gambling, the alcohol is going to be there. Or if you take care of the alcohol, the gambling is going to be there. 

Host: Shane Cook

Right. And I think, as we learned today and I keep coming back today, but this is on multiple occasions, having heard Dr. Napier speak, she does a really good job of connecting why the mind is so important in all of this and how the behavior never really leaves because it’s imprinted right within the brain. So having every other area at least addressed and somewhat in a stable state for an individual coming out of if I’m paraphrasing what I’m hearing, having all of that stability just sets the person up for a greater likelihood of success. With a recovery program, you have that. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

Support and you have the community, and then you have other people involved in their life. You have alumni programs. You have ga programs. Is it tough? Sure, it’s tough. 

Host: Shane Cook

Right. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

But we all have to work hard because that’s why we’re trying to make a difference. We have to continue to work hard and continue to build as a community. If it’s just one person, that’s great. If we can save one life, that’s great. 

Host: Shane Cook

All right, Sandra, I want to shift gears a little bit. You’ve been involved in problem gambling treatment and addressing it from a clinical perspective for some time now, and we talked a little bit about the access that we have in Illinois to gambling, which is relatively new for the citizens of Illinois in terms of just opening up sports books. So there’s constant 24/7 access. Now, we’ve talked about video gaming terminals in the past, at least on this show. I know there are probably more video gaming terminals in the state of Illinois than anywhere else. So you could argue that we’ve always had access, but that still requires people to leave their homes, get in the car, and drive two or 3 miles. It may or may not be convenient for them. Is there something nearby? Sure. And that’s relatively new. 

I mean, that’s been in the last ten years that the video gaming terminals have really reached that fever pitch. What I’m getting at, though, is in the United States itself, gambling accessibility is relatively new for us as a society. Whereas if you look elsewhere outside the US. If you look at Europe or Australia, they’ve had access to this type of gambling for a long time. And there are now studies that are coming out that indicate that because of this close proximity, the accessibility, you’ve seen an inordinate rise in problem gambling. Would you agree that we are just at the beginning of what could be a potential I don’t want to use the word tsunami because I think it’s a bit inflammatory, but could we be poised for a surge in the number of people that are experiencing problem gambling here in the US? 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

I think so, absolutely. And I think that since we had the pandemic, I think that’s only going to be kind of like the perfect storm to that because it just increased a lot of different addictions, increased isolation. We were, by ourselves, and we needed to entertain. We all have been traumatized by this pandemic. 

Host: Shane Cook

Right. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

And most of us, not all of us, know what is good for us and what is not. But you’ve got people that have not had anxiety and depression before, and those are as well struggling with what makes me happy anymore. How can I wake up every day and go, this thrills me, and the more and more the advertisement and that it’s okay to engage in this behavior, and they don’t talk about the risk of it, and they’re already chained to it once they’ve already started engaging in. And as we know, research shows that if you’re engaging in something, say, 66 days, you know, they used to say, you know, 21 days, you know, you can lose weight or whatever, but we’re talking 66 days. If you do something, it becomes a habit and behavior that you’re engaging in, whether it’s good or bad. 

And when we talk about responsible gaming and gambling, you’re already addicted to it. It’s already a problem. 

Host: Shane Cook

Right? Yeah. It’s almost alarming the extent that gambling has been normalized. I know you’ve had these discussions and you’ve seen it before, and it might be little things that occur that I heard an example earlier today about. It was within the context of a school setting with school-age children studying probability and utilizing the March Madness bracket as the means for studying probability. So it’s kind of interesting how normalized it is within our society. And the Ads, I mean, the Ads normalize it even more. And they’re so frequent these days. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

They know what they’re doing. Yeah, of course, I know. Let me tell you a story because it can be so innocent. I mean, we’ve all grown up with that Christmas cards and scratch-offs, but a lot of us have that either genetic piece or that it’s a nightmare for them once they start engaging in that. But I was in St. Louis and Motocross racing. We always went to motocross racing. And I have 13 kids adopted, and I’ve had come in with a lot of baggage. But anyway, they know what I do and I’ve helped them throughout their life with their behaviors. But anyway, were at a gas station and there was a gentleman that came in and evidently his five-year-old has one big for him. 

So it was kind of like his ritual piece that he always got to pick out the scratch-offs. 

Host: Shane Cook

Okay. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

So he gets to the counter. He says, okay, which ones do you want? And he gets what he wants. Well, he wants to do it right now and scratch those off in the gas station. And his father kept saying, let’s wait till we get to the car. He had a meltdown in front of everyone. And so in my mind, I’m like, oh, if you only knew what you were doing. And it’s just, again, just innocently. Do you think his son, five-year-old son, is going to have a gambling problem when he grows up? So just those kinds of examples and things that you see and hear, but sometimes people just don’t see that. 

Host: Shane Cook

Right. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

I’m sure he was a very loving father, and he didn’t I mean, my grandfather didn’t think anything about it when we go to the horse races. 

Host: Shane Cook

Exactly. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

You just don’t. 

Host: Shane Cook

Things like that have been baked into our culture. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

You’re right. 

Host: Shane Cook

Really? You talk about going to the horse races and things like that. It’s something that not everybody has access to go to the horse races. But now those barriers are gone. And that’s what concerns me a lot as we move forward and we spend a lot of time talking about it. This show, we probably devote more time talking about sports gambling than anything else because it is so impactful and it impacts a lot of people. March coming up, March Madness. How many workplaces can you go to where somebody’s coordinating the brackets? Brackets, super bowl, the same thing. Who’s got squares? Right. I mean, it’s pretty pervasive out there. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

It is. 

Host: Shane Cook

And I think not everybody recognizes how it can affect some people more than others. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

Right. We just don’t realize that. And that’s when we need to be here and educate and continue to do presentations and build those communities together to be a face for them so that they can get help. 

Host: Shane Cook

Yeah. So what’s the most rewarding experience you’ve had around being with Gateway? Providing gambling services. Gambling problem gambling services or gambling disorder services, if you even care to share. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

Well, I have a lot of respect for Gateway. You know, they didn’t know me when I came on board. I mean, they knew of me or about me, but I have a lot of respect for them because I said, you know, you guys really need to start helping and get into gambling. I mean, addiction for I mean, process addictions, gaming, gambling, sex, food, internet shopping and spending, all of those, they’re alive and well in our culture, but I just respect them for even considering it. Hey, okay, let’s do this. And not a lot of places will do that. So I do have that respect and it is rewarding. 

And then for people that I answer my phone, I’m on my phone all the time, so that so and so, hey, call Sandra, maybe she can help you with this or get you to the right place when you’ve been doing that long enough. It’s amazing to me how people, regardless of where I’m at or that they’ll find me. And that’s very rewarding for people to call me and go, man, you saved my life. It was just one word that you said or, I got my life together. And not everybody calls you and tells you that, so they’re far and few between, but it’s just that one time that will last a lifetime for me. 

Host: Shane Cook

Yeah, that’s great. Well, I certainly appreciate having the opportunity to get to know you better. Like I said, you were one of the first people that I met when I joined Gateway and started to take the program that had been started and pick it up and carry it forward. So had a lot of good bones to it, I should say thank you from the very beginning and really appreciate your willingness to jump in and do whatever it takes. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

Thank you. I appreciate you, too. 

Host: Shane Cook

Appreciate having you on the show. 

Guest: Sandra Beecher

Thank you for asking me. 

Host: Shane Cook

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