Over four years ago I embarked on a journey to provide DBT classes online, the first of it's kind. We reached 13 counties and I co-owned a successful business for nearly two years. I moved away from that business and onto a 9 to 5 job as my family grew and we needed more stability.
My heart has always been in helping others and as I move into my 7th year in the field of mental health and addiction I have decided in 2018 to return to Udemy.com and push forward with online courses teaching coping skills, tips for handling anxiety and a variety of other mental health topics. I will continue with my full-time career, my on-call crisis job as well as raising 2 young children during this venture. My goal is to provide coping skills online at an affordable price, utilizing an online format and keeping skills simple and relevant- an attempt to remove barriers many have to receiving these kind of services in more traditional settings.
The equipment is en route. The logo, headshots and ideas that have been jotted down on the back of napkins, post-it notes and notepads for the last 4 years are coming together in the next few weeks and I hope to go live with courses by early Spring.
Follow my journey (back) into this realm on Social Media
https://twitter.com/ApazMA
Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
13 Groups work to ban internet gambling nationwide
It was only a matter of time, as there has not been much press about the Supreme Court ruling about online gambling.
"Referring to the Justice Department’s December interpretation of the law allowing in-state Internet gambling, the groups wrote that the decision 'unleashed actions by a growing number of revenue-hungry state governments to turn the Internet into the largest casino ever, and welcoming into homes a greater social cost than any government can handle. This action is undermining Congress’ clear intent when it passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006 that online gambling should be prohibited.'”
As of last count 9 states have video poker, 9 have Keno (I suspect it's more), Mega Millions in 43, Power ball in 41 and all 50 have Scratch-offs. I think it's a tough call and using the "think of the children" argument may not be the best in this area. The lottery funds a lot of community resources and does bring in huge revenue for the state as it hurts less than 10% of it's players. I think a better way to go is to make the lottery systems in each state allocate funds for treatment and prevention. We will see how this continues, but asking for states to stop gambling, when it brings in revenue is not going to work.
It was only a matter of time, as there has not been much press about the Supreme Court ruling about online gambling.
"Referring to the Justice Department’s December interpretation of the law allowing in-state Internet gambling, the groups wrote that the decision 'unleashed actions by a growing number of revenue-hungry state governments to turn the Internet into the largest casino ever, and welcoming into homes a greater social cost than any government can handle. This action is undermining Congress’ clear intent when it passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006 that online gambling should be prohibited.'”
As of last count 9 states have video poker, 9 have Keno (I suspect it's more), Mega Millions in 43, Power ball in 41 and all 50 have Scratch-offs. I think it's a tough call and using the "think of the children" argument may not be the best in this area. The lottery funds a lot of community resources and does bring in huge revenue for the state as it hurts less than 10% of it's players. I think a better way to go is to make the lottery systems in each state allocate funds for treatment and prevention. We will see how this continues, but asking for states to stop gambling, when it brings in revenue is not going to work.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Website is Up!
Things have been busy a 3 day drive across the country and settling in. My website is up and running!
www.aliciapaz.com
Wynn Interested in Buying Online Gambling Site
From the same folks who brought you FarmVille...
Following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the law in which on line gambling was banned (except for sports betting) I have been waiting to see what big company was going to come in and begin setting up shop in different states.
In walks Wynn Resorts now interested in purchasing Zynga an online gaming website (withmno financial bets currently.) Zynga's games are available on Facebook and other social media sites....they even have phone apps to play games. Zynga presently has about 232 million average monthly active users across 166 countries! If Wynn (or any company) is successful in this venture there may be on line legal gambling in all states fairly soon.
From the same folks who brought you FarmVille...
Following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the law in which on line gambling was banned (except for sports betting) I have been waiting to see what big company was going to come in and begin setting up shop in different states.
In walks Wynn Resorts now interested in purchasing Zynga an online gaming website (withmno financial bets currently.) Zynga's games are available on Facebook and other social media sites....they even have phone apps to play games. Zynga presently has about 232 million average monthly active users across 166 countries! If Wynn (or any company) is successful in this venture there may be on line legal gambling in all states fairly soon.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Priest Embezzles $650,00 for Gambling
I try not to address what sometimes seems like weekly news article of someone embezzling money from their company due to a gambling addiction. This article is a little different, as he's a priest and took money from the church shop. While looking for more information, I found about 10 blogs just dedicated to embezzlement cases.
I try not to address what sometimes seems like weekly news article of someone embezzling money from their company due to a gambling addiction. This article is a little different, as he's a priest and took money from the church shop. While looking for more information, I found about 10 blogs just dedicated to embezzlement cases.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Forbes: Lottery Warps Our Minds
"However noble may be the cause toward which the revenues are directed, [lotteries] foster an indigence of soul that must be overcome if democratic liberty is to thrive. In the service of revenue, they undermine the very idea of an extended temporal horizon — without which rational action becomes wholly inconceivable."
Putting the conspiracy theory part of the article aside, it is a very interesting article. I also have wondered with this lottery mania over the last week if as a Problem Gambling Counselor we will see an increase in clients? When we ask the "gambling history" question are we going to hear a lot of "I dabbled here and there, but during the big $580 Million Mega Millions things changed."
Estimates are that Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is worth around $520-600 Million.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Lottery Winners Curse
Not sure if I believe in curses, but with the Mega Millions climbing to almost $600 million there has been a lot of discussion over buying a ticket. Most clients don't find it triggering as the VLT machines, but some do and the constant media attention isn't helping. Then they "what you would do if you won," conversation begins...which leads me into this article regarding the guy who won the last biggest jackpot:
Jack Whittaker: This West Virginia businessman won $315 million in the Powerball lottery in 2002, the largest jackpot ever from a single ticket in American history at the time. After being robbed of $545,000 in cash while at a strip club, Whittaker's granddaughter and daughter were later found dead, and Whittaker was sued by Caesars Atlantic City casino for bouncing $1.5 million worth of checks to cover gambling losses.
Not sure if I believe in curses, but with the Mega Millions climbing to almost $600 million there has been a lot of discussion over buying a ticket. Most clients don't find it triggering as the VLT machines, but some do and the constant media attention isn't helping. Then they "what you would do if you won," conversation begins...which leads me into this article regarding the guy who won the last biggest jackpot:
Jack Whittaker: This West Virginia businessman won $315 million in the Powerball lottery in 2002, the largest jackpot ever from a single ticket in American history at the time. After being robbed of $545,000 in cash while at a strip club, Whittaker's granddaughter and daughter were later found dead, and Whittaker was sued by Caesars Atlantic City casino for bouncing $1.5 million worth of checks to cover gambling losses.
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