Page 4
The
Portland Observer Black
History Month
February 20, 2013
GREAT LEADERS ALL HAVE
ONE THING IN COMMON.
H E ART.
PHOTO BY CARI HACHM ANN/THE PORTLAND OBSERVER
Standing up to adversity was a routine part of their day.
Philip Yassenoff (right), program manager at Cascadia
Behavioral Healthcare’s gambling treatment program at
Southeast 43rd and Division, with Jose Ricardo Vargas
Garcia (left), a gambling addiction adviser, and
Nathaniel Peterson, a former gambling addict.
Their work took courage, persistence, and an incredible
amount of heart.
At Kaiser Permanente, we believe when we're physically
Head over
Heels in Bets
strong, it serves as a foundation for facing personal and
professional challenges. That's why we've dedicated
ourselves to combatting one of the nation's most pressing
health problems—heart disease.
And while our industry-leading work in heart and
vascular care has earned us numerous accolades,
what drives us is the belief that we're all connected by
So keep tabs on your blood pressure. Check your
cholesterol levels. And stay active. Take care of your
heart. And then, use it well.
KAISER PERMANENTE
.' 0' 3 K j'icr
F i, .in ja t on Hea
in
to get money to gamble and
how to maintain gambling.”
gambling addiction can overlap
W hen he lost his jo b ,
other addictions, like alcohol, or Peterson finally called to get
mental health issues, like de­ help. He checked into a treat­
pression.
ment facility where he met with
Problem gamblers may go a counselor. For the first four
out of their way — rob, steal, or five months, he continued to
embezzle, abuse and take ad­ lie and gamble as he got help.
vantage of the ones they love—
But after being sick and tired
to get more money to gamble. of being sick and tired, Peterson
“It’s like finding a key to a door realized treatment was an op­
that they never knew existed,” portunity to change his char­
said Yassenoff.
acter, restore his values and
He tells his clients, “You are beliefs, and learn how to take
not weak. You did not wake up control of his life again.
one day and become a patho­
Today, having spent four and
logical gambler.” Something one half years in recovery and
happened to you in your life, as participant of Gambling
emotional loss, a divorce, dis­ Anonymous, Peterson has not
turbing childhood, poverty, a relapsed.
social injustice, any breadth of
“People demonstrate such
issues, he said, that leads you courage and willingness to have
down a road of addiction.
that learning process,” said
Gambling transcends demo­ Yassenoff of his clients. “Gam­
graphics, he said. A chief ex­ bling becomes a catalyst to
ecutive may be just as affected improve their life across the
as a blue collar worker, only board.”
the former has more money to
Peterson says one of his ul­
blow.
timate realizations was that he
For Peterson, gambling was was not alone. Now he wants
a way to escape his emotional to make sure people are aware
issues. “It’s like a drug,” he that gambling addiction is a
said. “All your thinking re­ very real thing. “I want to put
volves around gambling, how a face on gambling,” he said.
continued
something much deeper than what's on the outside—
that which is on the inside.
o' the
Ne
from front