Plenary speakers

Jeffrey L. Derevensky, Ph.D., is a child psychologist, and Professor of School/Applied Child Psychology, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology; and Professor, Department of Psychiatry at McGill University. He is a clinical consultant to numerous hospitals, school boards, government agencies and corporations. Dr. Derevensky has published widely in the field of youth gambling, is on the editorial board of several journals, and has provided expert testimony before numerous international governmental commissions. Dr. Derevensky is co-director of McGill University's Youth Gambling Research & Treatment Clinic and the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors.

David C. Hodgins, Ph.D., is a professor in the Program in Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Canada. Dr. Hodgins is also a coordinator with the Alberta Gaming Research Institute. His research interests focus on various aspects of addictive behaviours including relapse and recovery from substance abuse and gambling disorders. He has developed a brief treatment for gambling problems that uses a motivational enhancement model, and research examining its efficacy is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The treatment model is recognized as a promising treatment by the United States Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. In 2010, he received the Scientific Achievement Award from the US National Center for Responsible Gaming.  Dr. Hodgins teaches in the clinical psychology program and has an active cadre of graduate students. He maintains a private practice in Calgary in addition to providing consultation to a number of organizations internationally.