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The
Cupchik Center
for the Assessment and Treatment
of
Atypical Theft Offenders
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Psychologist Dr. Will Cupchik
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NEW!
SKYPE-based Intensive
Intervention Program; Work live with Dr.
Cupchik
from your own home via the Internet.
The
Classic 4-Day in-office Intensive Intervention
Program with Dr. Cupchik
Kleptomania:
A chronically and erroneously misused label
Prior Media Contacts
Free
Brief Screening Interview
The
Cupchik Theft Offender Spectrum
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Page BROCHURE for 4-Day Intensive Intervention Program
Gerald,
An Excellent Example of a Typical Thief Offender
When Celebrities Shoplift
On
Execucrime Practice Information Bulletin
Two
Articles of Interest to Professions and Laypersons Curriculum
Vitae [Resume]
The
potential misuse of anti-depressants for cases of supposed 'kleptomania'
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General Information Note About THE CUPCHIK CENTER:
Dr. Will
Cupchik formerly
held the position of Psychologist-in-Charge, Forensic Outpatient
Psychological Services at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, a
major research psychiatric facility associated with the University of
Toronto, where he conducted the first studies and therapeutic programs
for Atypical Theft Offenders, beginning
three decades ago, in 1979. He was the
senior author of the ground-breaking article entitled Shoplifting:
An Occasional Crime of the Moral Majority, published in the
professional journal, The Bulletin of the American Academy of
Psychiatry and the Law, over 25 ago, in 1983.
In 1986 Dr.
Cupchik went into full-time private practice and has continually developed
and refined the programs he offers to the Center's clients. These
individuals are
essentially ethical and honest
adults who nevertheless have shoplifted (perhaps repeatedly) and/or
committed other acts of theft, thereby jeopardizing their careers,
incomes and/or pensions,
personal reputations, home lives, and possibly even their freedom. Our purpose
is to assist
these 'Atypical Theft Offenders' to: (1) uncover why they have carried
out such self-destructive acts; (2) help them confront and deal with the underlying issues that have
precipitated this theft behavior; and (3) assist them in stopping these
atypical (for them) illegal
activities!
Too often
these individuals have been mis-diagnosed as suffering from 'kleptomania'
and as a consequence, have been mis-treated, as a result
of which they have usually committed additional similar offences and are
likely to remain at
risk for doing so again - and again - until the underlying issues precipitating their
self-destructive theft behavior have been identified and appropriately
dealt with.
Dr. Cupchik's more than
36 years working in this clinical
area have resulted in his developing numerous focused assessment and therapeutic
methodologies that assist him in helping clients to identify and
deal with the relevant underlying precipitating issues in such ways as to
very considerably reduce the likelihood of their ever acting out again in the future.
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More
about Dr. Will Cupchik & The
Cupchik Center for the Assessment and Treatment of
Atypical Theft Offenders
Psychologist
Dr. Will Cupchik is the clinician who, over 36 years
ago, while working on the Forensic Service of the Clarke
Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto, first investigated and
identified many of
the root causes behind the atypical - and ultimately
self-destructive - theft behavior of usually honest, ethical, often
financially sufficiently well off, and genuinely responsible members of society. These 'Atypical Theft
Offenders' are very often erroneously labeled as suffering from
'kleptomania'.
In 1985, Dr. Cupchik and
his then colleague, senior psychiatrist Dr. Don Atcheson [while both
worked at the
Clarke Institute of Psychiatry] introduced the term
'Atypical Theft Offender' into the professional literature in
a chapter they wrote for the book, CLINICAL CRIMINOLOGY: THE
ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR.
The
term 'Atypical Theft Offender' is used to refer to those usually honest and ethical individuals
who find that they are sometimes inclined to shoplift or commit other
kinds of theft and seem unable to resist the inclination to do so, even
knowing the great risks they are taking in regard to their
personal and/or professional reputation, livelihood, and perhaps
even their freedom.
These
Atypical Theft Offenders are often hard-working, perhaps
highly educated, successful, and sometimes even deeply
religious persons, and yet, regardless of these and other many positive
attributes and abilities, virtually always fail to understand
the reasons for, and - even more
importantly - fail
to stop their atypical
theft behavior. Furthermore, as long as these individuals are not
correctly
clinically assessed and treated, they very frequently remain at serious
risk of re-offending.
Dr. Cupchik's clinical investigations clearly indicate that the label of
'kleptomania' is almost always erroneously
applied to these theft offenders. This serious mistake is not only made by
many academics, researchers and practicing clinicians (including
psychologists, psychiatrists, and clinical social workers) but
also by many defense
and prosecuting attorneys, the courts, the media, and understandably,
therefore, by most laypersons.
This
frequently erroneously applied diagnostic label continues in spite of the fact that Drs. Cupchik
and Atcheson's ground-breaking article, entitled "Shoplifting:
An Occasional Crime Of The Moral Majority", was published
in the prestigious, peer-reviewed professional journal, the Bulletin of the American Academy of
Psychiatry and the Law, in 1983, over 27 years ago! Their clinical findings
have since been corroborated by other clinicians.
Dr. Cupchik still personally conducts the
unique 4-Day in-office Intensive Intervention Program that he has continuously refined over the past decades. He also conducts weekly sessions as well as the latest,
Skype-enabled, live-video Intervention program
he has developed for those clients who
prefer to participate from their own home.
Professional
Affiliations:
Dr. Cupchik has been a member
of both the American Psychological Association and the
Canadian
Psychological Association for more than three decades. He is now a
' life
member' of both associations.
He also holds a Certificate of
Professional Qualification in Psychology granted by the Association of State and Provincial
Psychology Boards. Currently,
the psychology boards of all fifty states of the United States,
the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and
all ten provinces of Canada are members of ASPPB.
The
Certificate
of Professional Qualification in Psychology (CPQ) is a
designation developed by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards
(ASPPB) to promote mobility for licensed doctoral
psychologists in the United States and Canada. The CPQ documents
that the individual holding the certificate has met specific
requirements in licensure, education, examination and
training and has never had disciplinary actions taken against
his or her license.
Dr. Cupchik is a featured speaker
( via a non-exclusive agreement)
with the major speakers' bureau, Speakers Spotlight ( www.speakers.ca)
. To go directly to his webpage on that site, just click on http://speakers.ca/cupchik_will.aspx
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About Skype™. Skype™
is the easy to download and use, free video live chatting tool
that, assuming you have a suitable computer, webcam
and
Internet access, enables you to personally work with Dr. Cupchik from the
comfort of your own home - no matter where you live in the
USA, Canada,
Great Britain, or just about anywhere else in the world -
without having to personally travel to his office in Toronto,
Canada. Dr. Cupchik has held SKYPE sessions with various
individuals in Arizona, California, Hawaii, New Hampshire,
New York, and Wisconsin. To
arrange for the Skype™-based Program, first contact Dr. Cupchik by
sending him a comprehensive email to wcupchik@aol.com, providing him with detailed information about
yourself and the issues that you need to address. |
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Details
Regarding The Economic Benefits Of The
Skype-based Intervention Program: This program has brought very
considerable savings to clients in
terms of the time, travel and money that they would need to spend
in order to obtain Dr. Cupchik's professional assistance. The
current fee for the 20-session long, Skype-enabled, live-video Intervention program
is $4985U.S.
By
comparison, the typical costs for attending the in-office 4-day,
19-session program are considerably greater, involving Dr.
Cupchik's in-office
professional fee of $6985 in addition to the travel, lodging and food
expenses frequently incurred,
often totaling a cost of in excess of $9000. ). [Please note that the
exact fees posted on this site may be changed without notice, but
would not be changed after a client's retainer is received.]
Over
the past two years Dr.
Cupchik has found that working via the Internet using the Skype-enabled, live-video Intervention program,
works virtually as well as the 4-day, in-office Intensive
Intevention Program. Furthermore, the 20, 45-minute long sessions of the Skpye
program can be spaced out over a longer period of time (often by
doing a 2- or 3-session segment weekly). Using this lengthier
format, the client is able to
carry out valuable homework assignments between successive
meetings. Of course, a major advantage to all parties is that
there is much less disruption required of the parties' individual
work and home schedules, as well.
It
may be of interest to note that Dr.
Cupchik has been granted a Certificate of Professional
Qualification (CPQ) in Psychology by the Association of State
and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB).
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ANOTHER TOPIC: YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE:
As
part of Dr. Cupchik's ongoing clinical investigations, he is
interested in receiving emails from any persons who never
shoplifted until after they had been prescribed and began
using antidepressants, and from those who have continued to steal
even while they were taking antidepressants, even if they had
stolen before being prescibed antidepressants.
If you are willing to share this
information, please email Dr. Cupchik [
wcupchik@aol.com ]
indicating the following: [You can
simply copy and paste the following into your email]:
(a) your age:
_____________
(b) gender:
_____________
(c) the country in which you
live: ____________________
(d)
which antidepressant (brand and/or generic name) you were
using at the time you first began stealing,
______________________________, and its dosage _________.
(e) how long you
had been taking the antidepressant medication before you committed
your first theft event: ___________________
(f) whether you are still using an antidepressant:
_______________ and which
one:
_________________
(g) your
past and recent theft
behavior history:
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
.
(h) when you last stole:
______________________
(i) any other information you
may care to provide : ______________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
.
Your identifying information will, of course, be kept
confidential.
Thank you.
Please
Note: Due to the unfortunate prevalence of of spam and viruses, only
emails that have Dr. Cupchik's initials in brackets - (WC)
- in
the subject line, will be opened.
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