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About
This Website
This website is devoted to information regarding
the assessment and treatment of usually honest persons who, in spite of their normally ethical and
responsible ways of functioning in society, have been stealing,
including perhaps carrying out acts of shoplifting and/or other thefts. As a result of their
stealing, these 'Atypical Theft Offenders' [ATOs] risk jeopardizing their
personal reputations & home lives, their careers and/or even their
freedom.
The fact that you
have chosen to visit this site may mean that you - or someone you
care deeply about - has been committing acts of theft that, frankly, simply
don't appear to 'make sense', given your/their usual ways of functioning in the world. Also
you/they are having great difficulty stopping this ultimately
self-destructive behavior.
Dr. Will Cupchik,
head of The Cupchik Center, is the most senior
and experienced clinician in the field; he has been
investigating, assessing and treating these truly atypical types of
theft offenders for over 36 years, and is the lead author of the
ground-breaking article, Shoplifting: An Occasional Crime Of The Moral
Majority, published in 1983.
We believe you
will find the materials presented on this website to be informative, and
even more importantly, useful in assisting the individual you are
concerned about, to stop his or her theft behavior. |
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Are
you an Atypical Theft Offender [ATO]? Consider the following:
Do
you:
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have
trouble stopping shoplifting even though you consciously want to do
so?
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feel
embarrassment and/or remorse about your theft behavior?
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feel
frightened because, in spite of your efforts to stop the theft
behavior, you are still 'out of control', and continue to steal?
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fear
that your livelihood, relationships, or even your freedom are at risk
because you don't/won't stop stealing?
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recognize
that, in spite of your 'good intentions', you are still
stealing?
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suspect
that your reasons for stealing are more complex and difficult to
deal with than you have been able to handle on your own, or even with
months/years of therapy, or supposedly 'specialized support groups'?
If
you answered 'yes' to most or all of the above questions, then read carefully the materials
on this and the other web pages on this site, and consider the possible
usefulness of the participating in one or other of the Cupchik Center's Intervention
Programs. After reading these
materials and (preferably) Dr. Cupchik's book [Why Honest People
Shoplift Or Commit Other Acts Of Theft], if you think that you might be a
suitable candidate for a program, either email Dr. Cupchik at wcupchik@aol.com
or phone him at 416-928-2262 to discuss the possibility further.
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The
Aims Of The Cupchik's Center's Programs
All
intervention programs offered by The Cupchik Center are intended to assist participants to:
(1) uncover the
reasons behind their inappropriate theft behavior (which is very
frequently at odds with the more usual moral, ethical and responsible
ways in which they conduct their lives) , and
(2) assist
these 'Atypical Theft Offenders' to stop their career-sabotaging, relationship-stressing and
reputation-destroying behavior .
In his book, WHY
HONEST PEOPLE SHOPLIFT OR COMMIT OTHER ACTS OF THEFT: The Assessment And
Treatment Of 'Atypical Theft Offenders', Dr. Cupchik describes
many of the approaches that he has developed and employs as appropriate during
Intervention Programs. Some 31 sample composite cases are
described in the book, providing the reader with a wide variety of
examples of atypical theft behavior.
All Program
attendees and
any 'significant others' accompanying them are strongly encouraged to
read Dr. Cupchik's book prior to participating in their Programs.
All
Intensive attendees receive a multi-page Draft Note summarizing areas that were addressed during their in-office or
Skype-based Intervention Programs, as
well as a list of specific recommendations for further
treatment/therapeutic work (if deemed desirable) that the attendee may
wish to pursue with his or her own, local therapist (or with Dr. Cupchik)
via Skype-enabled live-video sessions. In some instances, Draft
Notes have been presented to the court with very good results.
Attendees may also request a subsequent formal Psychological Report to
assist the court in determining more suitable disposition of their
cases.
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About
Dr. Will Cupchik, the head of The Cupchik Centre
 | Psychologist
Dr. Will Cupchik has been a member of the American Psychological
Association as well as the Canadian Psychological Association for over thirty years and is currently a
Life Member of
both associations. |
| He also holds a Certificate of
Professional Qualification in Psychology (CPQ)
granted by the Association of State and Provincial
Psychology Boards [ASPPB]. 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 the 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.
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| He 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.
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He is 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 27 ago, in 1983.
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| In the book CLINICAL
CRIMINOLOGY: THE ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR,
published in 1985, Dr. Cupchik and his original co-investigator,
senior psychiatrist Dr. Don Atcheson, first termed usually honest
individuals who steal, 'Atypical Theft
Offenders', in their
chapter titled, Shoplifting: An Occasional Crime Of The Moral
Majority. At the time, Drs. Cupchik
and Atcheson were both staff members of the Clarke Institute's forensic service .
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Dr. Cupchik has
developed unique assessment and treatment tools
to help Atypical Theft Offenders stop stealing. Many of these
techniques are employed, when appropriate, with attendees of
the various Intervention Programs that he conducts.
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Two of these
original tools are pen-and-paper assessment questionnaires: the Cupchik Theft
Offender Questionnaire and the Cupchik Theft Offender
Spectrum.
Both are included in full in his book and potential attendees are
encouraged to complete both instruments prior to contacting Dr.
Cupchik, as they usually give a very good first approximation of the
extent to which (a) the individual may be correctly termed an
'Atypical Theft Offender', and (b) the suitability of the person for participating in one of Dr. Cupchik's programs.
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Full
Psychological Reports as well as the Draft Notes written by Dr. Cupchik have been used in
both American and Canadian courts to assist judges in making decisions
in regard to the disposition of theft cases before them.
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Dr. Will
Cupchik's book, WHY HONEST PEOPLE SHOPLIFT OR COMMIT OTHER
ACTS OF THEFT: Assessment and Treatment of 'Atypical Theft
Offenders, Revised Edition (2002) is available from online
bookstores as a paperback, including BarnesandNoble.com,
where it has been a consistent bestseller in its category, for years (Keyword: Shoplifting).
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| Dr. Cupchik
provides Telephone and/or Skype-enabled Consultations [each
45 minutes
in length] to professionals and other interested persons, as well as
Counseling sessions to clients themselves. The fee for each of these
sessions is currently $205.-- U.S.
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Media
in the United States, Britain,
Europe, Canada, Australia and other countries have shown great interest
in Dr. Cupchik's work over the past three-plus decades. Dr.
Cupchik has appeared on: ABC's Good Morning America..., CBS's Early Show... MSNBC
Investigates ....,
CBS NEWS 48 Hours...., The Sam Donaldson Radio
Show...., Lifetime Network's New Attitudes Program....,
and he has been quoted in; The New York Times...,
Los Angeles Times...., San Francisco
Chronicle..., Chicago Sun-Tribune....,
Bloomberg News ... SELF
magazine...., HEALTH magazine...., and PEOPLE magazine...
among many other media programs and
publications.
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For a fuller
listing of the considerable media interest in Dr. Cupchik's work, click
on the MEDIA
web page link on this site.
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Dr.
Cupchik's findings regarding the misuse of the label 'kleptomania' to
describe atypical theft behavior
Dr. Cupchik's
findings have clearly indicated that, far too often, Atypical Theft Offenders
are misdiagnosed as suffering from 'kleptomania'
and as a consequence, they have also been mistreated, as a result
of which they have continued to commit additional similar and other kinds
of theft offences, and likely remain at
risk for doing so again - and again - until the underlying issues that
help trigger their
self-destructive theft behaviors, have been correctly identified and appropriately
dealt with. This serious mistake of
labeling ATOs as 'kleptomaniacs' 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, as well.
The diagnostic label of 'kleptomania' continues to be
wrongly employed in spite of the fact that Drs. Cupchik
and Atcheson's ground-breaking article, entitled "Shoplifting:
An Occasional Crime Of The Moral Majority", published in
1983
in the Bulletin of the American Academy of
Psychiatry and the Law over 27 years ago, clearly pointed
out why it is entirely inappropriate to apply such a label in the vast
majority of instances of atypical theft behavior! Their clinical findings
have also since been corroborated by other clinical
investigators.
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Dr.
Cupchik's Current Clinical Work Schedule
Dr. Cupchik personally conducts both the
in-office, 19 session, 4-day Intensive Intervention Program as well as the
20-session, Skype-enabled, live-video Intervention program with
selected clients.
Dr.
Cupchik also continues to conduct weekly sessions for theft
offenders and other clients who live in - or within easy driving distance of
- Toronto. |
Obtaining
a Free Brief Screening Interview
Dr. Cupchik offers a
Free Brief [15-20 minute] telephone or Skype Screening Interview to individuals who, before contacting him:
| are genuinely considering attending their either own, Skype-enabled
Intensive Program, or in-office 4-Day Intensive Program, and want to
briefly discuss their cases with Dr. Cupchik personally, and |
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| have read
the pages of this website thoroughly beforehand.
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Please contact Dr. Cupchik only after
the above steps have been taken. This will ensure that you are generally
aware of at least some of his clinical findings and approaches
to working with clients. Also, preferably, do fill out the Cupchik Theft
Offender Questionnaire and Cupchik Theft Offender Spectrum, both of
which you will find in his book, and be prepared to share the
information and your scores with Dr. Cupchik. You and Dr. Cupchik will then
be able to spend the time during the Free Brief Consult addressing your
specific situation.
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| When you
are ready to contact Dr. Cupchik, you may do so easily by emailing him
at wcupchik@aol.com, summarizing
the key information pertaining to you and your situation. In your
email please include your name, age, phone number, email address,
specifics about your theft behavior, and your primary relationship (single, married, common law, etc...),
and the extent to which your partner is aware of your theft behavior..
| Please
do put Dr. Cupchik's initials in brackets -(WC)- in the subject line
of your email, so that it will be clear that your email is not spam.
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As already
indicated above, the
professional fee for the 4-day, 19 session (each session being 45
minutes in length) Intensive Intervention Program held in Dr. Cupchik's
office is currently $5695.--U.S. [and is subject to change without
notice].
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SKYPE sessions
take place using the client's and Dr. Cupchik's respective computers. SKYPE
Programs usually utilize 'double sessions', each 'double session' being 90 minutes long.
The current fee for the full 20-session SKYPE-enabled Intervention
Program is $3895 U.S..
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| Following
either their in-office or SKYPE Intervention Programs, attendees receive a
Draft Note, i.e., a running Summary and
Recommendations commentary, for no additional fee. These notes are not to
be considered, nor do they constitute, a full and comprehensive Psychological
Report. However, it should be noted that some defense lawyers in the
U.S. and Canada have made
good use of these draft letters by presenting them to prosecuting
attorneys and/or judges in order to assist these individuals to better
understand the atypical theft behavior of their otherwise upstanding
clients.
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If a full Psychological Report is desired, it will be prepared and an additional fee is charged.
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More
about Skype™.
Skype™
is the very easy to download and use, free live video 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 - virtually 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. To date Dr. Cupchik has held Skype sessions with
individuals in Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, New Hampshire,
New York, Texas, Wisconsin, various places in Canada, as
well as in Aruba. To
arrange for the Skype™-based Intervention 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. Remember
to put (WC) in the subject line of your email.
Over
500,000,000 persons around the world currently use Skype.
If you have not yet joined them and are hesitant to do so,
you are encouraged to not be intimidated.
Going to your local or a major electronics
retailer such as Best Buy and talking to one of their technicians may be one of
the fastest and best ways to get ready to use Skype.
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Comparing
the 4-Day
In-Office Intensive Intervention Program with the from-your-own-home
Skype Intervention Program
As
mentioned above, Dr. Cupchik has been assessing and treating
Atypical Theft Offenders for more than thirty years. He has worked with clients who
have come from
considerable distances in the USA and Canada to attend his 4-day
Intensives. These persons traveled to Toronto,
stayed at least four days and nights, and often spent thousands
of dollars for airplane tickets, hotel rooms, meals, etc...., in
addition to paying Dr. Cupchik's professional fee. While
highly effective (and still offered to clients who prefer to come
to Toronto for this program and are willing to incur the
additional costs involved), since 2008 Dr. Cupchik has offered the
very comparable, much less costly,
and much more convenient, Skype-based Intensive Intervention
Programa as an alternative to the in-office Program.
Having
clearly determined that the Skype-enabled, live-video
20-session Intervention
program
works virtually as well as the in-office, 4-day, 19 session Intensive
Program, Dr. Cupchik usually recommends the Skype-based Program to
prospective attendees, except for persons who live within easy
car travel time
from their home to his office.
Another
advantage of the twenty, 45-minute long sessions of the Skpye
program is that they are usually spread out over a longer period of time (often by
doing a 2- or 3-session segment weekly). Using this 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.
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How to obtain your own copy of Dr. Cupchik's book
Dr. Cupchik's
book, Why
Honest People Shoplift Or Commit Other Acts Of Theft:
The Assessment and
Treatment of Atypical Theft Offenders Revised Edition
(2002):
| is available
as a paperback from BarnesandNoble.com,
where it has consistently been among the best-selling of over 80 books
at B&N.com that are currently listed under the keywords,
'shoplifting' and 'kleptomania'
| may also be
purchased from Amazon.com
, and other online bookstores
| is also
available to American purchasers only from Booklocker.com
in paperback,
| and to
purchasers from anywhere in the world from Booklocker.com
in e-book format.
| For
Canadian purchasers only:
For the paperback, go
to Amazon.ca
or Indigo.ca ; for the e-book, go to Booklocker.com
] |
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To read a book review of the
original edition of this book by the Criminal Lawyers Association, please
go to www.criminallawyers.ca/newslett/19-1/bury.htm
.
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If
you would like to contribute to Dr. Cupchik's clinical
investigations
As
part of Dr. Cupchik's ongoing clinical investigations, he is
interested in receiving emails from any persons who: (1) never
shoplifted until after they had been prescribed and began
using antidepressants, (2) from those who have continued to steal
even while they were taking antidepressants, even if they had
stolen before being prescribed antidepressants, and (3) persons
who stopped stealing after being prescribed and began taking
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
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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Do
you wish to view a video of Dr. Cupchik speaking on this topic?
TO VIEW AN EIGHT MINUTE SEGMENT OF A TALK THAT DR.
CUPCHIK GAVE ON THE SUBJECT OF ATYPICAL THEFT BEHAVIOR, ON YOUTUBE,
CLICK HERE --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4LEu6p9sqk
To
inquire about having Dr. Cupchik speak to your professional group
conference or business meeting, contact Kelly MacDonald-Hill,
Senior Vice President, Speakers' Spotlight, at 1-800-333-4453, or
email her at --> Kelly@speakers.ca
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THREE TYPES OF THEFT OFFENDERS
IDENTIFIED BY DRS. CUPCHIK AND ATCHESON
- The
‘Atypical
Theft Offender’
(A.T.O.) is an individual whose seemingly
bizarre
or nonsensical
acts of theft, which may involve shoplifting, fraud,
or employee theft, are aberrations of that person’s usual
ways of conducting him/herself as an ethical, law-abiding and
contributing member of society.
The A.T.O. may feel ‘out of control’ about having
violated his/her own moral code by stealing, and frequently
experiences serious confusion, deep shame and genuine remorse in
regard to the theft behavior. Atypical
Theft Offenders frequently have serious personal and interpersonal
issues that need to uncovered and dealt with, usually with the
assistance of directed clinical treatment. Atypical
Theft Offenders are often mistakenly
labeled as suffering from ‘kleptomania’, a mis-diagnosis
that usually precludes their receiving suitable treatment. Without
effective treatment, these offenders may remain at risk to commit
additional offenses, at which time the mis-label
of kleptomania may be erroneously re-applied, again and again.
Suicidal potential is a genuine concern with some Atypical
Theft Offenders.
- In
contrast, Typical
Theft Offenders
(T.T.O.s), who undoubtedly constitute the majority of theft
offenders, are comfortable with their theft behaviors, and may only
experience regret about having been caught, as opposed to feeling
shame about the act of theft itself. Unless such individuals are
genuinely ready and willing to work within and outside of the
clinical sessions, and to make the recommended changes, they make
exceedingly poor candidates for clinical intervention.
- Some
theft offenders display both Atypical Theft Offender and
Typical Theft Offender elements, and are referred to as the ‘Mixed
Type’ Theft Offender (A.T.O./T.T.O) . Some of these
individuals, are amenable to clinical intervention. One
of the functions of this Intervention Program is to ascertain which
of the above categories the theft offender belongs to, as this has
implications for the nature and prognosis of any clinical
intervention, as well as for the appropriate disposition of the case
within the legal system.
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Dr. Cupchik'
Speaking Services:
Dr. Cupchik is a featured speaker with a major speakers' bureau, SpeakersSpotlight (www.speakers.ca);
to go directly to his webpage on that site, just click on http://speakers.ca/cupchik
will.aspx).
His presentations are aimed at assisting meetings and conferences of legal,
mental health and other groups of professionals to understand why usually honest
persons steal, and how to best deal with these individuals, some of whom may be
among the companies' most outstanding employees and/or best customers.
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