Welcome to our new, streamlined, smartphone-friendly monthly e-newsletter. our message brief, friendly, and to the point. We are entering our 16th year of our e-Newsletter and currently have 2,500 subscribers. Thanks you for your interest and don’t forget to set your clocks 1 hour forward at 2am on Sunday March 13th!
If you or a loved one is looking to make positive changes in the new year, please consider contacting us at 248-358-8508 for a free consultation. It might be the best call you’ve made in a while. Please also inquire about our therapist training/certification program.
Tuesday March 8, 2016—Mr. Shulman presents on understanding and treating hoarding disorder at The Allen Park, MI Public Library 6:30-7pm. Free.
Thursday March 10, 2016—Mr. Shulman presents on understanding and treating hoarding disorder at Hannan House in Detroit. 9:30-11:30am. Call for info.
Thursday March 17, 2016- –Mr. Shulman presents on understanding and treating hoarding disorder for Beaumont Hospital’s Home & Hospice Lunch & Learn. Royal Oak, Ml 9:30-11:30am.Call for info.
Friday April 1, 2016—Mr. Shulman presents “Cultivating Honesty and Integrity in Our Kids and Ourselves” at the Annual Michigan Social Workers Conference in Lansing, MI. Registration required.
Friday April 1, 2016—Mr. Shulman presents “Men’s Issues in Therapy and Recovery” at the Annual Michigan Social Workers Conference in Lansing, Ml. Registration required.
Tuesday April 5, 2016—Mr. Shulman presents on understanding and treating hoarding disorder at The Plymouth, Michigan Kiwanis Club. 6:30-8pm. Call for info.
Monday May 16, 2016—Mr. Shulman presents on understanding and treating hoarding disorder at The Livonia, Ml Public Library 7-8:30pm. Free.
Thursday July 27, 2016—Mr. Shulman presents on understanding and treating hoarding disorder at The Dexter, MI District Library 7-8:30pm. Free.
Facts. Stats. Quotes & More!
Employee Loafing Costs Businesses Lots of Dough!
The Average U.S. Employee Wastes 6 weeks Per Year
Who Moved My Cheese?
$160k of Cheddar & Parmesan Stolen in Wisconsin!
A Quote by Tennessee Williams:
Luck is Thinking You’re Lucky.
A Quote by Anne Bradstreet:
If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.
A Qute by Reba McIntyre: To succeed in life you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone.
From “The Language of Letting Go”
Before recovery, many of us lacked a frame of reference with which to name the victimization and abuse in our life. We may have thought it was normal that people mistreated us. We may have believed we deserved mistreatment; we may have been attracted to people who mistreated us. We need to let go, on a deep level, of our need to be victimized and to be victims. We need to let go of our need to be in dysfunctional relationships and systems at work, in love, in family relationships, in friendships. We deserve better. We deserve much better. It is our right. When we believe in our right to happiness, we will have happiness. We will fight for that right, and the fight will emerge from our souls. Break free from oppression and victimization.
Monthly Articles of Interest
Every Careqiver Should Watch This!
Wife’s You Tube Video Captures The Challenges of Caring for Her Sick Husband
Irony Anyone?
Loss Prevention Manager Charged with Embezzlement!
This Is Why I Do The Work I Do!
Illinois City Council Member Busted for Shoplifting… Again!
How Employees Steal Time!
Wow, Those Long Lunch Breaks Really Add Up!
Somebody Ranq Mr. Bell’s Bell!
NYC Manager Sentenced in One of City’s Biggest Frauds!
Shopaholic Today. Recovering Shopaholic Tomorrow!
NBC’s Today Show Highlights Shopping Addiction
Girls Just Want to Have Friends!
There’s More To Life and Love Than Husbands and Kids!
15 Steps To Forgiveness!
The Late Wayne Dyer’s Formula for Peace
How Much Is Enough?
NBCs Today Show Highlights Hoarding Disorder
The Pros and Cons of Lending Family Money
Beware of Mixing Money & Love
This Month’s Featured Article by Terrence Shulman
Leap Year, Election Year, The Olympics And Other 4-year Cycles: What Does This Have To Do with Recovery?
As spring approaches—yes, those of us who actually experience real winter do take note with anticipation—I can already hear the strains of violins in Vivaldi’s “Rite of Spring” suite from “The Four Seasons.” As winter slowly expresses its last fury of flurries, many of us wait for the first hopeful signs of spring and rebirth. This perpetual cycle of barren to bloom, emptiness to fullness reminds me again of my own journey and the journeys we each face, like it or not, in which we are laid bare so that we may grieve and heal and become our truer, deeper, healthier selves.
My wife Tina and I just returned from a 1-week vacation to Florida to visit my parents and some friends. Boy, did we need the sun and the fun! I’m more aware each day of my folks’ growing older. My step-dad is 86 and my Mom turns 77 on St. Patrick’s Day. He’s sharp as a tack mentally; she’s been experiencing increasing memory loss for some time now. Every day is precious. Life’s too short for resentments and regrets.
One highlight of our Florida trip—besides hanging out at the pool or the beach—was our trip to visit Caron Renaissance Treatment Center in Boca Raton. Caron’s been around for three decades and has centers in Pennsylvania as well as the sunshine state. About 3 years ago, one of Caron’s therapists completed a 10-hour training by phone with me to learn more about compulsive stealing, spending and hoarding. This year, another Caron therapist has been training with me and we coordinated my visit to meet her, the staff, and some of the patients. The staff, facility and programming are first-rate. I got to sit in on my trainee’s afternoon 90-minute group therapy session. There were about 12 patients, most of them in their late 20’s and 30’s. The name of the weekly group is: “Gambling and Stealing.” While Caron—like many other treatment centers—has traditionally focused on alcohol and drug treatment, the trend is to offer and provide treatment for other disorders as well. It was greatly encouraging to witness a major player like Caron incorporating education and treatment for stealing theft addiction (several of the patients in the group also talked about their shopping/spending addictions, too). This is the future of treatment
On the way back to Michigan after our vacation, I started to think about the times we’re living in. We just celebrated Leap Year-February 29th-when every four years we add a day to our annual calendar. I started to think about the number 4. Here in the U.S., we’re preparing for a presidential election—every four years. The Summer Olympics—gearing up in Brazil—happens every four years. The recent Chinese New Year—the Year of the Monkey—fell in the 8th year of the 12 year cycle (which is 2 x 4—okay, I’m stretching it.). Interestingly, Chinese culture considers the number 4 to represent “bad luck” or “death” whereas the number represents “good luck” and “prosperity.” Let’s hope we’re in an “8” cycle! Native American culture emphasizes the four directions (north, south, east, west). And, of course, St. Patrick’s Day ushers in gallons of green beer and those ubiquitous four-leaf clovers.
I’m no numerologist but there might be some connection worth exploring here. What does the number 4 mean to you?
I’m increasingly aware that this is an auspicious time to be alive. A lot is going on in the world and, undoubtedly, in our own lives. It feels like everything either coming together or everything is about to fall apart. There’s global war, an unpredictable economy, dramatic weather and climate changes, and technology run amok! But there are signs of hope, too, depending on your perspective: an African-American man served two presidential terms, a woman is likely to be one of two presidential candidates, equal rights for gay and lesbian Americans have been codified, and the Chicago Cubs almost made the World Series!
So what does the number 4 have to do with recovery? It’s like the four seasons. We take a “fall” or bottom out. Then we seem to enter a winter (of discontent or dark night of the soul). Then we plant some seeds and tend to them and wait for them to bloom in spring. And then, hopefully, we get to bask in the summer sun of our fuller awareness and successes. I don’t know if this cycle always takes 4 years or if we’re always up in summer or down in winter but it’s worth thinking about. It’s also worth remembering that—like the economy or our own lives—there are ups and downs and cycles of birth and death and renewal and change.
Another way this relates to recovery is to remember: things take time. So, when I’m impatient about my business, or my marriage, or anything else, I need to remind myself to slow down. I can wonder: is there a cycle? Everything in time. It remains a mystery what prompts one person to stay stuck, stay safe—and what prompts another to step off the dime. I continue to look at my own life in this manner.
All 4 One and One 4 All!
Books by Terrence Shulman
Click here to order!
| SOMETHING FOR NOTHING: Shoplifting Addiction & Recovery | BOUGHT OUT AND WENT! Compulsive $hopping and $pending |
Click here to order!
| CLUTTERED LIVES, EMPTY SOULS: Compulsive Stealing, Spending & Hoarding | BITING THE HAND THAT FEEDS The Employee Theft Epidemic |
SPOTLIGHTS
OTHER ASSOCIATES ARE DOING GREAT WORK, TOO!
Younique Wellness for Body, Mind and Spirit
htto://youniauewellness.net
Think Beyond Belief Publishing
http://kevinalexzander.com
http://zantimekoawanzi.com
Alabama Court Referral Program
S.T.E.P.: Stop Theft Education Program
3rd Millenium STOPLifting Online Education Course
www.3rdmilclassrooms.com
UnSTEAL.orp–A Non-Profit Corporation
http://unsteal.org
Getting Out From Going Under (Debt)
http://aettineoutfromaoinaunder.com
April Benson, PhD and Stopping Overshopping
http://www.shopaholicnomore.comftext-prouram
Surviving Suicide with Heart and Humor
http://writeonmvmind.com
Jack L. Hayes, International, Inc. Loss Prevention
http://havesintemational.com
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