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ANNOUNCEMENTS! Spring has
Sprung! Happy Passover and
Easter!
Check out our newly updated blog at http://blog.theshulmancenter.com...
and
our five new short uploaded webvideos on shoplifting
addiction, employee theft, and compulsive
shopping and
spending at: ../video-archive.html
"We in recovery
are like (Olympic) athletes. We train numerous hours, years,
even decades, to find a path toward victory—to stretch
ourselves beyond our own blocks and limits—to fulfill our
greatest potential. However, whereas
(Olympic) athletes typically strive to increase their speed
and for perfection, we in recovery typically strive for the
exact opposite—though with no less dedication: to decrease our
speed and stop chasing perfection. In sports, the difference
between victory or a medal may come down to a fraction of a
second; so, too, in recovery: a relapse usually occurs when we
go into automatic reaction or behavior while choosing a better
way often follows the tiniest pause or gap in thinking." --
Terrence
Shulman
_____________________________________________________________________________________
From Slavery to
Freedom, From Death to Rebirth
As most of us
slough off the winter snow and delight in the new buds of
spring, Passover and Easter remind us of the triumphs of
breaking free and being reborn. You don't have to be religious
to embrace these vital themes and journeys.
This is a
great time to ask ourselves the following questions:
What
did I learn during my winter slumber?
What have I been
enslaved to and how am I finding new freedom from this?
How
have I recently died (symbolically) and who has this process
given rebirth to?
During my winter slumber--in the wake
of the end of a year-long lawsuit I defended--I began the
process of reclaiming my truest sources of strength and
abundance. I found this does not lie within certain people
but, rather, more deeply within myself and the
universe-at-large. And while the lawsuit
cost much in terms
of time, money and energy, I found myself unexpectedly busy
and fruitful these last three months of 2010. So much so that
I hardly got to enjoy much winter's slumber!
I got the
opportunity to see more clearly--painfully so--how I still
have patterns of deep fear around failure and around not
having enough money to survive. I also saw more
clearly--painfully so--how I continued to live out my early
family role of the strong one, the self-sufficient one, the
one who never gets angry. Is it any wonder I shoplifted on and
off for ten years from age 15-25? Though I'd celebrated 20
years of recovery last month, I had still been enslaved in a
role I'd outgrown: I have begun to see that all my struggles
to be so strong were missing the mark: something dramatic had
to happen to drop me to my knees (just as my addiction had
done 20 years previously) because I was losing my soul and my
authenticity. I was, again, falling back into the role of the
hero. This is a prison in disguise.
And what has died
in me to be reborn? Well, that is still emerging. But, I hope,
I can learn to speak my truth more, take myself and life more
lightly, trust I will be provided for, and balance work and
play.
In other words, I hope the Terry I am continues to
become more himself.
When to take a stand and when to
let go and surrender is not always an easy call. When is it
time to uproot and make an exodus and when is it time to allow
ourselves to be nailed to the cross in the name of something
bigger than ourselves? Standing up to a lawsuit, for a cause,
or to others in our lives can be hard. And we may suffer for
it and die in some sense to be reborn. Nothing ventured,
nothing gained.
And so, when a loved one recently
called me in distress and I found myself feeling helpless and
afraid and confused about how to help, I began to get
impatient and frustrated and slipped back into my old pattern
of talking to him as I have tend to talk to myself: "It's not
that bad. Just move on. Your anxiety is all in your head!" I
even found myself spitting out the words: "It's not like
you're a total wreck." But then he set me straight: he told me
"No, you don't seem to understand. I feel like a total wreck.
I think I'm a total wreck." And then a pause... for I realized
in that moment, just as I had been a total wreck less than a
year ago, that I needed to reach out in deep love and
tenderness. And that made all the difference to him... and to
me.
For those who've wandered "40 years" between
enslavement and freedom (how many have been in their
addictions that long!) and those who have felt crucified and
resurrected and those budding flowers of spring both delicate
and strong beyond measure, we face the cycle of the seasons
within and without. We must grow, we must move toward freedom
and toward rebirth. It is our calling and
destiny.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Hard
Times Make Thefts By Workers A Bigger
Problem
By Joe
Lambe
Sunday,February 28,
2010
Edition: Kansas City Star, METROPOLITAN,
Section: NATIONAL/WORLD, Page A1
Retailers
spend a lot of time and money to prevent shoplifting, but a
bigger threat to the bottom line is the person behind the
counter.
No one
knows exactly how much employees steal each year, but one
national survey late last year showed that companies lost
$18.7 billion in the 12 months ending in June because of
worker theft -- the largest single cause of retail
"shrinkage."
Another
survey for 2008 found that employees stole far more than
shoplifters and that among 22 large retailers, one in 30
employees was caught stealing.
"It
happens from the top down to the bottom up," said Terrence
Shulman, an author and a counselor on the subject who is a
lawyer with a master's degree in social work.
Two
recent local cases illustrate how large the problem can be. A
former employee is suspected of stealing more than $300,000 in
goods from a Target store in Kansas
City. In Johnson County, a
salesman and shipping clerk together stole an estimated
$30,000 worth of suits from an Overland
Park men's store.
Experts
say that with hard times, more employees are stealing, but
many have always done it anyway. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce
has long said that 75 percent of employees steal from their
employers at least once.
They
start small, get bolder and often get caught, said Casey
Chroust, a vice president with the Retail Industry Leaders
Association.
Said
Shulman: "More are getting caught because security is getting
more sophisticated, but there are fewer loss-prevention
officers, so it's kind of a wash."
Allan
Bachman, the education manager for the Association of
Certified Fraud Examiners, last week called the situation
"almost a perfect storm" as companies that are trying to
weather the recession eliminate protective measures.
Two years
ago, the association estimated that American businesses lost 7
percent of annual revenue to fraud, but the group now suspects
that figure has grown. A short random survey last spring found
fraud increasing as those who monitor it get layoff notices.
If a
company is floundering, some managers may try to loot the ship
before it sinks, experts say. The same goes for employees
facing layoffs and demands for harder work.
At the
boss levels, big money vanishes with fraud such as
embezzlement and kickback deals with suppliers.
"There is
a possibility that schemes are being created right now that
won't be discovered for years," Bachman said.
Bachman
said thieves who steal by fraud are often people in positions
of absolute trust.
Said
Shulman: "It is often the star employee who is led out in
handcuffs."
The
Target employee suspected in the massive thefts from the
discount chain's Ward Parkway store had
worked there since the store opened and was considered its
best employee, police said.
Target
security officers in January realized items were missing from
a loading dock and started an investigation.
Police
were called in to investigate and officers conducting
surveillance watched as the female employee helped to put
merchandise from the loading dock in two movers' trucks.
Officers followed one truck to a Henry
County farmhouse, and they found about
$100,000 worth of Target goods there.
Officers
said the house was set up like a store, with
mini-refrigerators and freezers on a back porch, household
items in one room, and toys and clothes in another. It was one
of four such farmhouses they raided.
The
investigation continues, and the woman has not been charged.
Not even
Jackson County Circuit Court is safe from a trusted worker
turned thief.
Three
years ago, authorities accused a longtime purchasing clerk at
the courthouse of stealing or trying to steal more than
$230,000 worth of computers and electronics over a two-year
period.
The
clerk, Laura L. Soemer, ordered boxes of goods delivered to
her attention and then loaded them in her car as sheriff's
deputies and other courthouse workers watched or even helped.
Soemer
was known as a go-getter who projected authority, her boss
said. Two years ago, she pleaded guilty to two counts of theft
and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. She is eligible for
parole in April.
Last
year, a Johnson County jury convicted
salesman Clifton Williams of stealing goods from a Jos. A.
Bank Clothiers store in Overland Park in
a scheme that lasted six months or longer.
Overland
Park Detective Byron Pierce said Williams, 34, worked with
shipping clerk Joshua Poland, 24, to steal about $30,000 worth
of suits and other goods.
Pierce
said someone who worked for the men's store chain noticed the
shipping clerk selling suits cheap on the Internet and traced
where the clerk worked. An audit led to an interrogation of
Poland, who admitted conspiring with
Williams.
Poland sent suits
to some off-the-books buyers, and he and Williams smuggled
some suits out the store's back door in garbage bags and later
sold the suits on the Internet, Pierce said.
Poland said people
who bought the suits said they paid 50 cents on the dollar,
and the salesman told the buyers he was simply passing on his
employer discount. No buyers were charged with crimes.
Williams
was sentenced to probation, and Poland
testified against him and was placed in a prison-diversion
program.
Often,
employee thieves are not even prosecuted, said Shulman and
other experts.
Retailers
want to keep the matter quiet, get their money back and just
fire offenders, Shulman said.
"Then
they (the thieves) go on to the next employer and do it
again."
Shulman
said people steal out of greed, grievances or psychological
problems.
"People
have a lot of authority issues," Shulman said. "You'd be
surprised at how many think they're entitled."
To reach
Joe Lambe, call 816-234-7714 or send e-mail to jlambe@kcstar.com.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Free
Intimacy with Money Telephone
Seminars
It is with great excitement
and confidence that I wish to share about the Free "Intimacy
with Money"
telephone seminars conducted by my long-time
friend Tom Lietaert and my more recent friend Andrew
Hogan
who currently work out of Boulder/Denver, Colorado. Their next
free teleconference is on
To learn more and to
register, please go to: http://www.sacredodyssey.com/iwmhome.html
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Magazine of the month: The
Sun
If you're not familiar with
The Sun magazine which was founded some thirty years ago and
is published
out of North Carolina, please go
to http://www.thesunmagazine.org
The Sun is a rich mix of short
stories, interviews, essays, and poetry contributed by readers
from across the land. It is provocative and covers politics,
psychology, relationships, and spirituality--among other
important topics. The Sun goes deep and wide and shocks and
evokes.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Compulsive Theft
& Spending in The News! March/April
2010:
February 28--Mr. Shulman was featured in an article
in The Kansas City Star on employee theft.
March
26--Mr. Shulman was featured on a re-airing on WeTV's "Secret
Lives of Women" on compulsive shopping and
spending.
March--Mr. Shulman was featured in an article
in Seventeen magazine about shoplifting and
teens.
March--Mr. Shulman was featured in an
article in Carroll magazine about shoplifting
addiction.
March--Mr. Shulman was featured in an
article in Alternet magazine about compulsive
shopping.
March--Mr. Shulman was featured in articles
in The Toronto Star newspaper and in Canada's
Chatelaine
magazine on shoplifting addiction.
March 16--Mr.
Shulman's articles on compulsive theft and spending were
accepted by e-Zine
www.ezine.com
and are listed at http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Terrence_Shulman
March
18--Mr. Shulman was interviewed live by phone on a
Colombian/South American radio program to discuss compulsive
theft and spending.
Mr. Shulman is assisting the Baton
Rouge, Louisiana court system a court-ordered three
hour
facilitated educational program for retail fraud
offenders. The program is based on material from
his book
"Something for Nothing: Shoplifting Addiction and Recovery"
(2003).
April 8--Mr.
Shulman will be a featured presenter on men's issues in
therapy and recovery at The
National Association of Social
Workers--Michigan Chapter Annual Conference in Dearborn,
Michigan.
Beyond
April...
September 8-11--Mr.
Shulman will be a guest presenter on compulsive shopping and
spending at
The National Conference on Addiction Disorders
near Washington, D.C.
Mr. Shulman submitted a chapter on
employee theft for a U.K. book entitled "Risky Business" to
be released in September 2010.
December
1-4--Mr. Shulman will be presenting on employee theft
detection and prevention at The National Association of RV
Parks and Campgrounds Annual Conference in Las
Vegas.
Mr.
Shulman created an online continuing education course on
compulsive shopping and spending called "Bought Out and
$pent!" based on his book and Power Point presentation. The
course is
offered through The American Psychotherapy
Association and is available for purchase by
APA
members and non-members and CEs are available. See
http://www.americanpsychotherapy.com/
Mr. Shulman created an online education
course called "Creating an Honest and
Theft-Free
Workplace" based on his book and Power
Point presentation through 360 Training Services.
CEs are available. See www.360training.com
Mr. Shulman is assisting with a CNN TV news
story about compulsive shopping/spending in
today's economy.
Mr. Shulman will be featured in a
segment on shoplifting addiction in the MSNBC series "Theft
in
America" to air in late 2009/early
2010.
Mr. Shulman is consulting on a major motion
picture tentatively called "The Rush" in which the lead
character is addicted to shoplifting and stealing.
Mr. Shulman continues to assist the
Kingman, Arizona court system with his
court-ordered home-
study program for retail fraud
offenders. The program is based on material from his
book "Something
for Nothing: Shoplifting Addiction
and Recovery" (2003).
Mr. Shulman is
consulting with an author who is writing a novel about two
kleptomaniacs who fall in
love with each
other.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Contact The Shulman Center
Terrence Shulman
P.O. Box
250008
Franklin, Michigan 48025
E-mail:
terrenceshulman@theshulmancenter.com
Call (248) 358-8508 for free
consulation!
Related sites by Terrence
Shulman:
www.theshulmancenter.com
www.kleptomaniacsanonymous.com
www.shoppingaddictions.org
www.shopliftingaddictions.com
www.terrenceshulman.com
www.shopaholicsanonymous.org
www.employeetheftsolutions.com
www.somethingfornothingbook.com
www.bitingthehandthatfeeds.com
www.boughtoutandspent.com
Books:
Something For
Nothing
Biting The Hand That Feeds
Bought Out and
$pent
Products for Purchase--ON SALE through
2009!
Mr. Shulman's three books
"Something for Nothing: Shoplifting Addiction & Recovery"
and "Biting
The Hand That Feeds: The Employee Theft
Epidemic... New Perspectives, New Solutions," and
"Bought
Out and $pent! Recovery from Compulsive $hopping and $pending"
are availabe for $25.00
each (includes
shipping/handling).
Second International Conference on
Compulsive Theft & Spending 2 DVD set (6 Hours). Recorded
9/08. $100.00.
Click here to purchase
E-mail Mr. Shulman:
terrenceshulman@theshulmancenter.com
or
Call (248) 358-8508
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