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Serving People
Since 1992!
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Quotes of
the Month:
"There's
only one thing more painful than having to learn from your difficult
life experiences and that's not learning from your difficult
experiences. -- Archibald McLeish
"Real change requires the end
of the world as we know it, the loss of identity, the end of safety.
At these moments we cling to what we know and what we think we have.
Yet, only when we surrender our long-cherished dreams, without
bitterness or self-pity, do we set ourselves free for higher dreams
and greater privileges."--James Baldwin
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"The
hardest thing in the world to understand is the income
tax."--Albert Einstein
Even
if you steal money or objects of value, you are supposed to report
this as income on your tax return!
The
first e-filing of taxes took place in 1986!
Car
accidents have jumped consistently by 6% on Tax Day so watch out!
The
IRS employs approximately 114,000 people--twice that of the CIA and
five times more than the FBI!
The
earliest known form of taxes was levied 4,500 years ago in Mesopotamia
in the form of livestock which was the currency of the times.
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Persons of
the Month
Women
March
is Women's History Month
The
Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration,
National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art,
National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of
women whose commitment to nature and the planet have proved invaluable
to society.
Women's
History Month had its origins as a national celebration in 1981 when
Congress passed Pub. L. 97-28 which authorized and requested the
President to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982 as
"Women's History Week."
Throughout
the next five years, Congress continued to pass joint resolutions
designating a week in March as "Women's History Week."
In 1987 after being petitioned by the National Women's History
Project, Congress passed Pub. L. 100-9 which designated the month of
March 1987 as "Women's History Month."
Between
1988 and 1994, Congress passed additional resolutions requesting and
authorizing the President to proclaim March of each year as Women's
History Month. Since 1995, Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama
have issued a series of annual proclamations designating the month of
March as "Women's History Month."
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Book of the Month:
A Stolen
Life:
A Memoir
by Jaycee
Dugard
(2011
Simon-Schuster)
For
any who have felt something was stolen from you in life, this is the
incredible memoir of Jaycee Dugard who was kidnapped at age 11 and
held captive over the next 18 years. Here's an excerpt:
In the summer of June of 1991, I
was a normal kid. I did normal things. I had friends and a mother that
loved me. I was just like you. Until the day my life was stolen.
For eighteen years I was a
prisoner. I was an object for someone to use and abuse. For eighteen
years I was not allowed to speak my own name. I became a mother and
was forced to be a sister. For eighteen years I survived an impossible
situation.
On
August 26, 2009, I took my name back.
My
name is Jaycee Lee Dugard. I don't think of myself as a victim. I
simply survived an intolerable situation.
A Stolen Life is my story--in my own
words, in my own way, exactly as I remember it.
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Film of the Month:
"Klepto" (2013)
Written/Directed by
Claudio Carvhal
In
Los Angeles, Emily Brown is a kleptomaniac and addicted in pills that
misses her father and is having therapy sessions trying to resolve her
compulsion. She has a record in the police for shoplifting, and her
mother Teresa is a compulsive shopper. The security guard Nick of the
Bernstein's department store sees Emily through a camera and becomes
fascinated for her. When Nick gets in trouble dealing ecstasy, he
presses Emily to help him in a robber of Bernstein.
A
somewhat cheeky and superficial look into the kleptomania but the film
has its moments.
See YouTube for clip.
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The
Shulman Center on the move and in the news...
March
27, 2013--Mr. Shulman is quoted in an article on shopping
addiction in Business Insider online. See Article
March
28, 2013--Mr. Shulman is quoted in an article on shopping addiction
in The Daily Beast online. See Article
April
1, 2013--Mr. Shulman is quoted in an article on shopping
addiction in Everyday Health. Se
April
10, 2013--Mr. Shulman has penned the "Foreword" for
upcoming book Shoplifters:
Are They Out of Control? by California forensic
psychologist John C. Brady.
April
11-12, 2013--Mr. Shulman will be attending the Michigan Social
Workers Annual Conference in Lansing, MI and will be networking
about his work.
April 13, 2013--Mr.
Shulman will co-present on relationship issues at the half-day
mini-workshop "Living Recovery in an Addictive World" in
Ferndale, MI.
April
2013--Mr. Shulman has an article about honesty in the
workplace in the Jack Hayes International quarterly newsletter.
October
4, 2013--Mr. Shulman will be have a booth at the Annual Royal
Oak, MI Health Fair.
October
7-9, 2013--Mr. Shulman will be presenting on employee theft at
The 3rd Annual Lifestyle Intervention Conference in Las Vegas, NV.
October
25 and October 27, 2013--Mr. Shulman will be
presenting 2 all-day seminars on compulsive theft, spending and
hoarding at Jewish Family Services in West Bloomfield, MI.
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A RECOVERY MESSAGE
in PASSOVER AND EASTER
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 I found myself unexpectedly busy and
fruitful these last three months of 2013. So much so that I hardly
got to enjoy much winter's slumber!
What
does it mean to be free? According to Buddhist teachings,
spiritual slavery is borne of an over-involvement with our egos and
an oppressive attachment to worldly goods, pursuits and
relationships. But, as it was for the Israelites in Egypt and Jesus
on the cross, deliverance is possible. But we must work out our
liberation with diligence--that's where recovery comes in...
In
Buddhism, to achieve such self-liberation is to achieve
enlightenment, or nirvana, a state of clarity and release from
suffering. Few people have found this enlightenment and, so, for
most the quest continues through a constant cycle of death and
rebirth (whether figuratively or actually in terms of
reincarnation).
In
much the same way that we continue to learn and grow through
therapy, recovery and other self-development work, each year we
celebrate Passover and Easter (as well as the transition from winter
to spring), as a reminder of the story of death and rebirth, slavery
to liberation.
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.
NEW
DSM-5 CRITERIA FOR HOARDING DISORDER
Theses
are the proposed criteria for hoarding disorder in the forthcoming
(May) DSM-5:
A.
Persistent difficulty discarding or parting with personal
possessions, even those of apparently useless or limited value, due
to strong urges to save items, distress, and/or indecision
associated with discarding.
B.
The symptoms result in the accumulation of a large number of
possessions that fill up and clutter the active living areas of the
home, workplace, or other personal surroundings (e.g., office,
vehicle, yard) and prevent normal use of the space. If all living
areas are uncluttered, it is only because of others' efforts (e.g.,
family members, authorities) to keep these areas free of
possessions.
C.
The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in
social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning
(including maintaining a safe environment for self and others).
D.
The hoarding symptoms are not due to a general medical condition
(e.g., brain injury, cerebrovascular disease).
E.
The hoarding symptoms are not restricted to the symptoms of another
mental disorder (e.g., hoarding due to obsessions in
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, lack of motivation in Major
Depressive Disorder, delusions in Schizophrenia or another Psychotic
Disorder, cognitive deficits in Dementia, restricted interests in
Autistic Disorder, food storing in Prader-Willi Syndrome).*
Specify
if:
With
Excessive Acquisition: If symptoms are accompanied by excessive
collecting or buying or stealing of items that are not needed or for
which there is no available space.
Specify
whether hoarding beliefs and behaviors are currently characterized
by:
*
Good or fair insight: Recognizes that hoarding-related beliefs and
behaviors (pertaining to difficulty discarding items, clutter, or
excessive acquisition) are problematic.
*
Poor insight: Mostly convinced that hoarding-related beliefs and
behaviors (pertaining to difficulty discarding items, clutter, or
excessive acquisition) are not problematic despite evidence to the
contrary.
*
Delusional: Completely convinced that hoarding-related beliefs and
behaviors (pertaining to difficulty discarding items, clutter, or
excessive acquisition) are not problematic despite evidence to the
contrary.
Honesty
is its own reward.--Anonymous
Walk
in peace.
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The Shulman
Center 2013 Events Calendar
Ongoing
...
The
Baton Rouge, Louisiana court system has a court-ordered, facilitated
educational program for retail fraud offenders. The program is
based on material from Mr. Shulman's book Something for
Nothing: Shoplifting Addiction and Recovery.
Mr.
Shulman created a 1-hour employee theft online course with360
Training. Learn why people steal from their jobs, how to deter
it, prevent it, and what to do when confronted with it. Enroll at: http://theshulmancenter.360training.com
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, CEs offered, through The American Psychotherapy
Association. at: http://www.americanpsychotherapy.com
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START
YOUR NEW YEAR with MONEY LIFE-COACHING!
Tom
Lietaert of Sacred Odyssey and the Intimacy with Money programs
offers individual money coaching as well as various group
workshops on money. Check out Tom's two websites at:
www.sacredodyssey.com /
www.intimacywithmoney.com
CONSULTING
AND EDUCATION ON FRAUD
Gary Zeune of Columbus, Ohio has
been a friend and colleague of mine for nearly two years. He has
been a consultant and teacher on fraud discovery and prevention for
nearly 30 years. He is interviewed in my book Cluttered
Lives, Empty Souls: Compulsive Theft, Spending & Hoarding. I
recently saw Gary in action recently when he presented an all-day on
fraud to metro-Detroit accountants.
THE
SHULMAN CENTER THERAPIST TRAINING PROGRAM!
If
you're a therapist and wish to be trained & certified in the
assessment/treatment of compulsive theft, spending and/or
hoarding, CONTACT THE SHULMAN CENTER NOW! See:
THE
FLY LADY ASSISTS WITH CLEANING & DECLUTTERING
I
recently was told about a website resource that lists strategies for
cleaning and de-cluttering and sells various books and products that
help with this; so, I'm passing it along... See:
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Mr.
Shulman's books
available
for purchase now!
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Contact The Shulman Center:
Terrence
Daryl Shulman, JD,
LMSW, ACSW, CAADC, CPC
Founder/Director,
The Shulman Center for
Compulsive Theft, Spending & Hoarding
E-mail: terrenceshulman@theshulmancenter.com
Call (248)
358-8508 for a free
consultation!
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