Tratamiento de un caso de cleptomanía basado en la terapia de aceptación y compromiso Treating a case of kleptomania based on acceptance and commitment therapy

The present study presents a clinical case of kleptomania. The subject’s stealing behavior had produced both positive and negative consequences and the subject tried unsuccessfully to practice control over her urge to steal. A functional analysis approach indeed showed failure to control this urge. Despite her very best efforts the problem got worse and led to negative consequences. Acceptance and commitment therapy was applied in order to break down the fightsurrender vicious circle of the stealing behavior. Two treatment strategies were agreed upon: acceptance of the fact that both stealing and not stealing had negatives consequences, and was led to commit to one of these options despite its disadvantages. Finally, it is proposed that acceptance and commitment therapy is a useful therapeutic tool as it decreases suffering and, in this case, eliminated the compulsive stealing behavior.