Kleptomania is an inability or great difficultly in resisting impulses of stealing A person with this disorder is compelled to steal things, generally things of little or no value, such as pens, paper clips, or small toys. Some may not be aware that they have committed the theft until later. The majority of kleptomaniacs sometimes have preferences to certain items (again, usually subconsciously); for example, batteries or television remotes.

Kleptomania is distinguished from shoplifting or ordinary theft, as shoplifters and thieves generally steal for monetary value, or associated gains and usually display intent or premeditation, while people with kleptomania aren't necessarily contemplating the value of the items they steal or even the theft until they are compulsed.

Although a kleptomaniac may steal uncontrollably without realisation, judicial courts in the United Kingdom and United States generally do not accept kleptomania as an affirmative defense.

Treatments

Kleptomania has several different treatments. Behavior modification therapy and family therapy may be used to treat kleptomaniacs.

Some medications that are used for people diagnosed with kleptomania are fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, sertraline, lithium, trazodone and Valproate.

Behaviour modification

Behavior modification is a technique of altering an individual's behaviors and reactions to stimuli through positive and negative reinforcement of adaptive behavior and/or the extinction of maladaptive behavior through positive and negative punishment.

While founded in behaviorism, behavior modification has long been used by psychotherapists, parents, and caretakers of those with special needs who don't necessarily have a behaviorist "philosophy." It involves some of the most basic methods to alter human behavior, through operant reward and punishment. Classical conditioning, which aims to affect changes in behavior through associations between stimuli and responses, can also be a component of behavior modification, but it is generally less useful in applied settings because it focuses solely on basic involuntary reactions to stimuli and not on conscious learning associated with a behavior's function or context.

Strictly following behavioral principles, there is no analysis of the individual's thoughts, but many argue that the therapy can be improved with cognitive components. In recent years, the concept of punishment has had many critics, but it has legitimately effective uses in contexts such as behavioral extinction, made especially popular in the childhood discipline technique of "time out." When mis-used, punishment can lead to affective (emotional) disorders, as well as to the target of the punishment eventually focusing only on avoiding punishment (i.e., "not getting caught") rather than improving behavior.

Family therapy

Family therapy, also referred to as couple and family therapy and family systems therapy, and earlier generally referred to as marriage therapy, is a branch of psychotherapy that works with families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and development. It tends to view these in terms of the systems of interaction between family members. It emphasizes family relationships as an important factor in psychological health. As such, family problems have been seen to arise as an emergent property of systemic interactions, rather than to be blamed on individual members.

Family therapists may focus more on how patterns of interaction maintain the problem rather than trying to identify the cause, as this can be experienced as blaming by some families. It assumes that the family as a whole is larger than the sum of its parts.

Most practitioners are "eclectic", using techniques from several areas, depending upon the client(s). Family therapy practitioners come from a range of professional backgrounds, and some are specifically qualified or licensed/registered in family therapy (licensing is not required in some jurisdictions and requirements vary from place to place). In the UK, family therapists are usually psychologists, nurses, psychotherapists, social workers, or counselors who have done further training in family therapy, either a diploma or an M.Sc..

Multicultural and inter-cultural approaches are being developed.

Family therapy has been used effectively where families, and or individuals in those families experience or suffer:

serious psychological disorders (e.g. schizophrenia, addictions and eating disorders);
interactional and transitional crises in a family’s life cycle (e.g. divorce);
as a support of other psychotherapies and medication.