{"id":1013,"date":"2010-09-14T03:45:09","date_gmt":"2010-09-13T21:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/professional-organizer.com\/WordPress\/?p=1013"},"modified":"2015-08-31T19:41:33","modified_gmt":"2015-09-01T00:41:33","slug":"working-with-hoarding-clients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/professional-organizer.com\/WordPress\/working-with-hoarding-clients\/","title":{"rendered":"Working with Hoarding Clients"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"hoarding\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hoarders have become a national fascination!\u00a0 Not only we do all know families struggling with this challenge, we know how tragic these situations are with respect to finances, emotions, safety and sometimes legal aspects.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Work with a hoarding situation begins with the client.<\/h3>\n

Who is the client? It is the hoarder, even though\u00a0 the family, friends or other community members want the home decluttered.\u00a0 An assessment of client readiness for change makes the difference.\u00a0 Is the client ready to begin the process of letting go, creating a new way of life, and working toward maintenance and balance of acquisition\u00a0?\u00a0 As a professional organizer, the first phone conversation with the hoarder tells me so much about our work together.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

A successful approach for hoarding includes a team.<\/h3>\n

The team members are the client, the therapist and related professionals, the professional organizer, assistants to the organizer, skilled labor or other trade professionals as needed, and possibly haulers.\u00a0 Collaborative therapy, where the client works with both a therapist for inner change and a professional organizer for outer change, makes for the best possible work arrangement.\u00a0 As a professional organizer, I also find my hoarding clients work best with additional team members.\u00a0 The energy that more people bring, the additional hauling off capability, and the resources that all the other team members bring to the project, neutralizes the shame and perfectionism the client is feeling.\u00a0 In our work we usually find several home repair projects as we progress.\u00a0 The project moves forward more quickly by having a handy man, electrician, and other trade people to call in as needed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Work with hoarders proceeds at their pace.<\/h3>\n

With my own clients and their cases, we work on a regular basis, working in most difficult areas together.\u00a0 Together we establish guidelines for donating through coaching.\u00a0 Clients are encouraged and affirmed in good decision making.\u00a0 Trust is the most important aspect of our relationship.\u00a0 Clients see me as a motivator to change.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Every situation with hoarders is different in terms of how quickly progress occurs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Hoarding resources<\/h3>\n

John Hart, PhD\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 anxiety.depression.treatment@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tolin, Frost and Sketetee\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Buried in Treasures<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tomkins and Hartl\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Digging Out: Helping your loved one manage clutter, hoarding and compulsive acquiring<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Hoarders have become a national fascination!\u00a0 Not only we do all know families struggling with this challenge, we know how tragic these situations are with respect to finances, emotions, safety and sometimes legal aspects. Work with a hoarding situation begins with the client. Who is the client? It is the hoarder, even though\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,76,3,9,6],"tags":[93,374],"class_list":["post-1013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-organizing","category-financial-organizing","category-green-organizing","category-organizing-skills","category-paper-management","tag-hoarding","tag-how-to-help-a-hoarder"],"yoast_head":"\nWorking with Hoarding Clients - 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