Hypnotherapy for Clutter and Hoarding
What Is Hoarding Disorder?
The easiest way to describe Hoarding Disorder is this; people don’t simply collect items. They collect and hoard them believing that they can someday be used again, or that they are of some value. Some people collect items that are personal to them and then hoard them.
The hoarding becomes unmanageable and the person’s home becomes filled with these possessions, and more often than not the home becomes inhabitable to other members of the person’s family. Yet the sufferer of Hoarding Disorder manages themselves to somehow live amongst the hoard.
In the instance that the home becomes over-cluttered it may be deemed as a clinical risk, especially if it acts as a hazard to normal day to day functioning in the household such as cooking, moving around the home, cleaning and visiting the bathroom. This can prove dangerous to all members of the household and outside intervention may be needed; local councils can become involved and, if the property is not the hoarder’s own, risk of eviction can be a serious implication.
People who suffer from Hoarding Disorder can become unreasonable and detached from family members whilst being in denial of the problem their hoarding poses.
Hoarding was thought of in the same way as Obsessive Compulsive disorder, but people with OCD are often more generally aware of their problems whereas people with Hoarding Disorders more often than not aren’t aware that there is a problem.
Here are generally recognised symptoms of hoarding from the Mayo Clinic:
- Cluttered living spaces
- Inability to discard items
- Keeping stacks of newspapers, magazines, or junk mail
- Moving items from one pile to another without discarding anything
- Acquiring unneeded or seemingly useless items, including trash
- Difficulty managing daily activities, procrastinating and trouble making decisions
- Difficulty organising items
- Perfectionism
- Excessive attachment to possessions and discomfort letting others touch or borrow possessions
- Limited or no social interactions
What Do People Hoard?
- Old Books,
catalogues , newspapers and pamphlets - Things that might be useful for making crafts such as sewing machines, materials
- Duvets, quilt covers
- Toys
- Clothes that “might” be worn one day even if they don’t fit the Hoarder
- Broken things/trash such as old cans, plastic bags
- Things that were of interest to the hoarder that
have now grown out of control
Hoarding disorder can be treated with Psychopharmacological Interventions such as anti-depressants and SSRI drugs. However Hypnotherapy and Focused Psychological Strategies may also be very successful in treating people. Focused Psychology and Hypnotherapy will help the patient to establish why they hoard to find the starting point for the hoarding.
In order to help the patient, Focused Psychology and Hypnotherapy will help to determine which items the patient is willing to consider parting with. Patients can be helped by the therapist using relaxation techniques, and when the patient is feeling more relaxed then the home can begin to be cleared slowly and at a pace that is right for the patient; gentle coaxing and patience are vitally important as parting with items can be very distressing and upsetting for the client.