Hoarding Treatment

What is Hoarding Disorder?

Hoarding Disorder is characterized by the persistent difficulty of discarding possessions, regardless of their actual value, leading to cluttered living spaces and distress. Hoarding can severely impact an individual’s health, safety, and relationships, and often co-occurs with anxiety or depression. Another form of hoarding involves excessive acquisition, with excessive buying and acquisition of free items being the most common. 

Symptoms of Hoarding Disorder

  • Difficulty discarding items, leading to excessive clutter

  • Distress at the thought of getting rid of possessions

  • Problems using living spaces as intended due to clutter

  • Impaired daily functioning, including social isolation or poor hygiene

  • For some, excessive purchases and acquisition of free items

How Hoarding Treatment Works

Treatment for hoarding typically involves Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which focuses on changing the unhelpful thoughts and behaviors that lead to hoarding. Treatment may include:

  1. Cognitive Restructuring: Challenging beliefs about the need to keep possessions or the fear of losing important items.

  2. Skills Training: Learning organization skills and how to manage possessions more effectively.

  3. Gradual Decluttering: Step-by-step plans for discarding items and organizing living spaces.

In some cases, medications such as SSRIs may also be prescribed by your primary care doctor to manage underlying anxiety or depression.

Who Can Benefit from Hoarding Treatment?

Hoarding treatment is ideal for individuals whose excessive saving and collecting behavior leads to unsafe or unlivable conditions. It’s also beneficial for those whose hoarding behaviors result in significant emotional distress or interfere with daily life.

Hoarding Treatment at the Mindfulness & Change Group

Our therapists provide evidence-based treatments for hoarding, including CBT and gradual decluttering techniques, to help individuals address both the psychological and practical aspects of hoarding. We offer a compassionate approach that supports clients as they regain control of their living spaces and improve their quality of life.

Take the First Step Toward a Clutter-Free Life

If hoarding is affecting your ability to live comfortably and safely, we can help. Contact us today to learn more about our hoarding treatment program and how we can support your journey to recovery.