If you are living with, are close to, or are yourself someone who is hoarding, you'll know that the disorder goes far deeper than most people realise, affecting the whole family and presenting huge challenges to the physical, mental, emotional and even financial wellbeing of anyone involved. Jo Cooke is Director of one of the UK's leading support services for people affected by hoarding and clutter, and has written this sensitive and empathetic book to help anyone experiencing hoarding difficulties. She gives insight into Hoarding Disorder - explaining what it is and, importantly, what it isn't - and what may trigger hoarding. There are strategies for how to assess the scale of situation and lay the groundwork to address it, and insights into who can help and how they can do it. An 8 step-plan gives practical steps to tackle the hoarding, supported by suggestions for what to do with the 'stuff', and advice on safeguarding - as well as techniques to support the hoarder as they attempt to stay clutter-free. There is space in the book for individuals and their own stories of hoarding, giving an empowering voice to people affected by the condition, and replacing the morbid curiosity that often accompanies it. With plenty of information on resources and therapies that can help, this is a warm and hugely practical guide that can only help anyone affected in any way by hoarding.

Although the much-satirized image of a house overflowing with National Geographics and infested with cats may make us chuckle, the reality of compulsive hoarding is no laughing matter. The most common reason for evictions in the US and a significant risk factor for fatal house fires, compulsive hoarding is a treatable condition related to obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is characterized by the acquisition of possessions that have little or no value, which the sufferer, often referred to as the saver, has great difficulty discarding. This book, the first ever written for savers and their families, provides an overview of compulsive hoarding and how it relates to obsessive-compulsive disorder. It discusses hoarding broadly, offering readers perspectives on the physical, behavioral, and value-oriented aspects of the condition. You can use its assessment tools to help decide why you or your loved one hoards. Skill-building exercises help you determine how to beat the hoarding problem by addressing issues that often underlie compulsive saving. Even though this is fundamentally a self-help book, it contains a frank discussion about the need for professional help in some hoarding cases, how to find it, and what medications have been proven effective for savers.

Describes the psychological roots of compulsive hoarding and presents practical strategies for treating and overcoming the behavior.

From Hoarding to Hope is designed to be a strategic guidebook to help you assemble the right team of profesional service providers: clinicians, social workers, home health-care workers, professional organizers, public-health workers, professional organizers, public-health workers or animal control. (back cover).

The New York Times bestseller. “Gripping . . . By turns fascinating and heartbreaking . . . Stuff invites readers to reevaluate their desire for things.”—Boston Globe “Amazing . . . utterly engrossing . . . Read it.”—The Washington Post Book World What possesses someone to save every scrap of paper that’s ever come into his home? What compulsions drive a person to sacrifice her marriage or career for an accumulation of seemingly useless things? Randy Frost and Gail Steketee were the first to study hoarding when they began their work a decade ago. They didn’t expect that they would end up treating hundreds of patients and fielding thousands of calls from the families of hoarders. Their vivid case studies (reminiscent of Oliver Sacks) in Stuff show how you can identify a hoarder—piles on sofas and beds that make the furniture useless, houses that can be navigated only by following small paths called goat trails, vast piles of paper that the hoarders “churn” but never discard, even collections of animals and garbage—and illuminate the pull that possessions exert over all of us. Whether we’re savers, collectors, or compulsive cleaners, very few of us are in fact free of the impulses that drive hoarders to extremes. “Authoritative, haunting, and mysterious. It is also intensely, not to say compulsively readable.”—Tracy Kidder, Pulitzer Prize-winning author “Fascinating . . . a good mix of cultural and psychological theories on hoarding.”—Newsweek “Pioneering researchers offer a superb overview of a complex disorder that interferes with the lives of more than six-million Americans . . . An absorbing, gripping, important report.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Hoarding disorder is the excessive saving of objects and difficulty parting with them to a point that clutter in the home interferes with one's ability to use rooms and furnishings for their intended purpose. Hoarding: What Everyone Needs to Know demystifies this complex problem, what it looks like and why it may develop, and how it can be treated.