Hoarding Support

If you or a loved one needs hoarding support, you don’t have to try and figure out how to manage things on your own. Chances are, you’ve tried to do that in the past and it hasn’t worked. It can be hard to reach out and ask for help. You don’t have to do this alone, and you deserve real understanding and support as you take this new step in life. We can work with you virtually, in the office and/or at your home.

ThriveWell therapists can help with hoarding behaviours, underlying symptoms of depression, anxiety and avoidance, as well as the reasons why and how hoarding and clutter became issues in your life.

The Link Between Hoarding and Health Issues

Having a hoarding problem suggests that you might be struggling both inside and out. Understanding and supportive mental health care can help! Friends and family might see this struggle and make suggestions about the best organization systems, how to do a deep clean or even moving to make a fresh start.  In most cases, this doesn’t address or ‘fix’ the underlying problems. Varying degrees of messiness may be brought on by a lack of organization, however, hoarding and persistent clutter issues are more complex than this. Hoarding can be brought on or made worse by trauma, anxiety, depression, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and neurodiversity such as ADHD or Autism. There is research showing that there may be a genetic link and a part of the brain that is specifically linked to hoarding and clutter challenges.

Understanding why letting go and organizing are challenging is a big step towards having increased control in your life. We provide strategies and techniques that support you towards long-term management of your environments and healing the trauma that often accompanies hoarding and clutter. 

Offering Hoarding Support For Seniors

Hoarding often starts small, and then keeps growing, slowly, in a way that you may not even recognize at first. If you or your loved one is a senior, the amount of time that there has been to accumulate and hoard has likely been decades. Often we get set in our ways of doing things as time goes on, including developing patterns of shopping, collecting, and keeping. Over time, clutter can reach hazardous levels. We can make a plan to work with you in your home, to come to where the clutter has been building, and you are in the most need of support. We can help assess health and safety risks, and offer therapy and coaching in your home, to help you reach your goals. 

Hoarding Happens With Young People Too

Anxiety, stress and clutter can go hand in hand. Young people, especially those with one or more parents with hoarding challenges, may find that one way to cope is saving, collecting, and avoiding letting go of items. We all experience this with sentimental items or those we think we might need one day.  This can be especially true when they experience the sense of so many experiences being outside of their control. Holding onto items, and getting new things can give a sense of control. If a young person lives with a parent with hoarding behaviour, they are more likely to struggle with hoarding, clutter and keeping their own home environments clean as adults. Experiencing trauma can increase hoarding for teens as well. Providing support for teens who hoard often begins with addressing trauma, taking a look at environmental factors, and offering new tools on how to manage stress and anxiety. With the right therapy, young people can feel less attached to things in their environment, more empowered in their decision-making, and on their way to reaching their goals. 

Helps For Loved Ones Of those who Hoard

Loving someone who has a problem with clutter or hoarding can be painful, frustrating, and exhausting. You may have spent many hours, even days or weeks trying to help your loved one organize and purge clutter in the past, only to see bigger piles grow up to take the place of the old ones. Problems with hoarding and clutter can be similar to the issue of eating disorders, and it’s not actually about the clutter (or food), it’s about the feelings. Clutter is a symptom, and no matter how many times you treat a symptom, if the root cause hasn’t been addressed, the clutter will keep coming back. 

ThriveWell therapists can connect with your hoarding friend or family member when they feel ready to make a change, and help them to manage their hoarding in a long term, sustainable way. We also offer relationship counselling between you and your loved one, or individual therapy for yourself to help strengthen your boundaries, coping and self-care strategies, and we can help you become a skilled ‘clutter coach’ so that you can increase the likelihood of lasting success when you are supporting your loved one. 

There Is Hope For Hoarding Issues

There is hope, and it begins with sharing your struggles with someone who can support you. ThriveWell therapists will meet you where you are at today, with acceptance and care. Seeing a counsellor can help to push the clutter aside to see what has been hiding underneath. We work through a trauma-informed therapy lens, we walk with our clients, taking things one step at a time, beginning where you are at today, to help make life more manageable, peaceful and sustainable. With the right help you can finally rest and create room to breathe and relax in your home. When you feel ready, reach out to book a consultation.