4/28/08:  Dr. Phil & Oprah...

Welcome to our informal survey about extreme hoarding. Thank you for taking a few minutes to complete this brief survey. We will make the results available to you if you’d like. Just let us know at the end of this survey.

Why are we doing this survey? Every day, BERGFELD’s receives calls and e-mail from people throughout the country who are asking for resources and guidance about problems of advanced and extreme hoarding - their own, their client's, a friend’s, a family member’s, or a neighbor's. Currently, there is only limited information about local resources available from public agencies, care managers, and private professionals to help people burdened by this serious condition. BERGFELD's is expanding our services to help those who contact us by directing them to available resources throughout the U.S.A. This survey will help.

Over recent years, BERGFELD's has worked with more than 60 “extreme hoarders” whose hoarding is “the accumulation of and failure to discard excessive numbers of possessions … to the extent that living spaces can’t be used for their intended purposes … and it causes distress and decline in health and wellbeing.” (BERGFELD’s paraphrase of definitions by research experts Gail Steketee, PhD and Randy Frost, PhD.)

Go to Survey

Northampton, MA:
Randy O. Frost, an internationally recognized expert on compulsive hoarding will be speaking on Tuesday, March 11, in Weinstein Auditorium. Frost will present the 50th Annual Katharine Asher Engel Lecture entitled “Buried in Treasures,” which is also the name of his most recent self-help book. The lecture will be free and open to the public.

Organizing is Naturally Hard for Me. What’s up with that?

Judith Kolberg, founder of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization, will delve into some of the ends and outs of what is sometimes called executive dysfunction. She examines ideas about disorganization we always suspected might be true but just never had anybody discuss before. New ideas, new understanding, and maybe a few new tricks for making things better.

Date is March 17, Monday.TIME is 9:00 p.m. EST (6:00 p.m. PT)
Just make a call in the usual way from any phone or service.NUMBER TO CALL is 605-990-0700 and use access code 1035513# when asked.
The length is 45 minutes, 30 min. conversation and 15 min. Q & A.The teleclass is free. Your only expense is your usual phone service charge.
Go to http://www.messies. com to print out the listening guide.

Christiana Bratiotis, University of Nevada, Reno master of social work graduate and Boston University doctoral student, is coming home
to raise awareness and provide insight on the complex mental health problem of compulsive hoarding with a program titled, "This Full
House: Understanding Compulsive Hoarding."

The event will take place at noon, Feb. 28 at the Joe Crowley Student Union Theatre. The event is open to the public. There is no admission
fee and lunch will be provided to guests.

Additionally, an encore event will take place, from 5 to 7 p.m. Feb. 28 in Mack Auditorium at Renown Regional Medical Center There is no
admission charge and refreshments will be provided. Free continuing education units will be offered to social work professionals in attendance.

Read more:
http://www.unr. edu/nevadanews/ detail.aspx? id=2547

Wednesday - January 30, 2008

"Get Rid of It!"

Who's the Hoarder?

Larry and Sheila are newlyweds struggling to merge their belongings
under one roof. Larry says he had to make room for Sheila's porcelain
figurines and plastic plants, while his stuff got stowed in the
garage. Sheila says Larry's stuff is crap, like his 110 hats and 54
coats.

Treasured Memories vs. Clutter

Duaan says her friend, Terri, has an out-of-control accumulation of
junk in four storage units and a garage. Terri says she feels
sentimental about everything — including a rubber chicken — and
doesn't know how to let it go.

Collection Obsession?

Kim says her husband, Paul's, Star Wars hobby has got to go. She says
he spends 30 hours a week playing with his collection, and he won't
even snuggle with her unless he has toys nearby! Paul says snuggling
bores him out of his mind.

SLAMDANCE DIRECTOR INTERVIEW:
CYNTHIA LESTER, MY MOTHER'S GARDEN

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Director returns to Slamdance, this time with a film 'My Mother's Garden'
Kristina Eastham, Of the Record staff
Article Launched: 01/18/2008

 

Currently, Simply Organized is working with individuals to create a WA State Hoarding Task Force. In this journey it has been discovered that many in the state are helping hoarders, however, they do not know that others exists. It is the intent of the Task Force to bring all related professionals together & offer a well rounded forum of resources.

Compulsive Hoarding: Special FREE NSGCD TeleClass Open to ALL Professionals Working with Hoarders
TITLE: Compulsive Hoarding and Acquiring– Approach with Caution:
A Team Approach is the Way to Go!
DATE: January 7, 2008
TIME: 8:00 – 9:30PM, EST

NAPO Joins POC and NSGCD to Create The International Federation of Professional Organizers

Hoarding: What it is, Individual and Public Consequences, and a Team Approach to Effective Interventions (pdf)

Hoarders Are Often A Danger To Themselves
Housing Directors Address Problem
Worcester Telegram and Gazette
12/13/07

Ms. Steketee told the story of an elderly gentleman who lived near her home. His entire house was filled with all manner of things. One night, the house caught fire, and he died as firefighters tried in vain to reach him. During the fire, the rear walls of his house gave way and his myriad possessions spilled out into his backyard as if poured out of a box.

Community Services Conference
“Thinking Outside The Box”-A Housing, Service, Clinical and Enforcement Team Approach To Hoarding
Best Western Royal Plaza
Marlborough, MA

Who May Attend?
TAP Management Trainings are open to anyone.

My Mother’s Garden, World Premiere (2008, 70 min, USA)
Written/Directed by Cynthia Lester
The story of one woman's extreme attachment to material objects and how her estranged children reunite to help her let go.
Watch trailer.

Compulsive Hoarding Top Cause Of Evictions & Homelessness
San Francisco Conference to address little known but prevalent mental illness...

Getting a Handle on Hoarding
Effective interventions to help individuals who hoard stay in their own homes

Date: Wednesday, 9/19/2007

Everyone Invited-Save The Date!

OCD Foundation Michigan
October 6, 2007, 11:30-3:00 p.m: Rainbow Luncheon, Warren, MI
Featured Speaker:  Elizabeth Nelson
"Children of Hoarders:  The View From The Other Side"(pdf)

Children of Hoarders, Oprah is looking for you...

AUGUST 18, 2007

VIDEO OF San Francisco HOARDING CONFERENCE
Featuring Randy Frost, Ph.D

1:30 - 3:30
Seton Medical Center, Room 315 - DePaul Auditorium
1850 Sullivan Ave., Daly City
www.ocd-bayarea.com or 415-337-4160

Obsessive Compulsive Foundation of the San Francisco Bay Area
OCD Support Group

Help! I'm a Hoarder 
  
More than a million Americans suffer from disposophobia (Compulsive Hoarding) - the fear of throwing anything away. Meet three individuals who face the devastating effects of compulsive hoarding. You'll never look at your clutter in the same way again. Aired 7/22/07.

Saturday, November 3rd, 2007. This year's guest speaker will be Dr Randy O. Frost, Ph.D., a world-renowned OCD and hoarding specialist.

Please regularly visit our website for more details.


Annie Taillon
Secretary and administrator
Quebec Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Foundation
Email: fqtoc@hotmail.com
Website: http://fqtoc.mtl.rtss.qc.ca

Health Department to tackle hoarding

Chris Rhatigan, Register Staff

06/27/2007

MILFORD — The Health Department will hold a symposium on hoarding dubbed "Bursting at the Seams: Too Many Pets and Too Much Stuff" at Platt Technical High School today.

The program will deal with hoarding, an issue officials say has become more of a problem...

July 17, 2007
Time: 9:00 PM Eastern Time - Call in at 8:55
Call 605-990-0700 and enter the access code 1035513#.

From Messies.com

TELECLASS for Hoarders and their Family and Friends

Do you want to evaluate your own hoarding tendencies? If you think you are a hoarder or have hoarding tendencies, evaluate yourself on http://www.bio-behavioral.com where you can find a quiz that will help you. Call in to hear more about what you can do to overcome those tendencies.

Dr. Neziroglu also has a special desire to help family members learn how to help their loved one who hoards, to get them to at least the first step of help. She wants the family to know that there is hope and where to find it.

We will have a chance to talk to Fugen Neziroglu, the author of the very practical and insightful book, OVERCOMING COMPULSIVE HOARDING, for one hour total, with 20 or 30 minutes for your questions. Just call in as you would make any long distance call. A land line is probably better than a cell phone.

World Congress of Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies

7/11-7/14, 2007 Conference Brochure
2/2007, Latest Updates

Do you have a close friend or family member

with compulsive hoarding disorder?

Do you live with it yourself?

 

An award-winning documentary production company near Boston is...
-See their information flyer-

Managing Life One Thursday at a Time --
To Save or Not To Save: Compulsive Hoarding
7 to 8 p.m., Akron General Health & Wellness Center,
4125 Medina Road,
Montrose area of Bath Township.
Free. 330-344-1559.

Source

Partial Transcript of CNN Show from 2/2006 featuring two different hoarders.  (One of the hoarders in this show, Kathleen, was featured on the Dr. Keith Ablow Show 10/13/06)

Contribute to National Dialogue

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"STUFFED" Showing At Mill Valley Film Festival         

About the Film                                

Do you know someone who saves too much stuff, and can't seem to throw anything away? All of us attach emotional significance to our things. Stuffed begs the question: "Do I always need more?"

In search of an answer, filmmakers Cerissa Tanner and Arwen Curry journey into the crowded apartments of compulsive hoarders and hear their stories. With fascinating archival footage from a 1947 newsreel, they look to the famous case of the Collyer brothers in New York, and visit with neuroscientists who explain the emerging science behind our attachment to our possessions.  

Screenings

Stuffed will show on Saturday, October 14 at 11:00 am at the Mill Valley Film Festival. Tickets go on sale September 17.

About the Filmmakers

Cerissa Tanner is an independent filmmaker based in the Bay Area. She recently graduated from the documentary film program at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. Her work has been featured on CNN/Anderson Cooper 360, PBS/California Connected and Current TV.

Arwen Curry works in documentary film, public radio, and long-form print. Currently, she is working with Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Justine Shapiro (Promises , 2002) on a documentary about child rearing around the world. Arwen is an East Bay native, and graduated from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism in May 2006. Stuffed is her first film.