Understanding, Assessing, and Intervening with Compulsive Hoarding
A Life Enhancement Seminar in the Work, Health, and Life Series. Program is part of the Spring 2008 'Get Trained' Series offered through the Office of Human Resources.
Boston University, 4/22

The Institute on Compulsive Hoarding and Cluttering (ICHC) is excited to announce some of our upcoming trainings!  Compulsive hoarding is

the acquisition of, and failure to discard, possessions which appear to be useless or of limited value.  Please do not hesitate to pass these

announcements on to friends, family members and colleagues.

ICHC will be hosting a seminar for loved ones, friends or anyone interested in knowing more about compulsive hoarding and

cluttering titled: "Digging Out:  Helping Your Loved One Manage Clutter, Hoarding and Compulsive Acquiring" on March 18th, 6-

8pm at the World Affairs Council, located at 312 Sutter Street, Suite 200, San Francisco.  For more information about the seminar,

please click here.  The registration form can be found through this link. 

Wichita/Segwick County Hoarding Task Force
Presents a one day intensive workshop on Hoarding

“Saving, Collecting, or Hoarding?”
Hoarding -Understanding- To- Steps

Wichita Marriott

Hoarding becomes a health, safety issue
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER

2 workshops on Hoarding at this Conference in Riverside County , California   Wednesday, December 5th.  (pdf)

March 13, 2008, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM-San Francisco Institute on Aging/Educational Program

RECOGNIZING AND RESPONDING TO CLUTTER ADDICTION AND COMPULSIVE HOARDING IN OLDER ADULTS
Many older adults acquire excessive amounts of seemingly useless items, then have trouble letting go of them. When does collecting turn into pathological hoarding? What can be done when an older person lives amongst so much stuff that it interferes with activities of daily living and creates a safety hazard? Presenters will discuss phenomenology, risk assessment, use of community resources, planning and executing cleanouts, other alternatives, and the inherent ethical dilemmas. 

"Interventions for Compulsive Hoarding", by Gail Steketee, Ph.D.

Presented by Foundation for Mental Health of the Shoals & The University of North Alabama.
See brochure (pdf)

Conference on Hoarding and Cluttering 2007
Progress Not Perfection: Improving Health, Safety and Comfort Through Harm Reduction

Date: Thursday, October 18, 2007
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (Registration begins at 8:15 a.m.)
Location: St. Mary’s Cathedral, 1111 Gough Street, San Francisco, CA 94109

This is MHA-SF’s 10th annual Conference on Hoarding and Cluttering.
More information and to register

SAVE THE DATE
2007 MHA-SF Conference on Hoarding & Cluttering
Thursday, October 18, 2007
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Event Center at St. Mary’s Cathedral, San Francisco, CA

This year’s conference will focus on harm-reduction approaches rather than treatment, per se. Harm reduction assumes that it is not necessary to stop all compulsive acquiring, or to clear homes completely in order to stop harm, and proposes that the goal of stopping all acquiring or removing all clutter is unrealistic.  Harm reduction emphasizes improving the safety, health and comfort of persons who hoard, while also improving relationships between the person who hoards and his or her family members or caregivers. ...

July 19–22, 2007
The Site for the 14th Annual OCF Conference
The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center-The Woodlands, TX

  A Basket Full of Recovery Options

HOARDING TRAINING DAY!
June 20, 2007
8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Sponsored by LA Older Services Administration

Seven Seas Inn Convention Center, Manda, ND

Clinical

When Enough is Never Enough: Management of Compulsive Hoarding

Holly Hegstad, Ph.D.; Knowlton, O’Neill, and Associates, P.C.; West Fargo, ND

This hour long presentation is designed to provide individuals with an understanding of the psychology behind pathological hoarding.  Challenges of working with hoarders will be addressed.   Individuals will be presented with practical, creative, and empirically supported ways to assess and intervene with clients who hoard.

Posted on Mon, Apr. 23, 2007

MEETING IN TOPEKA

Hoarding problem gets state attention

BY DEB GRUVER
The Wichita Eagle

National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization (NSGCD) Collaborative Therapy Workshop

Collaborative Therapy for Clutter Management
Minneapolis, MN:  Wednesday, April 25, 2007

View Conference Brochure

Listen to teleconference on overcoming Hoarding with Dr. Randy Frost 
Buried in Treasures-4/7/2007 note:  This is no longer available to listen to for free, but CD's can be purchased of this teleconference at messies.com

OVERCOME YOUR HOARDING TENDENCIES- Free teleclass with Randy O. Frost

DATE Thursday, March 8, 2007

Free telephone class on hoarding tendencies with Dr. Randy Frost coming up on March 8 at 9:00 PM ET.
TIME 9 PM Eastern, 8 PM Central, 7 PM Mountain, 6 PM Pacific, 5 PM further west.

CALL IN Dial the number 402-756-9000 and enter the code 526092#. The only cost
to you is your usual long distance charges.

Go to http://messies. com/journal/ 2007/02/19/ face_your_ hoarding_ tendencies_ 1/ to download the listening guide.

FACE YOUR HOARDING TENDENCIES Teleclass

Randy O. Frost, Ph.D. is America's leading authority on compulsive hoarding. He has been
interviewed for The New York Times, Newsweek , and National Public Radio. You may have seen him on ABC 20/20 Downtown, Good Morning America , and Dateline .

Get his new book Buried in Treasures, Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving, and Hoarding to read before the teleclass.

Discover the reasons for your problems with acquiring, saving, and hoarding, and learn new ways of thinking about your possessions so you can accurately identify those things you really need and those you can do without. Learn to recognize the "bad guys" that maintain your hoarding behavior and meet the "good guys" who will motivate you and put
you on the path to change.

For more information: http://www.messies. com

LISTENING GUIDE

OVERCOMING HOARDING TENDENCIES

1. In your book you emphasize motivation. Several of your chapters
start with Motivation Boosters. In your experience and research, what
are some of the top ways we can be motivated toward an organized way
of life?

____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ ______

2. Say a word about people who don’t seem to feel they have a
problem even though everybody else says they do.
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________

3. Tell us briefly how being distractible or having ADD plays a part.
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________

4. One of the interesting parts of your book is your reference to
what you call the bad guys, unproductive thoughts that lead us into
the tendency to get and keep too much stuff. Tell us what they are
and a little about them.
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ _________

5. This is a complex subject and difficult to simplify but I want to
give our listeners an idea of what additional help they can avail
themselves of in order to get out of the situation they are in. I
will mention that in order to get more complete help they need to get
the book. Other than that, what helps can you suggest?
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ _________

6. Let us suppose I am ready to change, give me a plan that will help
me make that change. Mention the importance of storage in the process.

____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ _________ ___

7. How can I stay on track?
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________

8. Do you have any other helpful suggestions we haven’t covered?
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ _________

AUDIENCE QUESTIONS

Did you attend this?

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San Francisco Mental Health Association 
2006 Hoarding and Cluttering Conference 
OCTOBER 26th, 2006 -Print their brochure

Please post your comments about the conference here, by clicking "comments" below! (What did you learn? Any new programs in development across the country? Did you learn of any new resources to share with us?)
Thanks!

Clinging To Clutter Radio Program-"After the Dumpster"
on Weekend America

by Elizabeth Chur

Elizabeth Chur interviews Melodie, a compulsive hoarder who will be attending the Hoarding Conference in San Francisco this week. (10/26/06):

You can listen to that show here:

October 12, 2006
St. Louis County Health and Human Services Conference
Deluth, MN
St. Louis County Hoarding Task Force Workshop/Q & A

The St. Louis County Hoarding Task Force is comprised of a diverse panel of professionals from various agencies in St. Louis County.  The mission statement of the St. Louis County HTF is "to keep people in their homes living in a clean, safe, and sanitary environment."  The task force works with residents to attempt to prevent displacement of residents, homelessness, demolition of their homes, decrease expense to the city, decrease the burden on the court system, and to encourage treatment of any physical and/or mental health concerns. 

The main purpose of this workshop is to raise awareness and highlight the issue.  This workshop will provide the opportunity for conference attendees to ask questions and get information on resources for dealing with individuals who are unable to, or having difficulty maintaining a clean, save, and sanitary living space.
Source.

Mental Health Awareness Week at UCSF

A series of events associated with Mental Health Awareness Week will take place at UCSF between October 2-6. Organized by the Mental Health Advocacy Group, these events aim to raise awareness about the role that mental illness plays within the UCSF community. Dr. David Burns, adjunct clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine, will deliver the Pat Patterson Memorial lecture, “When Panic Attacks: Drug-Free Treatment for Anxiety Disorders,” on Tuesday, October 3, noon-1 in HSW301.

Burns has been a pioneer in the development of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, a drug-free treatment for depression and anxiety that has become the most widely used and extensively researched form of psychotherapy in history. His bestselling book, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, has sold more than five million copies worldwide and is the book most often recommended by mental health professionals to patients suffering from anxiety and depression. A new book by Dr. Burns on the treatment of anxiety, When Panic Attacks, was published this year. On Tuesday, October 3, from 5-6:30 p.m. , a panel discussion with Dr. Neal Cohen, a professor of anesthesia and medicine and vice dean for the UCSF School of Medicine, and Marcia Canning, part of the University of California’s legal counsel, will occur.

The week will also feature events that draw attention to the personal experiences that students, staff and faculty at UCSF have with mental illness. Written testimonials of people in the UCSF community who have dealt or are dealing with mental illness will be displayed in the lobby of the Medical Sciences building from October 2-6.  A panel of UCSF students and faculty will discuss their experiences dealing with mental illness in an interactive session on Friday, October 6, noon-1 in S22. 

Recognizing and Responding to Clutter Addiction Intensive
Tuesday, September 26 01:30 PM-04:30 PM

Upcoming Conference from American Society on Aging, with intensive offered for the above, at the Embassy Suites Hotel South San Francisco/San Francisco Airport

For the hoarder/pack rat, what brings the person pleasure can turn into pain. The pleasure derives temporarily from, for example, finding an old chair on the street....

MHA SF's Belinda Lyons (left) receives the 2006 Innovation in Programming Award from NMHA Board Chair Cynthia Wainscott at NMHA’s Annual Meeting.

COH MUST-READ RECOMMENDATION!

Q&A: Compulsive Hoarding and Cluttering

with Belinda Lyons, executive director, MHA of San Francisco

During our interview with the MHA of San Francisco’s leader Belinda Lyons, NMHA takes a look at the MHA’s Compulsive Hoarding and Cluttering project, a uniquely successful program that’s reduced the rates of eviction and homeless in the Bay area due to compulsive hoarding. The project is the 2006 winner of NMHA’s Innovation in Programming Award.

How did your program start?

Nine years ago, the project grew out of our MHA’s Health and Wellness Action Advocates group, a coordinated consumer advocacy group led by and for mental health consumers to improve mental health and housing conditions for people living with mental illnesses in San Francisco. Throughout the city, people who were compulsively hoarding and cluttering were facing eviction and many landlords, tenants, and code enforcement officials were not aware that the problem is related to a mental disability that requires reasonable accommodations. In response, our MHA, in collaboration with the consumer advocates, developed support groups, an annual conference and other programs to provide assistance to people struggling with compulsive hoarding.

We collaborate with numerous community partners on the project. Our annual conference is coordinated by a large community planning committee including representatives from our local Community Behavioral Health Services Department, City Attorney’s Office, Mayor’s Office, the local Bar Association, mental health service organizations, university researchers and others.

Why is it so important to raise awareness of compulsive hoarding and cluttering (CHC)?

Many of us know someone who has difficulty throwing things away— however, hoarding and cluttering becomes a problem when it interferes with everyday life. When people are unable to throw anything out, their apartments become filled beyond capacity. Hoarding can become a health, fire and safety hazard when tenants can no longer access fire exits, bathrooms, cooking, eating, and sleeping areas. Hoarding also leads to evictions and homelessness every day.

Compulsive hoarding refers to the acquisition of and failure to discard a large number of possessions that appear to be useless or of limited value in an attempt to decrease stress and anxiety. Many people don’t know that compulsive hoarding and cluttering is a feature of several mental illnesses, in particular obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but also attention deficit disorder, major depression and head trauma. It can also be caused or aggravated by increasing age or physical disabilities. ... (click "read more")

San Francisco Mental Health Association 
2006 Hoarding and Cluttering Conference