Understanding Hoarding by Jo Cooke

Author:Jo Cooke
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
ISBN: 9781847094544
Publisher: John Murray Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

6

Sustainability – keeping it clear

In this chapter I want to look at how you can help the hoarder to feel empowered, to sustain her efforts and maintain space, including keeping a record of the pace of progress. It is important to celebrate and get used to the reclaimed space. It is so easy to fill the area you have cleared again, so in this chapter I’ll also focus on maintaining clear areas.

Capture progress and timelines

Using a progress form which you can create yourself can be useful to measure how far you have come. It is a way to encourage both the person you are helping and yourself – in fact, to motivate all parties concerned, such as friends or family members – and to act as a timeline of the progress achieved.

Many hoarders can quite easily be distracted from the task in hand, so it is essential to recognize how long at a time you can work with the person you are helping. It is important to be mindful of the energy levels both of the person you are helping and your own. We like to conclude our sessions with people still wanting to do more rather than feeling completely exhausted because the sessions have been too arduous, too long and too emotionally challenging. The role of a helper is to instil a sense of enthusiasm and energy in the person you are helping, so that at the end of your session you leave the person feeling motivated, empowered and energized to continue.

Many people can feel despondent and overwhelmed at the scale of their hoard, and it is important to anyone helping to provide reinforcement, encouragement and praise. A written record will highlight just how much has been achieved and which areas have been tackled, where progress has been achieved and clutter-free areas maintained. A progress form not only provides a positive record of achievement for the person but allows friends and helpers to know which areas within the home are being tackled and where best to continue

in the next scheduled session. The form can also act as a kind of project management tool, and as a reference guide to the areas of the home that have been addressed on previous sessions.

Aims and gains

Be sure to agree with the person you are helping the areas that you will be focusing on. It is easy to be distracted by areas other than the one you have agreed, and identifying a clear aim provides a clear pathway to ensuring that outcomes can be measured and achieved. Recording aims and gains helps establish realistic goals.

Make sure you celebrate the area that has been cleared, spending some time in it and ensuring that the person feels comfortable with the space. It is also worth re-emphasizing the positive impact that the reclaimed space has made.

What we have achieved

Capturing the progress made within a session is an important way to reaffirm and provide positive feedback. Reinforcement and the reaffirmation of the goals to be achieved is

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