reminders
replacement behavior
resources for hoarding
responsibility, accepting
“retail therapy,”
retreating into denial by hoarders
rewards of cleanup, sharing the
Rick’s case
Roger’s (and Kathy’s) case
Rose’s case
Roxanne’s case
rules, ignoring the
Salvation Army
Sam’s and Wendy’s case
San Simeon museum
scheduling, cleanup
schizophrenia and hoarding
scrap metal
secret cleanups
self-image of hoarders
“sell” piles
setbacks
setting boundaries
Sex and the City (TV show)
shared space rule
sharing burden and rewards, cleanup
shopping hoarders
“skinny” clothes
social phobias and hoarding
social workers
cleanup and
staying clean and
team, recruiting the
“spaghetti,”
spouses of hoarders and cleanup
Stage 1 (Clutter Cleaner Scale)
cleanup
defined
Stage 2 (Clutter Cleaner Scale)
cleanup
defined
Stage 3 (Clutter Cleaner Scale)
cleanup
defined
Stage 4 (Clutter Cleaner Scale)
cleanup
defined
Stage 5 (Clutter Cleaner Scale)
cleanup
defined
starting the conversation
state of mind of hoarders
staying clean
backsliding
born-again mentality
boundaries, setting
“chore” charts
church as support network
denial
emotional triggers
“everything has a home” rule
follow-up rules
habits of hoarders
“hoarder hangover,”
hope for hoarders
ignoring the rules
notes for positive reinforcement
“old habits die hard,”
in = out
“outside” friends for
personal space
reminders
rules, ignoring the
setting boundaries
shared space rule
social workers
success rates
task reminders
ten-minute sweep
triggers
uniqueness of every hoarding situation and
See also cases of hoarding; hoarders; success, elements of
stereotypical hoarders
stonewalling by hoarders
stuff vs. individual’s physical and mental health
success, elements of
accepting responsibility
desire to change, importance of
family and friends support
finances, management of
medications for hoarders
network
“no quitting” rule
positive reinforcement for hoarders
professional organizers
quitting, stopping
recognizing self-worth
replacement behavior
responsibility, accepting
therapy
trying, starting
volunteer work
See also staying clean
success rates
supplies for cleanup
support groups
talking to hoarders
task reminders
team, recruiting the
advocate for the hoarder
animal control
appraisers
auctioneers
building inspectors
Child and Adult Protective Services
city, county, state officials
clergy
colors (team)
community support services
coworkers
effective teams
family members
friends
introducing to hoarder
neighbors
pest control
police
professional cleaners and junk removers
social workers
therapists
“trust swapping,”
uniqueness of every hoarding situation and
See also cases of hoarding; cleanup; hoarders
television shopping tactics
ten-minute sweep
Thalia’s case
therapists
staying clean and
team, recruiting the
timelines for cleanup
Timothy’s case
toxic waste
trash hoarders
“trash” piles
treatment centers
triggers
trust, importance of
“trust swapping,”
trying, starting
ultimatum approach
unhappiness of hoarders
uniqueness of every hoarding situation
volunteer work, staying clean
“we” goals
wellness goals of cleanup
Wendy’s and Sam’s case
what hoarders hoard
animal hoarders
clothes hoarders
collectors
compliments (perceived) of DIYs
do-it-yourself (DIY) hoarders
food hoarders
future plans of DIYs
information hoarders
memory keepers
shopping hoarders
trash hoarders
See also hoarders
“what if” scenarios and ADHD
where hoarders hoard
where to begin
ambush approach
collaboration: case with a somewhat happy ending
interventions
secret cleanups
ultimatum approach
See also hoarders; planning the cleanup
who are the hoarders?
why people hoard
abuse and hoarding
addiction and hoarding
anxiety disorders and hoarding
attachment to possessions
attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder (ADD/ADHD) and hoarding
avoiding reality
boundaries, struggling with
children of hoarders
children who hoard
cleaning, when not to
co-morbid disorders
“compulsive disorders,”
dementia and hoarding
depression and hoarding
easy love
emotional triggers
fake future
“false triggers,”
family pattern of hoarding
fear and hoarding
financial mess from hoarders
future, fixated on
genetic theory
hunt-and-gather rush
involved, getting
legacy of hoarding
limits, struggling with
mental disorders and hoarding
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and hoarding
past, fixated on
personality and
psychiatric issues
reality, avoiding
relationships (strained)
schizophrenia and hoarding
social phobias and hoarding
state of mind of hoarders
triggers
See also hoarders; where to begin
Will’s case
written plan for cleanup
yard hoarders
Zasio, Robin
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Matt, between jobs!
With his company, Clutter Cleaner, Matt Paxton is a featured hoarder specialist on A&E’s Hoarders. He appears regularly on radio and television, where he speaks on hoarding and senior relocation.
Paxton has been, variously, a research analyst, a database manager for Caesar’s Palace, a triathlon wetsuit designer, a professional gambler, a volunteer grief counselor for children, and a housecleaner. He has started three companies, traveled around the world, and run five marathons. When Paxton started Clutter Cleaner in 2006, it was intended to focus on organizing and cleaning houses for grieving widows and relocating seniors, but he quickly found himself sought out by extreme hoarders.
Paxton went to college at the University of Mary Washington, where he earned a degree in business administration. As a teenager he spent time with his great-aunt, who had a serious hoarding problem. He estimates he cleaned her house at least twenty times while he was growing up. Today, he and his wife, Sarah, live in that house in Richmond, Virginia, with their son and dog. It is very clean.
To learn more about hoarding and to follow Matt, visit his website at www.5decisionsaway.com.
Phaedra Hise has covered subjects including entrepreneurship, small aircraft accidents, big problems raising kids, and what it feels like to rev a motorcycle around a racetrack at over 100 mph. She is an instrument-rated private pilot, a triathlete, a competitive cyclist, a scuba diver, and the cofounder of a growing literary nonprofit, and was an insider on two company startups.
Her award-winning work has been anthologized and published in national magazines including AARP, Salon, Popular Mechanics, and Ladies’ Home Journal, and she has covered the world of entrepreneurship as a staff writer for Inc. and contributor to the Wall Street Journal and Fortune Small Business. She has written four other books and lives with her very messy teenaged daughter in Richmond, Virginia.
The Secret Lives of Hoarders: True Stories of Tackling Extreme Clutter Page 21
