Hoarding project success

I was so very happy to have been one of the counsellors working as a 'decluttering buddy' for a new scheme run by Mind in Croydon for Croydon Council. The 12 week project saw us working with participants in group meetings to look at how and why the compulsive hoarding may have started and to look at techniques that could help. Alongside this we worked with each participant individually in their homes to help in any way we could; whether that was to help break the cycle or acquiring more items or to roll our sleeves up and work on decluttering.

I'm very proud of the success of the group and the individual achievements amongst the participants. Hoarding has recently been recognised by the American Psychiatric Institute as a mental health condition and I believe these sort of projects to be vital in supporting those who suffer with compulsive hoarding.

The BBC took an interest in this very worthwhile project which you can find here.

If you suffer with compulsive hoarding, counselling can be helpful to support you, find ways to cope and to break the cycle. You can also visit the Mind website which has further information.