Many of us are collectors, and probably even more of us are surrounded by some degree of clutter. These are quite normal situations.
But in some cases, the level of collecting can become a compulsive behaviour, to the point where access to parts of the home are restricted by the sheer amount of accumulated stuff.
At this level, hoarding can be both a health and a fire risk.
US research suggests that about 1 to 2% of the population hoards to a level that might be considered in some degree excessive.
In most cases, hoarding behavior is an effort to impose some level of control on an environment that the hoarder feels is otherwise out of control.
The process that culminates in obsessive hoarding sometimes begins in teenage years, but can take decades to develop into a serious condition.
Hypnotherapy is highly effective in treating hoarding, as the condition is almost always driven by the sufferer’s subconscious attempts to impose control.
Using hypnosis I work at the level of the subconscious to identify the causes and to help the subconscious find more helpful and less intrusive coping strategies.
This usually results in an end to the hoarding behaviour, and as a consequence, much improved quality of life and relationships for the ex-hoarder.