Help for Hoarders website was created to provide resources of qualified help to hoarders and their loved ones throughout the nation. Hoarding is a complex, multi layered disorder and not a lot people have been trained or have the experience to properly handle it. We have found those resources and provided them for you here. Our goal is to make sure that no matter where you are located, you can find support groups, therapists, cleaning resources, and other important information to help you through this.
For Friends and Family: How to help a hoarder!
So many people want to provide help for hoarders, but don't know how. How do you help a hoarder that doesn't want help? That is the most common question we receive and there is no easy answer. First, realize a hoarder isn't going to get help until they WANT to get help. Until then you can, and probably already have, carry around a lifetime worth of stress! You have two choices...continue trying or back off and enjoy your own life.
Most family members of hoarders can no longer communicate with their hoarder due to the longstanding fued that has been ocurring. The family member is usually to abrasive and the hoarder too defensive. Try a new stance, provide them with all the resources they could every need, tell them you love them and will be there when they decide they are ready and leave it at that. Postive motivation is another great way to plant the seed of change in them. What are they missing in their life? What is the void that created the hoarding or has been created by the hoarding? Inability to have friends and family over is the biggest one. Think of the few reasons they would want to get their home and lives back in order, they already know their house is a mess and they are not considered "normal". Just help them see what life could be like again.
Explore our other pages for additional help and resources and feel free to call us at any time for guidance through our "One on One Program". This is a small feebased program where we work with hoarders and family members to develop the best possible plan to move forward. We do not take sides, but rather play the outsider role to bring communication and clarity back into the conversation. We will learn about your particular needs and discuss which options will best suit you to put a plan in motion. Call us at 1-800-462-7337 for more information on this highly successful resource.