Challenging Clutter

A 10-Week Group for Understanding & Changing Your Cluttered Spaces

Currently ON HOLD due to COVID-19

Why is it so difficult to get a handle on clutter?

How do people organize so many different things?

Why do belongings take control of everything?

Elspeth Bell, Ph.D., a hoarding specialist, offers a foundation in understanding the origins of excessive clutter and helping individuals challenge the many ways in which this clutter interferes with their lives.  This group uses research-supported Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) strategies to:

  • educate about clutter and why it happens,

  • develop skills to address clutter-related problems,

  • address barriers to overcoming a cluttered environment,

  • and create strategies for working with setbacks.

Topics addressed include:

  • Characteristics of individuals who clutter

  • Understanding Emotional Attachment to items

  • Challenging assumptions about how to deal with possessions

  • Developing new behaviors and Replacing past behaviors

  • Strategies for letting go and getting organized

To register for this group or to request further information regarding Hoarding Disorder and clutter-related services, please contact Dr. Bell.

Session 1: Clutter, Disorganization, and Hoarding

Session 2: Information Processing Deficits

Session 3: Attention and Concentration Factors

Session 4: Conceptualizing the Clutter Cycle and Breaking the Pattern

Session 5: Summarizing the Cluttered Experience

Session 6: Emotional Attachment and Erroneous Beliefs

Session 7: Identifying and Challenging Barriers

Session 8: A Hands-On Decluttering Experience

Session 9: Reinforcement, Replacement, Empowerment, & Goals

Session 10: Review of General Strategies and Goal Setting for the Future