Hypnotherapy and Hoarding
For fans of reality television, one cannot help but notice that one of the more common subjects for these programmes is to look at hoarding. One could say that hoarding is a byproduct of our mass consumerism and need to own things. Indeed it could be argued that many of us have far more things than we could ever really need or use.
However, hoarding is a more pathological need to collect things which can lead to many issues including decreased mental health and even the risk of death (when the hoarding makes it impossible for people like the emergency services to reach victims).
In order to help people with hoarding, it is not simply about clearing out houses as hoarders will often simply go back to old behaviours once the house is cleared out. As with all mental health issues, it is essential to understand why the person is doing what they are doing and then to develop strategies in order to help them overcome it.
Hypnotherapy and behavioural therapy techniques can be very effective in helping these people gain some control over their compulsion and once control is achieved these approaches can help a person to move forward without the need to hoard.