A Professional Organizer and a Mental Health Therapist

Share their Collaboration Experience

Stacy Walker, Certified Professional Organizer

Terri Bailey, M.A. Counselling, CCC

26th Annual OCD Conference

Austin, Texas- July 20th, 2019

Our Journey...from family gatherings to Foundation

The Edmonton Hoarding Coalition

Community organizations work together in an

integrated, collaborative system of services and

supports that address the experiences

and needs of individuals living with

Hoarding Behaviours.

The Hoarding Disorder Foundation of Alberta

www.hoardingdfa.ca• Case management• Support Groups for individuals with hoarding and family and

friends• Peer Support• One on one counselling• In home decluttering• Crisis Support• Workshops for professionals

Support Groups- Theory

• Harm Reduction

• Specialized Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

• Dialectical Behavioural Therapy

• Mindfulness

• Motivational Interviewing

• Peer Support

• Self Compassion

• Trauma Informed

Creative and Practical Strategies to Support Learning

• Photovoice

• Practical Components

• Art Therapy

Photovoice

• Formally developed in the late 1990’s as a participatory action research method in health care field

• Uses photos and reflections from a “lived experience” perspective to reflect reality

• Intention to highlight injustices- decrease stigma, increase empathy

• Ultimate goal to effect policy change

PhotovoiceSorting Through Hoarding: Sharing Our Voices

Method• 6 participants met as a group-discussed experience of

living with hoarding

• 5 themes emerged and gradually revealed over a 10 week period

• Participants had 2 weeks to take a picture that reflected the theme and write a reflection

• Shared photos/reflection and experience in group

• Project displayed at Hoarding Interventions Conference

PhotovoiceSorting Through Hoarding: Sharing Our Voices

Photovoice Themes

• My secret • I am Isolated • My Stuff Doesn’t Judge Me• Insight• Hope

My Secret

There are skeletons

In my closets,

And cupboards,

And underneath my bed

They clamor for attention

And fill me with dread

Hope

I can hear a new tune

It’s calling to me

Drawing me out of

My former self

Curriculum Themes

New Learning “My Secret”:

• Importance”- “dangerous”, being “filled with dread”

• Importance (readiness to change)- “I know I must change the record- rut”

New Learning “Hope”:

• Importance- Eye on the Prize-“I want to dance….”

• Confidence- “I can hear a new tune”

• Self Compassion/Core Beliefs- “My heart bursting with self love”

• Do something different!- “The endless cha cha of the lateral shuffle”

Three levels of Impact

1. Photovoice participant with lived experience of hoarding- Empowered, Proud, Heard/Seen, Motivation, Deeper connection with group members

2. Impact for people with lived experience of hoarding who viewed the photovoice display- Shared Experience, Connected, Didn’t feel alone, Understood

3. Helpers and other stakeholders who viewed the display- An increase in empathy and understanding

Coffee Table Exercise

Other Practical Components

• Stacy’s discard bin

• Field trip to Waste Management Facility

• Paper management session

• Clutter Free Gifting

• Participant’s Favorite Tips

• Resource List

• Occupant Tip Sheet

Non-Acquiring Trip- Value Village

Art Therapy

First Group:• Worked with an art therapist• Participation optional• 2 tables of 4 stations- different art modalities at each station with blank mandelas• 5 minutes sessions at each station-participants moved to next station• Art pieces were left with facilitator• Experience was debriefed and linked to curriculum

Art Therapy

Second Group:

• Chose a piece they were “drawn to” as well as a coloured poster board

• Asked to slowly rip the mandela into pieces (noticing the sounds, feelings etc)

• Use the pieces to create a new art piece

• Discard the remaining unused pieces

• Name the piece (some people wrote a few lines)

• Share with group members and debrief

• Invitation to leave the piece with facilitators

Curriculum Themes

• Perfectionism

• Control

• Responsibility

• Intense Emotions

• Emotion Regulation

• Mindfulness

• Self Compassion

• Rating Anxiety- behavioural experiment

• Letting go

• The Practice Muscle

Insights from Art Therapy

• Discarding doesn’t create a void. It makes space for something beautiful

• I don’t need to keep every unique thing

• I’m not defined by my stuff

• The Perfectionism is paralyzing

• We can do more than we think

• Clutter in art reflects clutter in life

Circle OfHope

Thanks!Any questions?Stacy Walker – gettinaroundtoit@gmail.com

Terri Bailey, M.A. Counselling, CCC – terribaileycounselling@gmail.com

References

• Bratiotis, C., Sorrentino Schmalisch, C., Steketee, G. (2011). The hoarding handbook: A guide for human service professionals. New York, NY: Oxford.

• Levine, P.A. (2008). Healing Trauma: A pioneering program for restoring the wisdom of your body. Boulder, CO: Sounds True.

• McKay, M., Wood, J.C., Brantley, J. (2007). The dialectical behavior therapy Skills Workbook: Practical DBT exercises for learning mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation & distress tolerance. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.

• Miller, R.M., Rollnick, S. (2013). Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change, 3rd Ed. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

• Neff, K. (2011). Self-compassion: The proven power of being kind to yourself. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

• Steketee, G., Frost, R.O., (2014). Treatment for hoarding disorder: Therapist guide, 2nd Ed. New York, NY: Oxford.

References

• Tolin, D. F., Frost, R.O., Steketee, G. (2014). Buried in treasures: Help for compulsive acquiring, saving and hoarding, 2nd Ed. New York: Oxford.

• Tompkins, M.A., Hartle, T.L. (2009). Digging out: Helping your loved one manage clutter, hoarding and compulsive acquiring, Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.

• International OCD Foundation: www.iocdf.org

• Tolin, D.F., Wootton, B.M., Worden, B.L., Gilliam, C.M. (2017). CBT for hoarding disorder: A group therapy program, therapist guide. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

• www.canadianarttherapy.org

• www.photovoice.org

• www.TheHoardingProject.org