Step (Carefully) Inside the Secret World of Hoarders

Carol Rose Adkisson, LMFT

Stepping into a hoarder's world is not as easy as you might think.  A hoarder has multiple layers that if peeled back, may possibly reveal a family system that helps to enable his or her behaviors, traumatic events from her childhood, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive thinking, and possibly an addictive personality compounded by delusional thinking. Would you like a peek into that world?  Let’s help these clients that are more common than you may realize. Let us delve into that world and explore the depths of their secret world.

This training will encompass many issues that are important in understanding the hoarders who may cross your path.  As a child of a hoarder, I grew up hoping to understand the underpinnings of my mother.  Why were objects so important to her?  As my sisters and I grew up and moved on, her hoarding increased, as it often does when there is no one to help stop the hoarding behaviors.  She was diagnosed with cancer and thus we as a family helped her to the next stage of her life:  letting go of her things and moving her to an assisted living facility.  We took her things away--either discarded, donated and/or sold them.  Neither the family nor she had a choice at that point. Because of this, I grew up with a heart to help this population to heal.

This training will create a picture of the average hoarder and her family system.  It’s important to understand the system in order to help the hoarder heal.  It’s also necessary for the family to form an alliance, just as you would with an addict or an alcoholic.  We will discuss the five stages of hoarding, the diagnostic criteria as presented in the DSM-5, and various treatment methods to deal with this insidious problem.  Many times as clinicians we are unaware that our clients present with this problem as it is generally a secret condition.  Hoarders are not hoarders, but collectors, at least in their minds, however delusional that may be.  Let me help you to lead your clients to success and freedom. 

Objectives: 

Participants will be able to:

1. Describe the average hoarder and her/his family system

2. List the stages of hoarding

3. Identify the relevant DSM-5 diagnostic criteria

4. Identify appropriate treatment methods for hoarders

Carol Adkisson, LMFT is an author, speaker, teacher and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist.  She is the owner of a private practice and founder/Chief Executive Officer of a non-profit, The Trauma and Healing Foundation in Fontana.  She also is an author of a number of books including “Recovering My Life, a Personal Bariatric Story.”  She co-developed and participates in a podcast entitled “Curious Intentions.”  Carol specializes in anxiety, depression, trauma, couples therapy, ADHD, substance issues, immigration, psychological evaluations, weight loss and bariatric surgery, 12-step recovery, and of course HOARDING.  She is trained in various treatments including EMDR and Trauma Focused CBT and numerous other modalities.  She also has 34 years experience working with recovery-based programs.  She serves individuals, couples, families, children, and adolescents. She utilizes "discernment theory" as a means to perceive which treatment is most helpful for an individual client’s needs. Carol is the Clinical Director of her group practice, which employs therapists with many different specialties, whom she supervises. She has her Bachelor’s Degree and Masters Degree in Marriage Family Therapy from Hope International University.  Her hobbies include volleyball, spending time with her family, and she is a foodie, always ready to try something new.

MAP

Inland Empire Chapter of CAMFT is a CAMFT Approved CEU Provider Agency  Provider # 62278

CEU Hours: This course meets the qualifications for 2 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences

Certificates: Completion certificates will be awarded at the conclusion of the training and upon participant’s submission of his or her completed evaluation.

Refund Policy:  If a participant is unable to attend and notifies IE-CAMFT 24 hours in advance of the training, full reimbursement will be sent within ten (10) working days.

Grievance:  If any aspect of the training is not to the full satisfaction of any participant, please notify the coordinator, CEU committee chair, or another IE-CAMFT board member.  We hope to resolve any issue immediately on-site.  If not resolved, the full IE-CAMFT board will review and resolve the issue.