Course Description:
This full-day workshop will provide housing, shelter, drop-in, and mental health workers with a practical guide to understanding and working with individuals who struggle with hoarding and/or difficulties discarding or acquiring items. The workshop will explore the age of onset for hoarding behaviours, how trauma, attachment issues, avoidance, mental health challenges, and insight into the hoarding can impact safety, health, housing, and other areas of life.
Through a combination of discussions, experiential examples, case study analysis, and interactive group work, participants will learn a variety of practical strategies for supporting individuals with clutter and hoarding challenges. The workshop will incorporate harm reduction principles and evidence-based approaches such as motivational interviewing, stages of change theory, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and mindfulness. Organizational strategies for assisting in hoarding situations will also be covered, along with an overview of community resources.
Learning Objectives:
1. Gain a deeper understanding of how trauma, attachment challenges, and other factors contribute to hoarding behaviours.
2. Learn how the level of insight into Hoarding Disorder, as defined in the DSM-5, and harm reduction principles can inform strategy development.
3. Understand the safety and health risks associated with hoarding.
4. Learn organizational and evidence-based informal counselling techniques, including motivational interviewing, CBT, and mindfulness, to work with hoarding clients.
5. Increase knowledge of community resources available for supporting individuals with hoarding challenges.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Develop a greater understanding of the factors contributing to hoarding and its impact on health and safety.
2. Acquire practical tools and evidence-based techniques to address hoarding in a supportive, client-centered manner.
3. Become familiar with community resources and organizational strategies to support individuals affected by hoarding.