Episode 086
Expert Advice to help people who hoard photos - with guests Angela Esnouf and Wendy Hanes
Decluttering and organising photos is hard. It can be a very overwhelming and time-consuming task and, naturally, photos belong to the very personal and sentimental belongings. Imagine how much harder it must be for a person who hoards.
Unfortunately, there is quite a high part of our population with hoarding disorders, around 5%! However, there is help and we have the pleasure to learn from today’s podcast guests: Angela Esnouf and Wendy Hanes from Hoarding Home Solutions, who are internationally recognised experts in their field.
They generously share how friends and family members of people with a hoarding disorder or chronic disorganisation can help and what should be avoided.
Some of the tips are:
- Leading with compassion and being patient.
- Being aware that organising is not a linear process.
- There needs to be a readiness for change, which can come and go.
- Understanding that – especially for elderly loved ones – photos can be a catalyst to tell their story and that it can help them make sense of their life and their legacy.
- Knowing that searching for the perfect solution can be paralysing.
They also share some practical strategies on how we can help a loved one. We believe these strategies work for anybody, not just for people who hoard.
You can find more information on Wendy’s and Angela’s website over at: www.hoardinghomesolutions.com.au. There are some free resources for you to download, lots of blog posts to learn from and a directory ‘Find a Provider’ in which you can find a local, trained expert if you’d like further help. You can of course also sign up for one of their courses and dive deeper that way.
Sources mentioned in this episode:
- Institute for Challenging Disorganization: https://www.challengingdisorganization.org/
- Sandra Pankhurst, author of ‘The Trauma Cleaner’
- Dr Christopher Mogan, The Anxiety & OCD Clinic Melbourne
Related episodes:
- Episode 3 GR2 Know your Why
- Episode 4 GR3 Create a photo hub
- Episode 6 GR4 Sort and Organise printed photos
- Episode 31 What to do with inherited photos
- Episode 34 Story telling with your photos
- Episode 39 Images that don’t belong in a photo collection
- Episode 47 What should I do with my old photo albums?
- Episode 49 How to Stop Procrastinating about your Photos
- Episode 57 Story jotting with Katie
- Episode 64 Prepare for Emotions
- Episode 72 Which 100 photos would you choose to document your life?
- Episode 74 Dealing with photos that are difficult to look at
- Episode 79 When should I organise my photos when decluttering my home
