What do you think?
Rate this book
From Hoarding to Hope: Understanding People Who Hoard and How To Help Them
From Hoarding to Hope is a guidebook for clinicians, social workers, home health-care workers, public-health officials and related agencies, professional organizers, and animal control personnel. Geralin Thomas, an organizing expert featured on A&E’s TV show Hoarders, and other related professionals offer a compassionate, multidimensional, comprehensive approach to understanding hoarding disorder and hoarding tendencies. Experts address the following questions and more: Does compulsive shopping or OCD lead to hoarding? How and where should contaminated items be disposed of safely? Should a person with a hoarding disorder take part in the decluttering and organizing process? What are the anticipated expenses? When is it time to call in professionals? What should someone reaching out for help expect? “No matter how hoarding affects you, Geralin’s real-world examples and useful strategies will help you transition From Hoarding to Hope.” — Matt Paxton, Author and Extreme Cleaner Sections include:
- GenresNonfictionMental Health
142 pages, Paperback
First published April 5, 2015
79 people are currently reading
265 people want to read
About the author
Geralin Thomas
6 books19 followersGeralin Thomas is an American organizing consultant best known for her appearances on the television show Hoarders. She is an author and career coach for professional organizers. Geralin is the proprietor of the company Metropolitan Organizing, based in Cary, North Carolina; USA.
Geralin retired in 2024.
www.amazon.com/author/geralinthomas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geralin...
Geralin retired in 2024.
www.amazon.com/author/geralinthomas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geralin...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 14, 2023
Helpful in understanding hoarder tendencies and common traits better, but not super deep. This is more about calling in a team of professionals (and how to do that) than specifics on helping the hoarder change.
August 20, 2015
"From Hoarding to Hope: Understanding People Who Hoard and How To Help Them" does exactly that -- it provides understanding and guidance for helping, and delivers a note of hope in a situation where hopelessness often abounds. Note, it says "help" and not "fix" and anyone looking for an instruction manual on how to quickly "fix" someone with hoarding tendencies is not going to find that -- in this book, nor in any other. Rather, Geralin Thomas, through her own writing and that of other experts she has gathered, brings authentic, experiential knowledge of the hoarding condition to those who need it most.
Explaining something as complex as hoarding so that it is meaningful requires a deft touch and a myriad of perspectives, things Thomas delivers in a warm but in-no-way sugar-coated fashion. The book presents the experiences of people who exhibit hoarding behaviors, their loved ones, experts in the fields of psychology and psychiatry, social workers, and professional organizers. The personal stories are relevant and realistic, rather than melodramatic. (This book is the antithesis of exploitation TV!) The chapters focusing on the expertise of clinicians and other professionals are written without dependence on jargon and clarify whatever language requires explanation.
I am a professional organizer who does not work with clients who hoard, but I do try to point people toward useful resources; however, it's often hard to locate hoarding information that is accurate and up-to-date but *not* overly academic. In "From Hoarding To Hope," chapters on addiction vs. compulsion and on understanding the DSM-5 are particularly helpful for those who want to understand the medical and psychological underpinnings of hoarding and treatment -- those who are ready to try to "get it" from more than a narrow personal perspective.
For my own purposes, I found the chapter on the concepts of "demand resistance" and "harm reduction" to be compelling as well as practical, and I find myself quoting extensively from these passages. This could have been dry and academic -- instead, it evokes the warmth and compassion requisite for dealing with a complicated, fraught subject.
Sections regarding personal experiences of the loved ones of people with hoarding tendencies will recognize common experiences and emotions, and the practical advice on finding support, both in the community at large and in the medical profession, will be a boon to those who hoard and to loved ones helping them toward recovery.
From leasing offices to law enforcement, personal/home service providers and professional organizers to mental health professionals, each individual and group has its own level of knowledge and experience, and Geralin Thomas' book brings these perspectives together to create a safe, hopeful place from which to begin the journey.
Explaining something as complex as hoarding so that it is meaningful requires a deft touch and a myriad of perspectives, things Thomas delivers in a warm but in-no-way sugar-coated fashion. The book presents the experiences of people who exhibit hoarding behaviors, their loved ones, experts in the fields of psychology and psychiatry, social workers, and professional organizers. The personal stories are relevant and realistic, rather than melodramatic. (This book is the antithesis of exploitation TV!) The chapters focusing on the expertise of clinicians and other professionals are written without dependence on jargon and clarify whatever language requires explanation.
I am a professional organizer who does not work with clients who hoard, but I do try to point people toward useful resources; however, it's often hard to locate hoarding information that is accurate and up-to-date but *not* overly academic. In "From Hoarding To Hope," chapters on addiction vs. compulsion and on understanding the DSM-5 are particularly helpful for those who want to understand the medical and psychological underpinnings of hoarding and treatment -- those who are ready to try to "get it" from more than a narrow personal perspective.
For my own purposes, I found the chapter on the concepts of "demand resistance" and "harm reduction" to be compelling as well as practical, and I find myself quoting extensively from these passages. This could have been dry and academic -- instead, it evokes the warmth and compassion requisite for dealing with a complicated, fraught subject.
Sections regarding personal experiences of the loved ones of people with hoarding tendencies will recognize common experiences and emotions, and the practical advice on finding support, both in the community at large and in the medical profession, will be a boon to those who hoard and to loved ones helping them toward recovery.
From leasing offices to law enforcement, personal/home service providers and professional organizers to mental health professionals, each individual and group has its own level of knowledge and experience, and Geralin Thomas' book brings these perspectives together to create a safe, hopeful place from which to begin the journey.
August 2, 2015
Turning the label “hoarding” into individual struggles, updated information, resources to use, and actions to take, Geralin Thomas has added a much needed tool to our tool boxes. This easy-to-read, engaging book is a must read for clients, family members, and professionals searching for help on hoarding.
I would highly recommend this book for individuals who are concerned about their own or another’s possible hoarding. The book lives up to its title, as the information will move you from the despair you may be feeling now to hope that change is possible.
Geralin puts a face and a story to those who struggle with this disorder. She explains, in terms everyone can understand, that there’s more than just a label to this situation.
I would recommend this book to fellow professional organizers, health professionals, and other related professionals.
Geralin provides a background that shows the human aspect to hoarding. She’s dispensed updated information on hoarding disorder and shares an amazing collection of resources, strategies, and insights for all the players involved in helping an individual with hoarding disorder.
As I mentioned at the top – this book is going into my tool box. I can (and will) recommend it to clients, concerned family members & professionals serving this community.
If you want to dig deeper into one or another of the strategies or approaches, you will have to read other books that focus on only one theory, strategy, or methodology. Geralin provides a useful overview on most of the work being done in this area. Start here and go forward.
I would highly recommend this book for individuals who are concerned about their own or another’s possible hoarding. The book lives up to its title, as the information will move you from the despair you may be feeling now to hope that change is possible.
Geralin puts a face and a story to those who struggle with this disorder. She explains, in terms everyone can understand, that there’s more than just a label to this situation.
I would recommend this book to fellow professional organizers, health professionals, and other related professionals.
Geralin provides a background that shows the human aspect to hoarding. She’s dispensed updated information on hoarding disorder and shares an amazing collection of resources, strategies, and insights for all the players involved in helping an individual with hoarding disorder.
As I mentioned at the top – this book is going into my tool box. I can (and will) recommend it to clients, concerned family members & professionals serving this community.
If you want to dig deeper into one or another of the strategies or approaches, you will have to read other books that focus on only one theory, strategy, or methodology. Geralin provides a useful overview on most of the work being done in this area. Start here and go forward.
June 17, 2016
I very much enjoyed reading this book. Not only did it offer insights from each party who is affected by hoarding (i.e. the person suffering from the condition, their family members, the professional organizer, the waste removal team, the psychiatrist, etc.), it also explained the science of the brain and what causes people to have emotional attachments to seemingly useless items. Certainly, Geralin's personal stories gained over years of experience working in this niche and the profound insights she has to offer from doing so were the most enjoyable sections. I would highly recommend this read for anyone who has a loved one who struggles with this and/or anyone who is considering doing this type of work.
July 18, 2023
Geralin Thomas is best known for her regular appearance on the TV show 'Hoarders', and where she contributes to help people whose hoarding habits have become so out-of-control that they ended up living in squalor, many on the brink of eviction from their homes as a result. But what motivate such pack-rat behaviours?
Hoarding could be perceived as an extreme form of cluttering, mainly impacting seriously disorganised people. But is it? And is it a compulsion? Or is it a form of addiction? Can hoarders, in fact, be considered as no different than collectors, albeit ones at the far end of an extreme spectrum? To answer to these questions, one has to understand first the motivations behind their compulsive needs to acquire things, and, beyond, the reasons why they struggle so much to get rid of most of it. As the author rightly puts it indeed, hoarding is not so much about stuff than it is about relationships to stuff; and so she also tackles why we accumulate and keep things, so we can better relate to hoarders.
Here's a very compassionate little book. First, because it give a non-judgemental voice to hoarders themselves and those living with them. Then, because it's not solely focused on how to seek help to change someone in need (from an American perspective) but also leaves space for a so-called 'harm reduction' approach (I'll leave it to the reader to find out what that is...). It's also very insightful, as it is written in collaboration with other specialists to shed some light upon what seems to be a baffling disorder, while debunking a few misconceptions along the way. All in all, a very good point of entry to better understand hoarding.
Hoarding could be perceived as an extreme form of cluttering, mainly impacting seriously disorganised people. But is it? And is it a compulsion? Or is it a form of addiction? Can hoarders, in fact, be considered as no different than collectors, albeit ones at the far end of an extreme spectrum? To answer to these questions, one has to understand first the motivations behind their compulsive needs to acquire things, and, beyond, the reasons why they struggle so much to get rid of most of it. As the author rightly puts it indeed, hoarding is not so much about stuff than it is about relationships to stuff; and so she also tackles why we accumulate and keep things, so we can better relate to hoarders.
Here's a very compassionate little book. First, because it give a non-judgemental voice to hoarders themselves and those living with them. Then, because it's not solely focused on how to seek help to change someone in need (from an American perspective) but also leaves space for a so-called 'harm reduction' approach (I'll leave it to the reader to find out what that is...). It's also very insightful, as it is written in collaboration with other specialists to shed some light upon what seems to be a baffling disorder, while debunking a few misconceptions along the way. All in all, a very good point of entry to better understand hoarding.
June 17, 2022
Excellent book for family members who have a loved one with hoarding behaviors. As a professional who helps these challenging clients, I especially like the categories/types. The book makes a good case for why just doing a total clear out won’t work. But if you want a comprehensive training manual, this isn’t it.
October 5, 2018
Hoarding answers
I understand more about hoarders than I ever expected and how to work with them. I found this book very helpful
I understand more about hoarders than I ever expected and how to work with them. I found this book very helpful
November 1, 2018
Very helpful!
After reading "From Hoarding to Hope:...." I think different about a person with a hoarding problem. A must read for everyone.
After reading "From Hoarding to Hope:...." I think different about a person with a hoarding problem. A must read for everyone.
December 22, 2015
Left with questions
Some very factual info describing the phenomenon but not a lot of practical info for when it is time to actually organize and how to talk to the hoarder. What to say? How to respond to their response.
Some very factual info describing the phenomenon but not a lot of practical info for when it is time to actually organize and how to talk to the hoarder. What to say? How to respond to their response.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews