Awesome stuff!! This is great advice, with my daughter, I've been using her baby daughter as a motivator, but I see now that being more concrete with her and having her envision the advantage of "space" might work well with her hoarding.... if only we could have a conversation that doesn't end in WAR!

Wow, thanks for posting this, trying to help my mom, and honestly, ALL of these motivators apply to her! She WOULD like the grandkids to come over, AND have that room become a library and craft room.

But craft stuff and books take up space! HOW MANY BOOKS!!! HOW MUCH CRAFT STUFF! She can (has) fill that whole room with books, and the craft stuff she has saved over the years! So it already is her 'library and craft room'

Now what?

When I work with any hoarder, an important step is to find what will motivate them to go through this hard work and difficult emotional process. Your goal is to help them realize what their motivation will be. What has the hoarding in their home made them lose? People? The ability to perform their love, and passion in a hobby or craft? Do they miss having family an friends over? You should find out what the hoarder is truly missing out of life and remind them of how life could be different if their home was clean, safe and functional. Let them vision having family and grandchildren over again. Have them picture a family dinner around their dining room table on a holiday. Tell them thay they can make one bedroom on their home a craft room where they can use their mind and their hands for something positive like painting or making other projects and crafts that they were once so passionate about. Maybe it is making them a small library where they can truly enjoy their favorite books to display and finally read. Each hoarder will have different motivators, but it is important to discover what they are, then have the hoarder write them down and hang them on the wall where they will see it every day.