Buried in Treasures: Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving, and Hoarding

"Buried in Treasures: Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving, and Hoarding" is for "collectors," of which I most certainly am one! If you are a "collector," you know you must solve--all on your own--this problem of accumulating too much stuff.Oh yes, it would be wonderful to have someone come in and help you make all the stuff disappear, as the team on "Clean House" does. Sort it in bins, then discard, donate, sell--yep, the way to go, except, Mr. or Miss Collector, you cannot put it in any bins except to keep it. Right?That's where this book comes in--it actually breaks down every argument your pesky little mind can throw in your way to de-clutter. I won't go into details, but my severe acquiring and cluttering developed as a result of divorce. I literally could not touch anything to put away or discard. It had to just sit there, taking up space, keeping people away. Someone volunteered to help me organize, but the thought put me in panic mode."Buried in Treasures" is helping. Writers David Tolin, Randy Frost, and Gail Steketee name the condition as compulsive hoarding and stating that overcoming the problem is hard work. They define three conditions for hoarding:1. Accumulating, then having difficulty getting rid of things of limited or useless value,2. Clutter that limits or prevents the use of living spaces in the manner for which they were intended,3. Both the clutter itself and discarding the clutter cause distress.In order for the hoarder to address the problem, he/she must understand the causes for hoarding, the results, and reasons to change. Hoarding did not happen overnight nor will the clutter disappear overnight. Reinforcement through repetition of information and self-help tests interspersed throughout the book force the reader to think and respond, think and respond.The authors show the hoarder how to begin discarding through information: strategies, lists, categorizing, flowcharts, agencies that will accept your discards, setting up filing systems, rules, everything, anything that will help begin the discarding process.Here's an example of treating one aspect of hoarding: Making decisions. Easy for you? A hoarder will pick up something, not be able to decide what to do with it, and put it back amidst the clutter for a decision later. A decision has two parts: make a decision, then follow-through. So, how does a hoarder follow through? A whole list of questions is provided for handling each item. Tedious, you say? The point is to get past the point of getting started.Getting started: Obtain bins for trashing, donating, and keeping. The point is to have the "keep" bin the emptiest. The second step is to set a specific length of time every day to de-clutter until the clutter is gone, whether one hour or fifteen minutes. Make a schedule. Follow it.The book is very helpful. At least, I have started the process and have thrown out several boxes of stuff in the last week alone. It's a beginning, whereas I was stuck in time before this book.Thank you, Tolin, Frost, and Steketee. Your book is itself a treasure, but it's not buried.

In the introduction of "Buried in Treasures", Tolin, Frost and Steketee offer two cautions to the reader. Caution 1 "this book will not solve your hoarding problems". They state "this book is a guide that will provide you with the necessary information to understand the problem of compulsive hoarding and will give you tools to help beat the problem". Caution 2 is that "overcoming compulsive hoarding will be hard work".The authors emphasize that hoarding is "a problem of emotional, mental, behavioral, and social well-being" and that "some scientific evidence suggests that there may be a genetic component to hoarding". It is basically a description of the treatment program that they have developed over many years of treating patients at their hoarding clinic. While the book discusses the physical side regarding sorting and purging as well as the stopping of the acquiring, its' emphasis is on the mental/emotional side of hoarding.As opposed to other similar books, this book is based on science and ongoing clinical research. The book is essentially a guide to change and the authors note that "people start to work on their hoarding problem when the reasons for change outweigh the reasons for not changing, and not a moment sooner". Their suggested treatment is based on CBT (cognitive-behavioral therapy) which is solution focused.This is somewhat of a workbook. It includes many exercises to help the hoarder to consciously change their thinking. Some examples are a self-assessment test in the chapter "What is Compulsive Hoarding?", a hoarding severity scale that is very similarto the NSGCD Hoarding Scale, Visualization Exercises, Category & Location lists and questionnaires such as "Comparing Your Perceptions with Those of Others".Early in the book, the authors introduce and discuss the Bad Guys: 1 - It's Just Not My Priority, 2 - Letting Unhelpful Beliefs Get In Your Way, 3 - Overthinking or Confusing Yourself, 4 - Avoidance and Excuse Making and 5 - Going for the Short-Term Payoff. Then they introduce the Good Guys: 1- Keeping Your Eyes on the Prize, 2 - Downward Arrow, 3 - Thinking It Through, 4 - Behavioral Experiments and 5 - Developing the Right Skills. The authors revisit the Bad Guys and the Good Guys again later in the book when dealing with motivation and "taking on your brain".An interesting observation noted by the authors was that when hoarders attempted to sort their own items, they tended to have lots of little categories but when sorting similar items that belonged to other people, they were able to sort into a few large general categories. This suggests that when dealing with their own possessions, "their emotions get in the way and cause them to process information differently".As a Professional Organizer, I consider this book a tool. It is not a `how to' that a hoarder could pick up, read and follow to a successful conclusion. On their own, most hoarders are just not capable of following some of the suggestions, such as, "you might want to think a step or two ahead"! However this is an excellent book if used as part of a larger treatment program.

Typically, I like a hard copy book. To me, it's just more satisfying. I'm tactile, as others looking into this topic might be. One caution regarding the digital version is the need to perform the exercises - they actually stress and recommend getting a pencil and insuring you physically circle the answers to simple surveys. The implication is this simple action is therapeutic. The brief surveys clearly identify, classify and then provide an assessment of where you are mild, moderate or severe on the scale. I may have to get a paperback version... Yet this may indicate my tendency toward perfectionism!I am not that bad (in my own mind) yet I am embarrassed & it is impacting my life. Compared to TV hoarders I'm not there yet, however years are going by and I need to rein in my issues. This is an easy read and the little surveys are quick and helpful as you are led through a path of discovery of where and why you have arrive at this place of needing help. Moreover, it assists to help you understand how you got to this place of having so much stuff while not knowing how to take back control of your life.UPDATE: After I got farther along in the ebook (Ch 6) I began to feel like I was really missing out and not gaining the full benefit of this book. The authors continue to refer the reader back to earlier exercises. Since I couldn't use a pencil as recommended, nor even digitally edit or print the survey pages, I decided to ask for a refund and get the paperback copy of the book. Will update this review with further details as they unfold.

As a professional organizer I found this book to be an exceedingly valuable resource. It has helped me to understand the thinking behind hoarding and provided a framework for helping me help my clients. I would recommend it for professional organizers, therapists, compulsive acquirers, savers, hoarders and those who want to help them.

I chose this book as I have a problem hoarding.The examples in this book are on a grand scale and amusing at timesI would recommend it to anyone who has a problem with which things to throw away and which things to keep

This book has given me hope and I am trying to help a friend. In my case the friend has many other problems and hope that one of these helpful hints will work

Simply written and full of common sense - easy to read (especially for those with poor attention span). Unfortunately the book repeats itself too often - many pages are duplicated (deliberately).As stated, the content is very basic and I do not feel it is particularly helpful for the professional.One to add to the collection!

I gave this a 4 stars because this book was well written, and easy to read. The reader can easily understand the outlining challenges compulsive people face in the midst of their buried treasure and how they got to that point. I couldn't put the book down.