This presentation provides a comprehensive overview of Hoarding Disorder as a complex mental health condition in which the compulsive acquiring and attachment to possessions is often more important to the hoarding individual than human relationships.

Training information will include:

• The Distinctions between clutter, chronic disorganization and hoarding.

• The DSM-V criteria for a diagnosis of hoarding disorder; what and why people hoard

• Distress caused by compulsive hoarding.

• Neurological aspects impacting the making decisions, memory retention and ‘value’ of items.

• The development of harm reduction plans of care and legal /professional advocacy for “reasonable accommodations in the threat of eviction will be touched upon, to help participants gain awareness of how to help the individual bring their living space back in to safe, healthy, and functional compliance.

Hoarding assessment tools will be reviewed along with identification of the collaborative professions and municipal departments that are frequently involved in either health/safety code violations.