Workshop series aims to help people manage their stuff

For Immediate Release: Thursday, August 01, 2019

Registration is now open for Buried in Treasures, a 16-week series to help people with their compulsive acquiring, saving and hoarding. The classes take place on Tuesdays, 2-4 p.m., from September 3 through December 17, 2019, at Juanita Pohl Center, 8513 SW Tualatin Road in Tualatin. The program is for adults of any age.

Approximately 5% of the population has a hoarding disorder, although numbers are likely higher due to lack of self-reporting. It can cause difficulties in the person’s personal and professional lives. Hoarding can also result in an unsafe and unhealthy living environment.

“We realize 16 weeks is a significant time commitment,” says Chris Batman-Mize, aging services coordinator with Washington County Disability, Aging and Veteran Services and one of the course facilitators. “But it takes years for people to collect too much stuff, and it will take time to unlearn those habits as well as the reasons behind them, and to learn new, healthier habits.”

Throughout the course, participants will learn and practice a variety of exercises that address getting control of acquisition of new items, support and strategies for discarding items, and help and strategies for better organization and management of items.

The evidence-based Buried in Treasures model is based on the work of hoarding researcher and field expert Dr. Randy Frost. Research indicates that up to 73% of participants are “much or very much” improved by the end of the group compared to control groups who did not take the workshop.

The free program is being offered by Washington County Disability, Aging and Veteran Services, in partnership with the Older Adult Behavioral Health Initiative and with support from Juanita Pohl Center. For more information or to register, call 503-846-3060.

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