Augmenting Buried in Treasures with in-home uncluttering practice: Pilot study in hoarding disorder

Publication date: Available online 5 October 2018Source: Journal of Psychiatric ResearchAuthor(s): Omer Linkovski, Jordana Zwerling, Elisabeth Cordell, Danae Sonnenfeld, Henry Willis, Christopher N. La Lima, Colleen Baker, Rassil Ghazzaoui, Robyn Girson, Cat Sanchez, Brianna Wright, Mason Alford, Andrea Varias, Maria Filippou-Frye, Hanyang Shen, Booil Jo, Lee Shuer, Randy Frost, Carolyn I. RodriguezAbstractHoarding disorder is characterized by difficulty parting with possessions and by clutter that impairs the functionality of living spaces. Cognitive behavioral therapy conducted by a therapist (individual or in a group) for hoarding symptoms has shown promise. For those who cannot afford or access the services of a therapist, one alternative is an evidence-based, highly structured, short-term, skills-based group using CBT principles but led by non-professional facilitators (the Buried in Treasures [BIT] Workshop). BIT has achieved improvement rates similar to those of psychologist-led CBT. Regardless of modality, however, clinically relevant symptoms remain after treatment, and new approaches to augment existing treatments are needed. Based on two recent studies - one reporting that personalized care and accountability made treatments more acceptable to individuals with hoarding disorder and another reporting that greater number of home sessions were associated with better clinical outcomes, we tested the feasibility and effectiveness of adding personalized, in-home unclutte...
Source: Journal of Psychiatric Research - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research