Decluttering and organising photos is hard. It can be a very overwhelming and time-consuming task and, naturally, photos belong to the very personal and sentimental belongings. Imagine how much harder it must be for a person who hoards.

Unfortunately, there is quite a high part of our population with hoarding disorders, around 5%! However, there is help and we have the pleasure to learn from today's podcast guests: Angela Esnouf and Wendy Hanes from Hoarding Home Solutions, who are internationally recognised experts in their field.

They generously share how friends and family members of people with a hoarding disorder or chronic disorganisation can help and what should be avoided.

Some of the tips are:

•Leading with compassion and being patient.
•Being aware that organising is not a linear process.
•There needs to be a readiness for change, which can come and go.
•Understanding that - especially for elderly loved ones - photos can be a catalyst to tell their story and that it can help them make sense of their life and their legacy.
•Knowing that searching for the perfect solution can be paralysing.

They also share some practical strategies on how we can help a loved one. We believe these strategies work for anybody, not just for people who hoard.

You can find more information on Wendy's and Angela's website over at: www.hoardinghomesolutions.com.au. There are some free resources for you to download, lots of blog posts to learn from and a directory 'Find a Provider' in which you can find a local, trained expert if you'd like further help. You can of course also sign up for one of their courses and dive deeper that way.

Sources mentioned in this episode:

•Institute for Challenging Disorganization: https://www.challengingdisorganization.org/
•Sandra Pankhurst, author of 'The Trauma Cleaner'
•Dr Christopher Mogan, The Anxiety & OCD Clinic Melbourne


Related episodes:

•Episode 3 GR2 Know your Why
•Episode 4 GR3 Create a photo hub
•Episode 6 GR4 Sort and Organise printed photos
•Episode 31 What to do with inherited photos
•Episode 34 Story telling with your photos
•Episode 39 Images that don't belong in a photo collection
•Episode 47 What should I do with my old photo albums?
•Episode 49 How to Stop Procrastinating about your Photos
•Episode 57