Show Notes
Maggie's flat was so full that the council threatened to clear it out themselves. CBT helped her understand the reasons behind her hoarding disorder and start to let go of some of her possessions. Maggie and Dr Victoria Bream speak to Dr Lucy Maddox.
Show Notes and Transcript Podcast episode produced by Dr Lucy Maddox for BABCP Want to know more? Some useful resources are included here. Websites For more about BABCP check out: babcp.com To find an accredited therapist: http://cbtregisteruk.com Hoarding UK's website has resources including support group listings: https://hoardinguk.org/ Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma website: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/ioppn/depts/psychology/research/researchgroupings/cadat Books Overcoming Hoarding by by Satwant Singh (Author), Margaret Hooper (Author), Colin Jones (Author) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Overcoming-Hoarding-Self-Help-Behavioural-Techniques/dp/1472120051 Transcript
Lucy: Hello, and welcome to Let's Talk about CBT, the podcast from the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies, BABCP. This podcast is all about CBT. What it is, what it's not and how it can be useful.
In this episode, we're going to find out about hoarding disorder. I speak to someone who has experienced hoarding and the treatment for it and a clinical psychologist who specialises in CBT for hoarding disorder.
Maggie: My name's Maggie and I've been fortunate to have received therapy in a group and individual therapy. So, I would like to be able to share some of my experience that I hope will be of help to people.
Lucy: Could you say a little bit about how things were for you before therapy?
Maggie: Hoarding is how I coped with life because it kept people out and it kept me in, where I didn't have to deal with the outside world. Being alone has always been my comfort zone.
Lucy: So, it kind of kept you from having...
Maggie: Kept things at bay. I saw the outside world and people as the 'other'. The enemy. That's what I've had to deal with. There was a lot of pressure from the borough where I live with the fire risk that hoarding causes.
Lucy: So, you were quite unsure about it to start with?
Maggie: I wasn't happy because I was being challenged and I felt threatened. I had a way of life that suited me.
Lucy: Is it okay to ask what your house was like?
Maggie: It's a council flat that I've had for 18 years, now. It just built up and up. I just didn't try and stop it. I have always seen books as my best friend. I always felt books would be the solution to my problems.
When I retired 13 years ago, I was able to indulge in a lifestyle that I'd always wanted, where I'd just ride around on buses and read what books I want. Go deep into things and study what my hobbies are.
Lucy: It sounds quite nice, actually.
Maggie: Well, it is. It's a selfish life. But family life didn't mean happiness to me and relationships didn't spell happiness. My comfort zone was living life vicariously. Learning about life and people through biographies, books, magazines, rather than going straight in to the physical reality. Which suited me.
Lucy: I'm sure a lot of people can recognise that. There's something very nice about that, isn't there? But it sounds like it was really getting in the way.
Maggie: Well, it doesn't give you deep, ultimate satisfaction. You're always on guard, in a way. When I first started individual therapy, it seemed very threatening. But it isn't threatening, now. It's almost like I can feel creative more instead of not moving beyond that defensive position.
Lucy: We'll hear more about Maggie and her reasons for hoarding later. But first, here's Dr Victoria Bream, clinical psychologist at the Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma and the Maudsley hospital.
Victoria: Hoarding is characterised by a large volume of possessions in the home. Things can sometimes be somewhat organised but generally are in disarray. It ca
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