Using a technique called harm reduction, which aims to reduce safety risk rather than force a hoarder to discard possessions, readers will be able to set small, achievable goals for their loved ones.

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If you have a friend or family member who acquires an excessive amount of stuff (newspapers, old scraps of cloth, unworn clothes), has difficulty discarding things, lives in a cluttered space, and whose life is impaired by all of this stuff, it's likely that he or she is a hoarder. People who hoard often live in unsafe and unsanitary conditions because they are unable to throw anything away. Although hoarding negatively affects their quality of life, social relationships, and safety, people who hoard are often unwilling to end their behavior.

Digging Out is the first book to help friends and family members keep their loved ones safe from the dangers of compulsive acquiring. Using a technique called harm reduction, which aims to reduce safety risk rather than force a hoarder to discard possessions, readers will be able to set small, achievable goals for their loved ones. The realistic exercises in the book focus on helping a loved one live safely and comfortably at home. Readers will work together with hoarders to set valid and meaningful goals and incentive to work toward them.

Because it can be difficult to maintain a positive relationship with a person who compulsively hoards, readers will learn to take the focus off of that behavior and concentrate instead on the qualities they enjoy about the person. The book also includes advice for roommates and romantic partners who live with hoarders, and engaging case stories from hoarders and their loved ones.

224 pages, 6" X 9" Inches

Stock: PREORDER Publish date Nov-01-2009