Collaborative Therapy for Clutter Management

Millions of people struggle to manage the clutter in their personal and work environment, leading to frustration, stress, and the feeling of being chronically disorganized. For some, the inability to limit, organize, and let go of the  "stuff" in their lives can lead to compromised relationships, occupational difficulties, low self-esteem and shame.

Collaborative Therapy is emerging as a model to address the issue by bringing mental health practitioners, organizers, family and community service agencies together to work cooperatively with clients and create interventions that help create and maintain environmental change in the home, as well as lasting therapeutic change within the client.

This is a challenging, yet supportive effort to assist clients in removing excessive items to which they feel extremely attached and which may represent a conflicted/symbolic part of themselves.  Using a blend of Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, CT helps clients identify and reframe the emotional and physical connections to their “stuff” in order to develop corrective alternatives for long-term solutions.

Dr. Rotz and his colleague, organizer Heidi Schulz, CPO-CD, have developed the Collaborative Therapy model in order to better and more compassionatley serve their clients' needs. If you would like to learn more about this dynamic approach, please contact our office.

Heidi Schulz can be reached at (805) 569-5288 and you can view her website at www.heidischulz.com. Heidi also facilitates a free monthly support group for clutterers and hoarders; for meeting info please call our office at (805) 566-0441 or contact Heidi.