1.There is messy, and out of place stuff in homes (regular clutter that has a home yet does not get put away because of disinterest to clean, not enough time or life getting in the way). 2. Then there is gluttony or just call it shopping addiction (too much of a good thing and then lack of care for it since after all it did not fill the hole inside of you). 3. There is chronic disorganization (stuff brought in and no home for it causing chaos and lack of categorizing). 4. There is chronic disorganization (depression, dementia, add, adhd, physical, mental and emotional challenges getting in the way) and finally 5. Squalor and or demented sense of reality and behaviors causing mounds of unhealthful piles of stuff, nowhere to breathe fresh and or clean air, and intense health hazards. Whatever the situation there is a CURE.Marla Stone is a retired LCSW who was written up in the Orange County register http://www.ocregister.com/articles/stone-370146-says-carbone.html who has figured out a Proprietary Method to help people get through their stuff, figure out why they are collecting and having disorganized behaviors and help them stop re-cluttering. There is a Hoarding and Cluttering Cure and Marla has unlocked it.Marla utilizes a clearing and healing coaching method along with teaching people a new language to use in relation to their stuff. Marla realized early on it is not all about the stuff, it is about stuff on the inner. “Trauma and Life events that hurt and wound a person linger and their belongings tend to soothe the pain”. Dissatisfaction with live situations also make “stuff” more desirable. Her other quotes are quite clever “Matter matters or we would all live in cardboard boxes or Tee Pees with no stuff”. Also she cannot stand the saying “Think Outside The Box”. She states “if you are thinking outside the box, the box is still in the way, it is still there”. She prefers a term she coined “Get Rid of the Box”. This saying also goes along with how she organizes. “Don’t keep boxes from things you buy”. Marla realized early on when people keep boxes, or store items in boxes they forget what is in them. Keeping boxes of things you have purchased and are not using is pointless. And as far as boxes purchased items come in, “even if you were to return something, you are not required to return the box in most situations, you just would want the receipt”.Knowing that you “NEED” NOTHING is key to getting uncluttered. According to Marla not one thing in your home keeps you alive, unless you have an iron lung or medical equipment. “The word NEED is now our most used word in all languages in the world, everyone is so ‘needy’ since we have been pushed and prodded by years by advertisers that we ‘NEED’ everything”. Also the phrase “I have to”, same thing.
We NEED to eat, sleep, have shelter, breathe, eliminate, fluids……that’s all folks. Everything else is a want or a don’t want. Marla explained that she has seen people have “melt downs” over so many different objects, almost like a child having a tantrum. “They usually start getting hypervigilant about mid-day, during the categorizing and editing, and will finally have the ‘catharsis'”. The catharsis comes when people actually recognize that their relationship with material objects is unhealthy and irrational. “I’ve seen grown women and men clutching a piece of artwork from their children or a bowl from their mother or an old record or book, screaming ‘no you don’t understand I NEED THIS, I NEED THIS, YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND I NEED THIS'”. When they finally take their last breath of air to calm themselves, they start to see the irrational patterns of need versus want. This is the first sign they are healing from their over attachment to material items, whatever they may be.
“Helping people understand what they value in life, then symbolizing their belongings is a helpful approach. It is not about getting rid of stuff that is meaningful or useful as long as the person is willing to store it and protect it properly”.
Here is a video of someone attached to Stuffed Bears you might find interesting.
