Overview of Hoarding Disorder and Ways to Help

Please Note: This is a repeat of the training offered in 2025.

November 9

1:00 PM - 4:15 PM

Virtual via Zoom

Free

Attendance Policy: Please review the StarkMHAR Attendance Policy prior to registering.

Who Should Attend:

Behavioral health professionals.

Description:

Hoarding disorder is the persistent acquisition and failure to discard a large number of possessions due to urges to save. Attempts to limit acquisition or discarding of possessions results in intense distress. These acquiring and saving behaviors result in highly cluttered and often unsafe living environments. Hoarding disorder is a significant problem for 2.6% of the general population with higher rates for people over 60 years old. The risk inherent in many hoarding situations is high not only because the living environment is cluttered and often dilapidated but because individuals, particularly older individuals, lack the physical, psychological, and social capacity to live safely and comfortably in highly cluttered environments. Hoarding disorder is a serious and growing problem that can lead to eviction, homelessness, and death. Those with the problem often have other psychiatric disorders as well as little awareness of the consequences they face living in a hoarding environment. Overview of Hoarding Disorder and Ways to Help is a 3-hour course that presents the essential features of hoarding disorder, an overview of helping options, as well specific skills that clinicians can teach individuals to manage the problem.

Continuing Education Credits: 3

Counselors

LPC, LPCC

Social Workers

LISW, SWA, LSW

Prevention Professionals

OCPC, OCPS, OCPSA

Chemical Dependency

CDCA, LCDC II, LCDC III, LICDC

General Education

Not Applicable

About the Presenter:

Michael A. Tompkins, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist and board certified in behavioral and cognitive psychology by the American Board of Professional psychology. He is co-director of the San Francisco Bay Area Center for Cognitive Therapy where he specializes in the treatment of anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders in adults, adolescents, and children. Dr. Tompkins is Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California at Berkeley, Diplomate of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, and an adjunct faculty member of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. He is the author or co-author of numerous articles and chapters on cognitive-behavior therapy and related topics, as well as twelve books, including Digging Out: Helping Your Loved One Manage Clutter, Hoarding, and Compulsive Acquiring (with Tamara L. Hartl) (New Harbinger, 2009) and the Clinician’s Guide to Severe Hoarding: A Harm Reduction Approach (Springer, 2015), a book for clinicians who work with people with severe hoarding behavior. He is the recipient of 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mental Health Association of San Francisco and has presented to national and international audiences on cognitive-behavior therapy, hoarding, and related topics.