Lexington Community Education presents: Too Much Stuff: Understanding & Intervening in Hoarding - Dr. Gail Steketee

We all accumulate possessions that help us negotiate our lives. But too much stuff can take over our homes, our offices and our lives. Where is the line between reasonable accumulation, collecting and outright hoarding? Recent media attention has focused on hoarded homes and quick fixes to clear these out. But hoarding is not simply a problem of having too much stuff. It runs in families and stems from cognitive processing problems like difficulty making decisions and sustaining attention, as well as strong (and often mistaken) beliefs about the value and meaning of objects.  This talk will examine the symptoms and features of hoarding, a model for understanding the problem, and interventions that can involve assistance from coaches, professional organizers, mental health professionals, and community service organizations.   Dr. Steketee is Dean of Boston University's School of Social Work and has written extensively on the psychopathology of compulsive hoarding and OCD.  She is coauthor of Stuff:  Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things.   To register for this event please contact Lexington Community Education at 781 862 8043.  The cost is $10 and pre-registration is strongly recommended.  Full details available at www.lexingtoncommunityed.org