WE HAVE WITHIN EACH OF US THE MAKINGS OF AN ARCHITECT TO DESIGN THE LIFE WE WANT AND THEN TO MAKE IT HAPPEN

As the year 2010 transitions into another year of hopes, dreams, plans, challenges and successes for each of us, I want to share something I read recently that replenished clarity for me. I offer it to each of you for the use you can make of it in your life, no matter what the challenges and changes you are facing Hoarding and non-Hoarding alike.

"A single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives."
Henry Thoreau

This quote reminded me of the courage and detemination those of you who I work with and hear from live every day, no matter where in the world you call and write from in reaching out for the help you need.

It reminded me of the wisdom each of you show in explaing to me how you need me to act on the respect I have for your needs and pace.

It reminded me of witnessing how your successes are sometimes small and incremental, not life remakes in a televised hour. I hope you remember that so that you value the small things you do everyday and don't become invalidated and impatient for lack of those "Hallmark Moments"

I would like to to celebrate some of my 2010 memories with you. I hope they demonstrate that success is not diminished by how many time you fall, it is defined by getting back up.

HATS OFF TO:

• those of you who started, became afraid and in response shelved the idea of counseling only to call back months and sometimes a year later to say "OK NOW I"M READY!" and began again

• those of you without the funds to pay for services, made and continue to honour arrangements which give you what you need and cost you what you can manage without hardship for as long as it takes!

• to "seasoned" individuals who have Hoarded for a long time and now are brave enough to face down the "ghosts" in counseling and build the re-claimed life imagined for so long

• to those of you whose lives are made tumultuous with physical and mental illnesses and yet you continue to be willing to get back up, re-group and continue on with the work needed. I am privleged and humbled to be be a part of your plan.

• to those of you who are children of Hoarders who live in fear of slipping like they did or who struggle with limits, boundaries and self esteem because they only discovered there were such things as adults when their relationships were being hurt by the lack

• to those of you who face debilitating illnesses, live with chronic pain and still are determined to ask for the help you need to have the best life possible and still laugh and find joy and things to be grateful for

• to those of you who are the last of your families and carry the yoke of "curator," missing loved ones and the comfort and love exchanged, facing current losses and still asking for help to do what is needed to get and stay on track

• to those of you who are witnesses or recipients of violence, who have been made afraid, who are sickened, ashamed and repulsed by your living environments, who live with chronic anxiety and panic attacks and who still reach out for help, and despite being sickened during the counseling & de-cluttering sessions stay in the game and perservere.

COURAGE IS BEING---(YOUR FEELINGS)---AND DOING IT ANYWAY---- WITH THE HELP YOU TRUST--IN THE WAY YOU NEED TO --AND AT YOUR PACE

I would like to acknowledge all of you and thank you for the privledge of laughing with you, witnessing your stories, being there to support you when you cried, challenging you on those life-robbing distorted beliefs you were taught/ developed in your life, celebrated with you and guided and transitioned you to your un-Hoarded life.

REMEMBER :

First dare to dream it...then imagine it.... then plan it and build it...then live it !

and so I come full circle back to H. Thoreau ..."To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives."

THE QUESTION I ASK YOU IS:

WHAT WILL YOU LET DOMINATE YOUR LIFE FROM TODAY FORWARD?

I OFFER YOU THAT:

"NO ONE EVER MOVED FORWARD LOOKING BACKWARD...

YOU SHOULD LEARN FROM THE PAST NOT LIVE IN IT".... Elaine Birchall

We have within each of us

We have within each of us

We have within each of us

We have within each of us

Hoarding Help being requested from Vancouver to Moscow and Many Places In Between!

Hello Again Everyone,
The title of this Blog says it all! On a daily basis I hear from many of you all looking for help either for yourself or for loved ones. The biggest question is how to approach the person Hoarding in a way that doesn't cause them to shut down. I aplogize for the delay in responding to your emails and phonecalls.

In reponse to your need Iam preparing 3 videos which for a minimal cost in excess of the cost to produce them you will be able to download them and use them as a guide and reference. I'm creating these tools because I hear from Moscow, India, Hong Kong, Helsinki, London and surrounding areas in the British Isles, Peru, Brazil, Australia, all over the USA and Canada, in particular Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Toronto.

The titles will be: 1. Are you worried about some who Hoards/ Clutters?
2. Are you worried about your own Hoarding/ Cluttering?
3. The Basics on Hoarding, what it means and how to identify the risks.

I'm headed into production mid August so drop by Contact Us on www.hoarding.ca and tell me know what you most want to know. I'll try to include it.

Better yet don't just email and call me get your city govenments to invite me to speak to the Community Partners in your area so that you can start getting the Hoarding informed help you tell me regularly that you are desperate to have access to.

the City of Calgary is doing just that, October 19th until the 22nd I will be presenting:
Hoarding Level 1, Hoarding Level 2, and Motivational Interviewing as well as doing a day of case conferencing on actual Hoarding situations they are trying to help with.

Now that's forward thinking! October 23rd there will be Hoarding informed professional able to respond much more effectively to local Hoparding situations as well as to act as a resource to other Community partners needing to know.

Last week i also had a call from a Winnepeg Free Press reporter about their Hoarding problems one of which recently ended in tragedy with the fire death of a local resident.

I know first hand through working with my counseling and de-clutter clients the sense of despair and being overwhelmed which Hoarding causes. I also know that when their things are reduced to what they love and need and other treasures have been "adopted" by people who will use and appreciate them, they tell me the relief is immeasureable and they feel like the weight of the world is off their shoulders.

Don't kid yourself the "STUFF" doesn't just take up floor space it also takes up the space inside and outside you that is meant for the life you are meant to have.

Reclaim it! You are not alone there are skilled people to help you.

Plan for Christmas infront of your tree, cleared space all around for fun and frolic OR alternately quiet, peaceful with an eggnog and a good book curled up in your favourite chair, feet up, clear space, clean air, cleared furniture surfaces, able to answer the door and welcome your favourite people.

It's all doable!

Cheers,

Elaine Birchall

POST MEDIA INTEREST BLITZ HAS SETTLED DOWN ...and I would like to share lessons learned fro 1500+ calls and emails through HOARDING.CA

The recent media "blitz"
1.Global TV's 16x9 The Bigger Picture,
2. a dozen radio interviews all across Canada,
3. the SUN Newspaper chain cross Canada Hoarding article by Joanne Richards which was picked up by many local newspapers,
4. the Ottawa Citizen Hoarding article by Bruce Ward,
5. Canada AM interview,
6. A Channel Ottawa TV interview,
7. CBC AM radio request,
8. Health Magazine request for information for their Effects of Clutter article in progress,
9. requests for help from the Dr. Ox Show
10. Discovery Channel's Animal Planet program on animal hoarding
has died down for the time being. 1500 + people visited my website, many of whom contacted me through the Contact Us option of www.hoarding.ca many called my office either desperately looking for help for themselves or loved ones. I sent each of you out of range of my being able to directly provide service a list of professionals on a list I found on Adult Children of Hoarders website. The feedback I have received from many of you is that the cost of services is prohibitive, practices are full with long waiting lists, service available is a group and you are not "group type people". If there is anyone who has used the list I forwarded and who has had success, PLEASE CONTACT ME and let me know so I know what is working and what isn't. My goal is to help as many people as I can reach out and make productive contact with skilled Hoarding-aware professionals so that they can "take back their life when their things are taking over".

What I have learned from those who contacted me is just how desperately many of you are in your search for information, advice and services. I have also been told of Hoarding situations which raise the hair on the back of my neck and I thought I had seen and heard everything by now. You know who you are in Ottawa, Montreal, Chelsea, Edmonton, Hong Kong, Norway, Finland, England, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Raleigh, Nepean, Malaysia.

For the reasons mentioned above, this Friday I am starting to create 1/2 hour informational videos on Hoarding- The Basics; Hoarding - Are You Worried About Someone?; Hoarding Is the Someone You are Worried About, YOU? These videos will answer most of the questions the majority of people asked in a more person to person way than through emails or brief phone conversations. I will make sure that the cost of viewing them is kept affordable so that everyone can have the help they will provide.

Cheers,

Elaine Birchall

So Easter Has Come and Gone...Have Your Plans Materialized as You Wanted

I want to briefly drop by on the Blog to check in with readers , (and I know that there are far more readers than followers by my Google Analytic stats, ) to ask how your plans/projects are coming. Have you made progress? If so three cheers for you!!! If not, what is keeping you from moving forward? You only live once, and you don't get time passed back. Being tyranized and overwhelmed by your things and the chaos they create, inside and out, is such a waste of the one life you get!

Please take the time to comment on this Blog. Begin a discussion for others to join, let's give each other the support needed to have the life each of us is meant to have.

Cheers,

Elaine Birchall

EASTER IS ALMOST UPON US, HOW DID YOU DO WITH THE PLANS YOU HAD?

It has been a very busy time since I last updated the posts on the HOARDING INTERVENTION SPECIALIST BLOG.


Early January 2010 the year started off by me being asked to give almost a dozen Radio Interviews all across Canada about Hoarding. Many of you have contacted me to ask for help either directly from me or to ask for help finding services close to home. This has prompted me to begin setting up Counseling & Consulting capacity using SKYPE for people affected by Hoarding living in remote or under-serviced areas of Canada. Clall me at 613-492-0700 to inquire if you are interested in more information. To others who called, & emailed I am working my way through the list of names to see what I can find in the way of the services you feel you need, close to home. Please be patient I am working on it, and will be in touch.

On January 24th 2010, Global television's 16 x 9 The Bigger Picture ran a very informative segment on BIRCHALL CONSULTING 's services and featured 2 very brave clients of mine "Gail" & "Nick". Thank you to both people for offerring their experiences, feelings, worries and progress made to viewers. Putting a face to Hoarding in Canada helps everyone relate to their own relationship with their things. It is especially helpful to counteract the perception that Hoarding is only a real concern when it is as severe as we see on HOARDERS & HOARDERS: BURIED ALIVE. Hoarding is a concern and robs people of the life they can have long before it reaches that extreme.

In February the SUN Newspaper chain did an excellent segment on Hoarding again highlighting BIRCHALL CONSULTING and some of the work we do. Many other local newspapers picked up the article and it continues to run. Joanne Richard the journalist did a great job. Thanks Joanne for being part of getting good, solid information out to those who need it.

In March the Ottawa Citizen ran a Saturday feature on BIRCHALL CONSUTLING and the Hoarding work we do. Nicole , one of my clients generously offered to open up her home and her life so that others could perhaps benefit from her honesty. Many have contacted me to say that they were inspired to reach out for the help they need.. Great job Nicole...good for you to all of those people who contacted anyone they feel can help them! Bruce Ward of the Ottawa Citizen wrote a compelling article accurately and sensitively relating the information he was given. Thank you Bruce...it was great working with you and the article you wrote continues to help people, evidence in fact are all of the calls and emails I have received!

March 6th I was up at 4:30 AM (BRUTAL!!!) to be for hair and makeup at Saje on the Mississippi and then on to the A Channel's studio for broadcast of an interview on CANADA AM. Following the interview on March 6th that one day alone, I had 1379 hits to my website! I think that speaks to the size of the viewing audience CANADA AM has. .....and rightfully so!!! It was a great experience and I now enjoy my morning coffee every day in my lovely green CANADA AM mug.

Earlier this week I was contacted by an Associate Producer of the Dr. OZ show asking for help concerning one of their upcoming programs. Surprises never cease!!!!!!

That is my New Year to Easter.

How have your plans gone?

Have you made the progress you want and need to?

What would you need to start? to finish?

We're here to help you!

"Helping you take back your life when your things are taking over"

Elaine Birchall

BIRCHALL CONSULTING

elaine.birchall@rogers.com
613-492-0700

You are not alone with your overwhelming piles, and things can and will improve if you reach out and ask for help.

As spring is really just 8 weeks away, where would you like to be by Easter conerning those overwhelming piles weighing you down? You don't have to be alone with the chaotic mess you live in. There is Hoarding/ de-cluttering help available. All you have to do is dare to believe things can improve and reach out for help. Make that call!!! The life you want, a better life can begin because of it.

Do any of these words have a special, personal meaning for you?
Hoarding, Hoarding help wanted, de-cluttering, packrat, mess, chaotic plies, obsessive Compulsive Disorder, depression, addiction, animal Hoarding, too much stuff, too many things, excessive collections, clutter, ashamed, eviction notice, diogenes syndrome.

A better life with understanding help and support is just a call away. Make that call today.
613-492-0700

Or maybe you are someone who cares about someone who hoards, whose life is affected by Hoarding? Help is available for you too. Make that call today.

Are you a service provider, go to www.hoarding .ca and look at the Hoarding training/ workshops available. Make you work life easier by becoming Hoarding - informed. Call for training to suit your work mandate needs.

Elaine Birchall MSW RSW
www.hoarding.ca
elaine.birchall@rogers.com
613-492-0700

Helping you take back you life when your things are taking over...work lives too!