Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
The Secret Lives of Hoarders: True Stories of Tackling Extreme Clutter
by
Matt Paxton (Goodreads Author),
Phaedra Hise
On the front lines with extreme hoarders
"The Secret Lives of Hoarders" is much more than harrowing tales of attacking the ugliest, dirtiest, and most shocking hoarding cases in the country. It is a behind-the-scenes look at this hidden epidemic- what it means, how to recognize it before it gets out of hand, and how to deal with it.
Through his work with hundreds of clie...more
"The Secret Lives of Hoarders" is much more than harrowing tales of attacking the ugliest, dirtiest, and most shocking hoarding cases in the country. It is a behind-the-scenes look at this hidden epidemic- what it means, how to recognize it before it gets out of hand, and how to deal with it.
Through his work with hundreds of clie...more
ebook, 256 pages
Published
May 3rd 2011
by Not Avail
(first published April 12th 2011)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
599)
Matt Paxton seems a lot more helpful and knowledgeable in this book than he comes off on the tv show 'Hoarders.' But maybe it's because Hoarders is clearly an exploitative project that only visits the severe type of hoarders Matt categorizes as Stage 5, the worst level of hoarding. In one episode where he became involved in pushing a hoarder along with the psychiatrist, I thought he was stepping out of bounds as the clean-up manager, but Clutter Crew is no ordinary cleaning company. It takes a c...more
This is a very interesting book, based on the cable TV show “Hoarders”, which airs on
A & E. The book is written by the owner of Clutter Cleaners, Matt Paxton, who also is an expert and speaker on issues of hoarding.
The book is full of case studies of hoarders, including how it begins, causes, and then recognition and resolution. There are reasons explained as to why some people begin to hoard. Also discussed are odd items people have been known to hoard. The psychology of hoarding is sorted...more
view 1 comment
Aug 09, 2011
Karyl
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction,
favorites
Matt Paxton, owner of Clutter Cleaner and frequently appearing on A&E's "Hoarders," has written a book about his experiences with these troubled people. It's all the emotion and compassion of the show on A&E, without the sensationalism and family drama. Instead of focusing on the family members yelling at one another and placing blame, Paxton states over and over again that the hoarder needs love and attention and positive reinforcement, to be shown that he or she is worth having a clean...more
According to a study by Johns Hopkins University,there are an estimated 12 million hoarders in the United States. Hoarding is not about how much stuff a person has. It's about how we process things. Most people can easily make decisions about what to keep and what to toss or donate, and then they follow through. A hoarder can't.
Matt Paxton, founder of Clutter Cleaner and star of the A & E Reality Show Hoarders, has written a book about some of his experiences working with hoarders.
"The Sec...more
Matt Paxton, founder of Clutter Cleaner and star of the A & E Reality Show Hoarders, has written a book about some of his experiences working with hoarders.
"The Sec...more
Matt Paxton, billed as an "Extreme Cleaning Specialist" on the A&E reality series "Hoarders," is (along with Dr. Robin Zasio) one of my favorites on the show. He is often the voice of reason, and gives as good as he gets when the hoarders resist efforts to clean their homes.
I was expecting this book to be more case studies of individual hoarders, following them through treatment and progress. Instead, although it does have many stories of hoarders, it is really a guide to why hoarders hoard,...more
I was expecting this book to be more case studies of individual hoarders, following them through treatment and progress. Instead, although it does have many stories of hoarders, it is really a guide to why hoarders hoard,...more
This was an insightful book for anyone that knows a hoarder and doesn't know how to deal with the situation. It gave a lot of useful information about how to approach them and what techniques work like helping them make the decision for themselves rather than giving them an ultimatum. It also helped explain why people hoard certain things and that once it's cleaned they still need to deal with the mental issues.
The book was also helpful in determining if you are really dealing with a hoarder an...more
The book was also helpful in determining if you are really dealing with a hoarder an...more
Matt Paxton gets eyeballs-deep into the world of hoarders as he and his company, Clutter Cleaners, assist in cleaning up the cluttered existences of many people. Since Matt is not a psychologist, the books remains free of a lot of medical jargon, but rather he interprets the stages and degrees of hoarding into layman's terms, based on his own observations. He divides his book into diagnosing the stages, how to help, creating clean up plans, how to manage the actual cleaning up, and how to provid...more
Last fall I read a fairly comprehensive book about hoarding, "Stuff" by Randy Frost and Gail somebody (it's on my read shelf if you're interested), which was excellent and informative. This one is more how-to, more practical, and much more -- shall we say, casual? It's written by Matt Paxton, who became what passes for famous from being frequently featured with his company Clutter Cleaners on the A&E show "Hoarders." Matt is pretty awesome on the show, pragmatic and empathetic, and he knows...more
I "know" Matt from Hoarders, and from a spot of online communication. I think he's a genuinely good person, and for that reason, I really enjoyed hearing about cleanup from his perspective.
I think that the title (which, to be fair, was probably chosen by the publisher) is misleading. This is more of a guide for family members or other social support coping with a hoarder, assuming that a cleanup is imminent. Matt doesn't go into detail about psychology because he is not a psychologist, and he do...more
I think that the title (which, to be fair, was probably chosen by the publisher) is misleading. This is more of a guide for family members or other social support coping with a hoarder, assuming that a cleanup is imminent. Matt doesn't go into detail about psychology because he is not a psychologist, and he do...more
The Secret Lives of Hoarders is a great overview of hoarding. You may already be familiar with the author, Matt Paxton, if you watch the A&E TV show Hoarders since his company is one of the ones the show uses to help clean out the houses of hoarders. Paxton is definitely writing this book from the perspective of all the hoarders he has personally helped, but he also understands addiction as well since he explains that he used to have a gambling addiction that caused him to have to start over...more
Matt Paxton is a funny guy and uses his humor to handle difficult situations while working with hoarders, but he also has a big heart and truly cares for these people. In the book, Paxton discusses some of his former clients as well as giving advice on dealing with your own clutter/hoarding problem. He also goes into how to help someone someone in your life with a hoarding problem. Paxton is not a mental health professional so comes at things from a different angle than his cohosts on Hoarders l...more
I enjoyed this book, but it took me a very long time to get through because of the subject matter. I am a big fan of Matt Paxton's reality TV show "Hoarders", but I also work with a lot of people that exhibit hoarding tendencies or are full-on "level 5" hoarders. I am a professional organizer, and I guess after going into these hoarded homes and trying to help the people clean up / organize / realize what is triggering the behavior / encourage them to seek or continue going to therapy, it felt l...more
If you've seen the TV program of hoarders, you know this author and his topic. This book uses his experiences with this sad group of people to discuss kinds and degrees of people who hoard--whether they hoard clothes, animals, garbage--or everything, giving insights about the psychology of these unfortunates and the people who suffer because of them or enable and defend their psychological problem. The book is well written and easy and fun to read if you're interested in people of all kinds and...more
"The Secret Lives of Hoarders: True Stories of Tackling Extreme Clutter" was a book I really wanted to read, because I really enjoy watching its author, Matt Paxton, on the A&E TV show Hoarders.
On the show, Matt is very common-sense with hoarders, while still giving them compassion in a “tough love” type of way. After reading this book, I think the book is somewhat misnamed. You won’t really learn about any “secret lives,” but the book is a great starting place for learning about hoarding, a...more
On the show, Matt is very common-sense with hoarders, while still giving them compassion in a “tough love” type of way. After reading this book, I think the book is somewhat misnamed. You won’t really learn about any “secret lives,” but the book is a great starting place for learning about hoarding, a...more
Matt Paxton, author, is as approachable and informative as Matt Paxton, clutter cleaning expert on the television show "Hoarders." This book is a very useful first exposure to the challenges and struggles of being a hoarder, or being someone who loves a hoarder.
Though repeated examples of people he has worked with (albeit with names changed and/or characters composited), Matt outlines what he considers the Five Stages of Hoarding. These are not medical definitions but instead are based on what h...more
Though repeated examples of people he has worked with (albeit with names changed and/or characters composited), Matt outlines what he considers the Five Stages of Hoarding. These are not medical definitions but instead are based on what h...more
This book was interesting enough but it was depressing. I think it was just bad timing on this book. Our book club has been picking lots of books having to do with social disorders. It's kind of draining. The whole time I was reading this book I kept thinking ....this is just like the show "Hoarders." Then I find out at the end that the author is part of the show. The thing I found disturbing was that Matt spoke of his clients almost like they were animals he was observing in the wild. Also I re...more
I think the only reason I read this book was because of my morbid curiosity about why hoarders hoard. This book wasn't groundbreaking or anything like that but it was interesting and gave a few case studies of hoarders and the ins and outs of some specific cases. It makes me feel like I need to tackle any sort of pile that I might have in my home or else I might be a beginning hoarder. That (super small) pile of important paperwork that needs to be filed? That (again super small) pile of paper t...more
I think the title of this book is a little bit misleading. It really isn’t the voyeuristic look into hoarder’s lives that the title implies but more of a manual for those who are close to someone with a hoarding problem from someone who is “in the trenches”. I like Matt Paxton’s straight shooting style and I think this is a fantastic resource but I am not sure this book would really be of general interest to those who aren’t directly dealing with hoarding.
If you have hoarders in your life (like I do) then this book is both fascinating and galvanizing. There is tons of practical advice about how to approach the hoarder, where to get help, and how to go about an actual clean-up. Of course, when Paxton revisits the hoarders now and we see how many have slid back into their destructive behaviors, it's rather disheartening. But Paxton is just so cute and delightful!
As a professional organizer, he mostly mentions things he says on the show. It is deffinitely helpful if you are planning a clean up, but I would also read a book on the same topic written by a psychologist to really understand the issue.
I liked the style of writing, although some stories were basically repeated even several times.
I still recommend it to families of hoarders out there!
I liked the style of writing, although some stories were basically repeated even several times.
I still recommend it to families of hoarders out there!
Straightforward, written in a personal way with lots of info. Very insightful book into different types of hoarders and their mindset. Contains very practical steps and cautions for dealing with hoarders. Matt Paxton gives you an idea why some clean-ups are successful and long-term successful and why other hoarders cannot progress forward.
About as gimicky as I expected from the title and cover. It's quite sad that most of the hoarders portrayed are people with serious mental issues who could benefit from help. I do like how he divides the hoarders into stages, but I wanted to see examples of people without mental problems who were hoarders beyond the initial stages.
We are all hoarders to some degree. Find out how difficult it is to convince hoarders to get rid of worthless stuff. A truly bizarre disease and Matt Paxton is helping these people change their lives on a daily basis. What a gift he must have and what an interesting job for a person to have. God bless all the hoarders in the world.
On the one hand, the book is repetitive and if one has watched the TV shows already, doesn't have any new advice or insights. On the other hand, the story of how Matt became a cleaner of hoarder's houses is interesting and revealing, and his insight into his own problem history is something that hadn't been on TV.
It has all the fascinating horrors of the "Hoarders" TV show without having to actually see all the dead cats.
I was a little disappointed it wasn't entirely case studies and stories. The stories were there, and they were well written, but they were interspersed between advice on helping and dealing with hoarders.
I was a little disappointed it wasn't entirely case studies and stories. The stories were there, and they were well written, but they were interspersed between advice on helping and dealing with hoarders.
Poorly written and researched, The Secret Lives of Hoarders jumped from one topic to the next without following a consistent narrative. I got bored of trying to force myself to be interested in the book, which is surprising given I find the subject of hoarding itself very interesting.
Very well-written; 4 stars simply because sometimes it's hard to read the stories. The authors do a great job of walking readers through the psychology of hoarding, how it evolves, what can be done -- all the time using real life stories to help explain.
interesting but not great. i was hoping for more in depth information about hoarders he's worked with moreso than a handbook of how to deal with a hoarder which is not something i need in my life. but the guy is interesting and he does good work.
I love you Matt Paxton but this book was a bit too clinical for me. I guess I was looking for more sensationalism like the show Hoaders but....it was more in depth psychological studies. Alright there is merit in that but not as much entertainment value for me.
This was very insightful into the world of hoarders and the act of hoarding, and was a great read for interest's sake but would also be very helpful if you or someone you knew was a hoarder (there's lots of resources listed at the end). For the author not actually being a therapist or psychologist, he's very in tune and observant regarding the mental states of hoarders and how to effectively help them.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
