[somber music]
I'm Shania.
I am 14, and I'm in eighth grade.
I do feel like my mom's a hoarder.
My mom buys a lot of stuff.
She buys beads, which she doesn't need.
She buys clothes that she doesn't need.
More beads.
My name is Belinda.
I'm 37 years old, and I'm disabled.
I believe I am a hoarder.
I had an immaculate house.
I mean, immaculate.
Nothing-- there was no dust.
There was no dirt.
Everything had a place.
It's basically like, when I got sick, my house got sick.
My dad is a hoarder.
My name is Kevin, and I'm 52 years old.
He's a hoarder of bills.
I just save all the bills for years and years.
[rock music]
I think I am also a hoarder.
I collect a lot of baby dolls, and I got a bin full and a half
a bed full of stuffed animals.
She's got three bedrooms full of stuff,
and she won't get rid of anything.
And every time I try to help her clean,
she'll turn around, and walk out, and scream,
shout, yell, stop.
You got to realize that it is serious.
I am known to have tantrums.
I take out my aggression on my stuffed animals,
my doors, my walls.
I kick the stairs.
I stomp on the floor.
Shut up.
I'm not going to shut up.
I feel like I'm not doing my job as a mother,
teaching her the right way to do things.
She's never seen a clean house.
She's never seen things put away right
away, in the right places.
SHANIA: I know my mom feels bad, and I
know my dad does, too, for having
me live in an environment like this all my life.
Shania's a hoarder because she sees her mom and dad.
And the child is going to learn from their parents.
I never learned how to clean.
The only way that I know how to clean is put stuff in a corner.
[somber music]
BELINDA: It's gotten to the point where
I can't live here anymore.
It's so bad it makes me sick.
I cry.
I'm depressed constantly.
And I just can't be here no more.
SHANIA: It is kind of scary that my mom
said that she would leave if we don't get the house clean.
KEVIN: It would be devastating for me if my wife did leave.
I didn't realize Belinda was thinking this way
and that she's really tired of it herself, like I am.
At this point, I got to think about my health.
I mean, it might be cold saying that,
but I got to think about my health--
my mental health, my physical health.
I can't take living this way anymore.
I'm done.
And I mean what I say.
If this house don't get clean, I will leave.
GERALIN THOMAS: Hi, everybody.
Hi.
I am Geralin Thomas, and I'm a certified
professional organizer specializing
in chronic disorganization.
Today we're going to attempt to clear out some paths,
and empty your home, and get it organized
to where you feel comfortable and happy living here.
Does that sound like it's an agreeable plan to everybody?
- Yes. - Yeah.
OK, let's get going.
All right.
Let's do it.
[fast-paced music]
Belinda, I have a chair for you over there.
So let your mom make sure she sees everything
that's being thrown away.
Let's take this box for a second.
OK, there's a few things in here.
My name is Mark Pfeffer.
I'm a licensed psychotherapist specializing in the treatment
of compulsive hoarding.
Is that something I want to keep?
Yeah, it goes to my husband's [inaudible]..
OK, so let me grab that.
That's a keeper, and we can get rid of the box.
How was that?
[intense music]
How does this feel right now, Belinda?
This moment-- are you OK right now?
On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the worst you've ever felt,
what do you feel right now?
Almost a 10.
MARK PFEFFER: Belinda was notorious, prior
to this cleanup, for her behaviors that really
gets people to leave her alone.
The crying--
I'm starting to cry.
The lack of energy.
If I have to stay here anymore,
I'm going to bust out in tears, and I'm going to my room,
and I'm going to sleep.
And of course, the throwing up.
I feel like I'm going to throw up.
OK.
They all worked in the past, and they're still working today.
I got to get out of here.
OK, well, let's do a few more bags.
I want you to learn how to deal with this.
I can't be in here.
My stress level--
OK, OK, how about this?
How about in two minutes we go outside?
We spend a little time there, and then we come back inside
and try it again for a few minutes.
- I can't. - OK.
I'm done being inside.
[somber music]
You're not getting rid of that because that was yours.
I don't want you to get rid of that.
Wait-- wait a second.
I'm going to stop.
Stop.
Talk to me. Talk to me.
What's going on?
She wants to keep everything of mine.
I'm keeping a lot of things that Shania might
want when she gets older, and I know
that's how my daughter thinks.
She's like, well, I don't want to right now,
but I might want when I get older.
Wait a second.
Belinda, this is her item.
It has gone through all three of my kids,
and it was mine when I was a baby.
And what is it?
It's a baby blanket of mine when I was a baby.
OK.
It's something I just can't see giving up right
now because it's gone through all three of my kids,
and maybe it might go through a grandchild of mine.
It was my understanding that she
was really concerned about her daughter being a hoarder.
That's clearly not the case.
It's not Shania that's doing the majority
of the hoarding in here.
It's definitely Belinda.
I didn't want to sit there and go through
every little piece of clothing, saying
what fits and what doesn't.
Don't care.
Anything on that table-- do whatever you want with.
There ain't no freaking room.
I told Shania this is her stuff.
She's got to make a decision.
It ain't up to me or mom if you keep it.
But mom will say, maybe you want to save it to remind you
of something, and then Shania gets confused because she
don't want to disappoint us.
What are you afraid of that would
happen if you let this go?
She'd yell at me.
She'd get all upset.
And she'd make me start to cry and--
OK.
Belinda, Shania--
It's mine, but if I get rid of it,
you're going to get mad at me.
Well, tell her.
Tell your daughter what she needs to hear.
You can get rid of ones like that, but the really
extravagant ones--
SHANIA: But what if I don't want them?
Then I will take them.
If she doesn't want it and it's hers,
she should be able to get rid of it.
I believe that, in essence, Kevin and Shania
are afraid of Belinda because of the power that she wields
and this sense of entitlement that she
holds so close to herself.
GERALIN THOMAS: Do you have conversations with your mom--
No.
--or is it mostly that she just talks over you?
She talks over me a lot.
What do you think would work with your mom
to get her to listen to you?
Don't know.
MARK PFEFFER: Have you ever tried it?
Yes, I have.
MARK PFEFFER: And what happens when you try it?
She just gets mad.
We don't have that much time left.
That's garbage. That's mine.
It's garbage.
She says this is hers, and it's garbage.
Oh, OK, then get rid of it.
Don't leave it on my table.
Hurry up. These--
- We don't have much time. - --have got to go upstairs.
Hurry up.
You got to listen to your daughter.
SHANIA: Hurry up. Do you want this?
- Yes. - OK.
- It's an old-- - OK.
Don't give a story. - --German toy.
Don't give a story.
Take a lead from your daughter.
Let her be in control right now.
I don't care. I don't want it.
OK.
OK, donation then.
OK, this is donate.
Everything in there is donaters.
These can go because they don't match.
Am I ever going to do candy-making again?
KEVIN: Nope. - All right, this can go.
Donate it.
Woo!
Woo-hoo.
Look how happy it just made your husband.
Well, I'm glad it made him happy.
Let me see you toss something in there.
Find one thing.
That's your mission.
I want to see you throw something on the truck.
One item.
Very good.
Give me a high five.
GERALIN THOMAS: Belinda?
Value City has donated, for you, a twin bed for upstairs,
a room of your own, and a new queen bed for you two.
Awesome.
[cries] I want to start over and learn how to clean.
Oh, my gosh.
Make good decisions about what to keep and what not to keep.
I love it.
MARK PFEFFER: I think the family made some progress.
But without any supervision and help during aftercare,
I believe that the family will retreat back to their old ways.
I want the house to stay clean.
I want us to spend more time together.
It will come.
I'm not going to say it's going to come
immediately because we've got to get back into it.
But time will tell.
[music playing]