My name is Jim, and I'm a beekeeper.
[music playing]
The ironies of my life is I can escape.
I get in my truck and off I go.
And I close the door, and this house kind of disappears.
[music playing]
I'm Geralin, it's nice to meet you.
Looking forward to meeting you.
- Thank you. - Please come in.
Thank you.
My name is Geralin Thomas, and I'm
a certified professional organizer, specializing
in chronic disorganization.
I'm here to help you figure out how to undo some of this.
It's going to take effort on your part.
[music playing]
At this rate, Jim, your daughter
will be calling Adult Protective Services
because we're not making as much progress as we should.
He hangs on to things because he doesn't
want to forget about them.
JIM: Part of my life is in memories of things.
Things are memory triggers for me,
and it's a very powerful thing.
[tapping]
[water spraying]
[pounding]
[music playing]
So tell me what your final verdict is.
Adult Protective Services being called
for his own health and safety?
I think, I think, we're good.
A lot of work has gone into this,
and, I think, overall, it's clean.
It's neat.
It's good for a visit.
Maybe not quite ready for overnights, but,
you know, we're on a good path.
I think we're closer than I would ever expect.
JIM: I hope that my girls can see
that a large part of my motivation
here has been a desire to live as full a life with them
as I can.
[music playing]
I'm Tra, firefighter EMT for the City
of Houston Fire Department.
I know I've got a problem with having
too much stuff, hoarding.
You know, hard to say, hard to say the words and say,
I have a problem hoarding.
I get emotionally attached to those things I want to keep.
A person that works in a fire department
is not supposed to live like this,
especially because we know what this kind of hazards can bring.
[music playing]
I'm Suzanne Chabaud.
I'm a clinical psychologist, and I
specialize in OCD and hoarding.
Let me, let me, let me, let me hold onto that, please,
for just a little longer.
[background chatter]
I'm looking at this stuff.
All this could actually go back in the garage,
honestly, because I want to go through it some more.
We'll just put that aside, and I'll look at it later.
Mr. Kimball, 1995, who the hell is that?
If he's like that here, if he's indecisive here,
where he can't throw a piece of paper away, or make a decision,
he's going to carry that to work.
And we can't have that, you know.
We got to make snap decisions all the time, you know.
That's our job.
TRA: I know I can do this.
I know I can tackle this.
There's a lot still to do, but I've
got a great start and a really great turbo boost this week.
I just got to make the effort and not get lazy
and not dwell on any negatives.
[music playing]
KIM: My name is Kim, and I'm a pharmaceutical sales
representative.
My house is very claustrophobic.
It's smothering because of the fact
that I can't move around in it.
My name is Danielle, and I am one of Kim's good friends.
She's gotten very good at masking
what's behind her front door.
[music playing]
SCOTT HANNON: My name is Dr. Scott Hannon.
I'm a clinical psychologist, and I specialize
in anxiety disorders.
I work with obsessive compulsive disorder and issues
around compulsive hoarding.
At first, this was looking like more of a crisis about lack
of organization around work.
As we were moving along, we saw more.
You know, we found an entire rack
of clothes that still had tags on-- that
she hadn't actually worn.
There is a limit.
Kim doesn't understand that.
She thinks because she has four closets,
she needs to fill them up with clothes and shoes.
DANIELLE: When in doubt, throw it out.
[music playing]