[music playing]
My name's Kathleen and I'm a teacher.
[school bell rings]
Yes, I'm a hoarder.
I save clothes that everybody in the family's outgrown,
materials to use for art projects
at school, like a toilet paper roll.
Hey, you can make something out of that.
You can make multiple things out of that.
And I just feel guilty about throwing
something away in the trash that could be recycled--
bottles of shampoo, plastic bags, a lot of paper.
My name is Melissa.
I'm 16 years old and Kathleen is my mom.
Her hoarding really, really affects me.
I couldn't walk around without stepping on something.
And it's a really hard place to focus when I'm trying to work.
It's gotten to the point where we don't
have a working refrigerator.
I think our microwave might work,
but we don't really have anything to put in there.
I barely eat at home.
When my dad passed away, my mom's hoarding
got, like, a million times worse than it was before.
KATHLEEN: I think my hoarding did accelerate
after my husband's death.
Somebody wasn't there to nag me about it.
That probably made it worse because it was just me.
I don't think that my dad would approve
of the way we're living now.
My name is Paula.
I'm 52 years old and Kathleen is my sister.
Last time I was in her home, I discovered
how bad things really were.
I told Kathleen I would not sit back
and continue to let Melissa live under these circumstances.
I'm an attorney and I do have the resources to take
Melissa out of the house.
It does hurt my feelings to think
that my sister Paula would try to take
my daughter out of the house.
I feel like a villain for exposing her.
But I've done all this, trying to prevent
a situation such as Child Protective Services coming in.
Good morning, everybody.
Good morning.
My name is Geralin Thomas and I'm
a certified professional organizer specializing
in chronic disorganization.
All right, Kathleen, I know you're
nervous and apprehensive about what we're going to do today.
Feeling a little--
Very.
-- stressed out.
I think one of the biggest challenges working
with Kathleen is going to come between Kathleen
and her sister.
Her sister definitely wants to control the situation
and call the shots.
Paula, I can't help noticing you're
already really emotional.
[laughter]
What are you thinking?
No, I just--
you know, guilt--
- You [inaudible] - --that I haven't--
OK.
-- done something before now.
MARC PFEFFER: My name is Marc Pfeffer.
I'm a licensed psychotherapist and specialist in the treatment
of people with anxiety disorders,
including compulsive hoarding.
When you approach these things, you
think, coulda, shoulda, woulda.
You've been very instrumental in making all this happen.
[inaudible]
So I hope part of you, within that guilt,
could also be proud of yourself.
Yes.
OK.
With that being said, let's go ahead and get started.
Lead the way, Kathleen.
April of '07.
OK, throw them away.
Toss.
Throw it away.
Toss.
Throw.
Keep.
Never been opened happy birthday candle.
I mean, it's never been opened.
It can be used.
Throw it away.
Thank you.
KATHLEEN: It's just empty bottles.
PAULA: Was that from your high school graduation?
KATHLEEN: OK, this shelf has nothing on it anymore.
[grunts]
MELISSA: We have three empty shelves.
KATHLEEN: And we're about to have four.
And a full trash bag.
It's leaking a lot of stuff.
WORKER: Throw it out.
Oh.
God.
The situation I was living in was very serious.
I didn't realize how bad it was until we
uncovered a lot of things.
KATHLEEN: I don't know what that is.
I had no idea what was under all that stuff.
Is it worse than you were thinking?
Yes.
OK.
PAULA: First of all, there was a smell that automatically--
I almost gagged.
The health hazards are just too numerous to count.
She has spoiled food, trash, black mold.
Everything that should not be in a person's kitchen,
it's in there.
Marco, what are you looking at?
Gross.
PAULA: And it was cleaned completely,
this entire kitchen, by--
OK.
-- Marco and my daughter three years ago.
And in three years now, we have mold.
GERALIN THOMAS: The smell is just incredible.
KATHLEEN: What does it smell like to you?
It smells like something is dead in here.
Really?
Yeah.
It just smells strong decay.
Well, maybe a rat got in.
The kitchen definitely surprised me.
It's a lot worse than I thought it was.
MARC PFEFFER: I want you to look at the expression
on your daughter's face and on your son's face,
and use it as motivation to never let this happen again.
MARC PFEFFER (VOICEOVER): I was paying attention
to the look under the masks.
There was extreme disappointment and anger.
It was a symphony of emotion that I won't soon forget.
This is completely unhealthy.
And I hate living like this.
KATHLEEN: Oh, I'm so sorry.
I don't know how it came to this.
GERALIN THOMAS: Do you know what we're doing in here?
Do you know the goal of this?
My family wants to get in my room.
They think I'm hiding some deep, dark secret.
And they don't believe that I'm not.
GERALIN THOMAS: OK.
And I told them there's nothing nasty in here,
nothing wet, nothing moldy.
There's a lot of school stuff.
MELISSA: I honestly don't know why she didn't
want people in that room.
She sleeps in there.
She couldn't even get to her bed.
There was not a path.
I think it's the worst room in the house.
What was that one?
Doesn't matter.
KATHLEEN: That is not trash.
When was the last time you used it?
You have like 18 million of these.
Yeah, you do.
That is not trash.
Mom, you have--
KATHLEEN: No, I'm not throwing that away.
That is [inaudible]. - You have so many of those.
It's a very expensive--
Those are all over the house.
Where are you going to put that?
For Kathleen, the room that she
is storing most of her emotional-laden
objects is in her bedroom.
So the reason why I feel it's important to finish
the job in that room is so she could realize that she could
let go of those items or donate them,
and the world won't come to an end.
These are activities that we do in the play.
You can make that on the computer.
There is no point in keeping all this paper.
That is what you say about every single thing in this house.
And obviously, this has sat for a minute.
Everything we are seeing in this house
is everything you have ever hoarded, period.
You don't have a storage facility?
Not anymore.
I couldn't afford it.
I actually was shredding what I thought were legal documents.
And all of a sudden, I found a document for a storage unit.
But you do not have a storage facility?
No.
And you weren't still paying on it 'til 2007?
No.
Well, how come I found bills for 2007?
2007?
2007.
I have one.
So once again, this little trust factor between us
has been broken.
This crap is showing your children
you don't care about their college.
You don't care about their future.
You don't care about them now.
But you sure as god care about having
storage units in two different states to put this crap in.
That's the message you're giving to your children and to me,
and once again lying to me.
OK.
I've said enough.
I got very upset because, once again, she
has spent money that she doesn't have on a storage
unit for her hoarding.
And yet, these children have gone without.
Kathleen, do you know why your sister's so angry?
Are you hearing a few of the things she's saying today?
Yes.
And what are you hearing her say?
I need to get rid of my crap.
It was really necessary for Kathleen and Paula to have this
blow-up this morning so we could show Kathleen what Paula was
feeling over some issues that I think
has been going on in the family for many years.
It's on you right now, today, to make
decisions about that storage, to make
decisions about being honest.
And the most important person to be honest with is you.
Do you hear me?
Yeah.
So let's work together and take care of it.
Get back to work.
OK.
Merry Christmas in August.
These are donate.
Donate.
Those can go.
Trash, trash, and more trash, all of this.
GERALIN THOMAS: Walk in and take a look around.
What do you think?
It's awesome.
There's some places for your magazines.
MELISSA (VOICEOVER): I'm excited to have my room.
And it looks like I'm going to be able to have
friends over really soon.
I'm so excited for you.
This is great.
PAULA (VOICEOVER): This is exactly what I wanted for her.
There's still work that needs to be done.
But no, I wanted her to have her space.
Oh, this is a long time coming.
GERALIN THOMAS: I couldn't resist.
Hi, mommy.
Oh my god.
KATHLEEN (VOICEOVER): I kept telling myself
and other people that I could do it by myself.
And obviously, I couldn't because it
went on for years and years and years and years and years.
Oh my god.
This is the person who lit this whole idea on fire.
Do you feel appreciated?
I definitely do.
PAULA (VOICEOVER): I don't think she's
going to be as quick to try to cover up her acts
because of being caught.
I mean, it's obviously not going to be easy for her.
She obviously has a problem.
So we really just got to seek out help for her.
And hopefully, she can be better and we
can keep this house clean.
I am not resistant to therapy.
I'm excited about therapy because I
know it can only help.
[music playing]