What gave me inspiration for this blog post was learning this:
New studies have come out proving that VR can effectively treat hoarders.
Nine participants aged over 65 were tasked to take photos and videos of rooms in their homes that were the most cluttered. They were returned with a VR navigable environment where they could experiment getting rid of items and arranging their space.
I want to keep this simple while not oversimplifying it. They did attend group therapy sessions that were 16-weeks long and facilitated. For weeks 7-14 they were able to use VR to practice strategies like donating, throwing out trash, and even having a virtual garbage truck take their items.
Sure, you may not be a hoarder and you may definitely not be able to take part in a program like this.
Here is the takeaway from this:
Part of the process that was super helpful is being able to visualize success and get out of the immediate reality using visualization through virtual reality. The subconscious mind is able to comprehend that this virtual world is representative of their home. Once the subconscious mind is able to feel like it has done something, it creates a sort of map of how to get there. It is familiar. Even without these expensive and comprehensive tools, you can still practice visualization and practice to make drastic changes to your home.
Sometimes it is very hard to see past the clutter and mess. We forget what our home looked like before it got filled with stuff. We may have never found systems that have worked.
Disclosure: I am not an expert in treating people who have a hoarding disorder and this post is not targeted towards people who have a hoarding disorder. I do think we can learn something from this study.
Exercise:
It may be easier to work with a partner so they can write down information for you, but it can work either way.
Step 1:
I want you to close your eyes and breathe deeply. You are in the moment where you have just reached your goal to have an organized house. It is exactly as planned. What do you see, what do you hear, who is with you?
Step 2:
Open your eyes and write down anything you can remember about that process from any of your senses as well as thoughts that went around with this.
Step 3:
Now I want you to close your eyes again and go back to that moment of finally completing that task. Ask yourself how you know you have finally reached this goal, what was the very last thing you had to do to complete this goal? What are 3 obstacles that you had to overcome to reach that goal? What surprised you about the process?
Step 4:
Once again, take a moment to write down your answers and anything else that was relevant or memorable about the experience.
Step 5:
Close your eyes once again, but imagine yourself walk back from the future into the present. Your subconscious should be able to feel as if you have been there, if you deeply visualized this. While your eyes are still closed and you are feeling in tune with your present, ask yourself what is the first step you need to take in order to reach this goal.
Step 6:
Write this down and complete the first step as soon as you possibly can.
Note: It is better to make this first step relatively small. It can literally be taking out the trash or run around the house throwing out any garbage. In this situation, whatever it is you visualized, is the answer you knew deep down was correct for you. Try following your intuition. Let me know if this has helped you in anyway.
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