Heal Chaos and Overwhelm: DECLUTTER Every Part of Your Life

***
A cluttered living space is one common sign a person has been affected by past trauma. But Complex-PTSD often manifests as a similar kind of chaos and overwhelm in your thinking, your relationships, your emotions and the way you spend your time. Learn how you can declutter your thinking, your friendships, your calendar and yes -- your physical space.

***
🟢 *Letters: Want to submit a question for me to answer in a video?*
Keep it short, not too explicit, relevant for this audience.

🟢 *Become a Member!*
Access ALL my courses, webinars, group coaching & online community

🟢 Take My Online course: *Healing Childhood PTSD*

🟢 *Change Trauma-Driven Dating Patterns*
Online course: Dating & Relationships for People with CPTSD

🟢 *Learn to Heal Dysregulation*
Online course: Dysregulation Bootcamp

🟢 *Heal Isolation and Build Better Relationships*
Online course: Connection Bootcamp

🟢 *Coaching Programs & LIVE Calls with Anna*

🟢 *PARTNERS/RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS*
(I receive commissions on referrals & recommend services I know and trust)

🔹 *Is Carb Sensitivity Sabotaging Your Energy and Weight? Take the Quiz:*

🔹 *NEED ONLINE THERAPY?* BetterHelp can connect you with a licensed, online therapist:

[gobears]

Oddly enough I am happy to clean other people's clutter and organize other people's stuff... but I absolutely get that overwhelmed thing about my own! Thanks for this 🙏👍

[lakiaraduran]

I've asked 3 therapists over 10+ years about my difficulty with clutter and stuff accumulating in my home and none of them could help or give me any insight. Years have gone by and all I've felt is more shame and confusion about it. The way you have cut through the noise and clarified how it's connected with CPTSD in a little over 30 minutes is illuminating and life saving. Thank you. The part about emotional and mental clutter is spot on and I hadn't identified them as such until you named and explained them. You have alchemized your pain and turned it into wisdom. You have finally made this make sense. This is what I needed to know. I've been searching for this information for a long time. Your videos are helping me in ways I didn't know I needed.

[sauravbasu]

I live in the eastern part of India and there is a custom of cleaning and decluttering our homes which takes place before the new year of our Bengali calender comes. The cleaning is about a month-long process done daily in bits (say, discarding old, torn unusable clothes, empty boxes, cleaning walls and floors, washing bedcovers and cushions, cleaning the garden etc.)which ends in the last day of the old year. On new year, we have a custom of wearing new clothes after taking bath, eating and distributing sweets, wishing friends and relatives for a happy year ahead. I think having a deadline and making it an annual custom of giving a clean and fresh start help a great deal.

[lynncolbert]

When I try to clean up my clutter I get so tired that I need to lie down. I feel incapacitated and overwhelmed.

[kgjcymh]

“Your trauma is an injury not your identity.” Thank you for this!!!

[janegolson]

My mom says, “The item has served its purpose. Now let it go.” That phrase has been so helpful for me.

[aquachonk]

Clutter CAUSES anxiety and depression for me. I've become a minimalist on so many levels and it's so friggin' RELAXING.

[ArleneHeer]

I did not have childhood trauma and was neat and tidy for decades…..until I married a narcissist. I was never familiar with this disorder and after the “love bombing” experienced emotional and verbal abuse that was foreign to me. I knew I had to leave, then he had a stroke and the guilt of “what will people think if I leave him now…he was such a great guy”, kept me in the marriage another seven years. I almost let his behavior kill me physically and emotionally. Over seven years have passed and I am finally done picking up the pieces of myself. During the period of divorcing, my clutter was paralyzing. I slowly dug myself out with the help of my son…..but I’m a work in progress. Thank you for your insight. I need to hear more of what you have to say!

[StarOnTheWater]

Trauma causes anxiety. Anxiety causes clutter. Clutter causes anxiety.

[Chrisbybeebee]

My husband recently had to be hospitalized for four months due to a back injury. The 911 emergency workers and police reported us to social services for having a toxic mess and for the clutter being unsafe for him. I was forced to have my house cleaned or they wouldn't let him come home and he would probably be placed in a home. We worked with the

social worker and she put me in touch with a restoration company. We split the cost and I just had my home professionally deep-cleaned and de-cluttered. 13 years worth of clutter, cigarette butts and grimy dirt! It cost thousands of dollars and was well worth it! I feel so happy and energized and have now organized my papers and finances. My self-esteem is soaring and now I don't feel fear and shame at the thought of having people drop in. I hope others can somehow get help in clearing and cleaning their homes. My city has a "hoarding team" which works in conjunction with our health department. I just couldn't do it on my own. I spent 3 1/2 months planning it my head and was paralyzed as far actually making a move on my own. So when it was coming to "crunch time" about a week befoe he was released, we finally hired the restoration team. They cleaned the house from top to bottom in 3-4 days. The health department chipped in thankfully. I would encourage people to check and see if their municipality or health department could assist in both counseling you and in doing the actual clean-up. It may cure your needless suffering. Most of all, I wish you lots of ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤🕊🕊🕊🕊

[angelaelenbaas]

The important thing to remember here is that she says it’s a strong hypothesis. This is her rendition of clutter. Being too organized can also be a symptom of trauma as it gives one a sense of control. Don’t beat yourself up. Just make effort to do better everyday.

[annel]

Clutter is definitely a symptom of being unwell.
There's also this feeling that your stuff is your family, and you refuse to get rid of it and make it "feel" abandoned because you know yourself what it feels like to be abandoned.

[nathanrohde]

While clutter can induce certain types of stress, its a sign of "I don't have the cognitive load to make the decisions to address this problem."

[kelliesmith]

While going to a therapist when I was in that 23 year abusive marriage (1980 to 2003), I told my therapist I just didn't have the energy to keep the kitchen clean & keep up with the housework. He said something insightful for me. He said it made sense bcuz I was using much energy just to survive life being married to the abusive husband. Now, in retrospect, 20 years agter the divorce, I see I really am a person capable to keep up with the housework. It really saps energy keeping clutter around, but it is so difficult to declutter while trying to survive.

[randallsmerna]

I trade time with a buddy that struggles with clutter as I do and we work at each other's house. Having that input and support really helps challenge you.

[sherrymcmullin]

Finally I understand trauma. Everything makes so much sense. Clutter, feeling stuck, non social, shame, blame. Thank you so much.❤

[truthteller]

" Your trama is an INJURY, NOT an IDENTITY, IT'S NOT WHO YOU ARE." I love ❤ this statement, more people need to hear this truth ❣️

[kathyoverton]

It's a vicious cycle.
Not only do I have some hoarding issues, but my brother was a hoarder and my mother was a depression-era mom. My hoarding brother passed away over a year ago and my mother moved in with my other brother due to her dementia. Here I am trying to get my mother's house straightened out while dealing with other family drama. I am ADHD and the sole caregiver of my autistic niece. So I am extremely overwhelmed.
This makes me feel like I can't do anything. It's very hard to even start.
But I did one thing. I got rid of a mattress that was just sitting around and that opened up a lot of space. Seeing that freespace motivated me to get started and I have gotten a lot done since then.

[luckyneko]

Chronic illness for much of my life has been my biggest trauma. I cry for people and animals that are suffering. The little things I buy to cheer myself up are causing more stress. Recent years I've dealt with the loss of 2 people I love the most. I'd love to return to my childhood.
Thank you for this.

[jschoeneck]

Wow lack of power, we as children who were abused never had power . We couldn’t control any thing we were never taught how to control the healthy way of being able to make choices. Wow wow wow! Thank you !