Psychology students help hoarders

Students at the University of South Wales (USW) will be gaining hands-on experience in supporting one of the most overlooked and stigmatised mental health challenges - hoarding disorder.

USW has partnered with Holistic Hoarding, a groundbreaking organisation dedicated to providing compassionate, therapeutic support for individuals struggling with hoarding. Founded in 2019 by USW graduate, Kayley Hyman, the company is a leading service provider across Caerphilly, Newport, and Monmouthshire.

The new partnership will offer Psychology students experience in helping people who are struggling with hoarding behaviours. With hoarding frequently leading to eviction and family separation, the disorder becomes unmanageable when people acquire an excessive number of belongings, which then leaves little space in their homes for day-to-day life.

Kayley said: “This experience will give students the opportunity to apply their learning to the real-world. Working with people and hearing their stories really takes it to another level. I am excited to work with them.

“They will be trained by my team of specialists, working with them to gain practical experience in areas such as direct support for individuals, compassionate home organisation, and service evaluation.”

Mary Clare O’Connell, Senior Lecturer of Psychology, said: “We’re approaching this from two angles. Our students will be on the frontlines, providing hands-on support, while also collecting information that can be used to help improve future service provision.

“The partnership will foster innovative research to close the gaps in understanding of hoarding disorder, paving the way for improved support systems for individuals living with hoarding disorder.

Holistic Hoarding’s work has already made significant strides, preventing over 90 evictions and reducing the risk of children entering foster care in homes affected by hoarding. The organisation's unique model blends mental health support with practical help in the home, ensuring that individuals receive the help they need to stay in their homes, and improve their quality of life, rather than face the trauma of forced clearances.

“Hoarding has historically been misunderstood and mistreated,” Kayley explains. “There’s no other mental health condition where we would evict someone from their home for it. Changing that culture is at the heart of what we do, and having the students on board is going to help us push this work even further.”