Family-based behavioral treatment of pediatric compulsive hoarding: A case example

Although compulsive hoarding may pose health, social, and developmental impairment for children, there are few phenomenological and treatment studies to guide assessment and treatment. Current evidence-based questions the link between hoarding and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy protocols for OCD to adequately address the unique challenges of poor insight, poor emotion regulation, and increased family accommodation in children with compulsive hoarding. This case study seeks to illustrate a family-based behavioral approach to outpatient treatment of compulsive hoarding with a 9-year-old girl (pseudonym Lily). Treatment included psychoeducation, exposure to discarding items, exposure to acquiring cues, and parent behavior management techniques.