Hoarding Disorder Research Flash Talks IOCDF July 2025 conference

I’m not a clinician, therapist, diagnostician or medical provider of any kind. When I attend “technical” events, I don’t expect to have more than a surface understanding of the discussions. But I attend anyway: I want to glean everything I can from these topics and I want hope. I am NOT going to discuss the research. I don’t think I can do so competently, even though each presentation was clear enough that I (think I) followed all of them to their conclusions. I don’t want to chance misrepresenting anything.

Kiara Timpano, PhD, University of Miami, served as the moderator for this session, and gave a brief explanation of hoarding disorder, emphasizing risk factors for developing the illness and wondering what nuances of culture, nature and nurture clash with and contribute to its expression.

Hannah Levy, PhD, The Institute of Living, Hartford, CT presented Testing a Brief Exercise Intervention in Hoarding Disorder (Exercise BDNF)

Paula Munoz Rodriguez, PhD, Stanford University summarized Targeting Excessive Acquisition in Hoarding Disorder with Theta Burst Stimulation.

Sharon Morein, PhD, Anglia Ruskin University, shared Compulsive and Impulsive Symptoms as Contributors to Hoarding.

Amanda Belanger, M.S., University of Miami, offered Salivary Cortisol and Hoarding Symptoms in Women with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Chia-Ying Chou, PHD, San Francisco Center for Compassion Focused Therapies, discussed Familial Psychopathy, Attachment, and Hoarding.

Lindsay Bacala, MSW, RSW, talked about Short-Term Webcam-based Online Group CBT for Hoarding in Community Settings.

Sara Hatfield, CHES, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health submitted The Relationship between hoarding and suicide: Prelimary findings from a qualitative online survey.

Lauren Milgram, MS, University of Miami, closed with From unpredicabilty in childhood to hoarding symptoms in adulthood: the roles of risk perception and intolerance of uncertainty.

Randy Frost, PhD critiqued each presentation, remarking on what struck him as worthy of further exploration, or strengths/weaknesses in the materials and interwoven themes among them.

I love watching the fiercely dedicated community of friends and colleagues who battle hoarding disorder come together to share their ideas. They have fun, they inspire each other, they challenge and encourage each other. They laugh, a lot. I learned about intriguing considerations for diagnosis. I learned about promising treatments. Someone even dared raise a question of “What might be preventative?” I got my dose of hope.