Clutterers Anonymous: How 12-Step Support Helps People Reclaim Their Space and Lives

There’s nothing wrong with forming an attachment to your possessions, but when this attachment goes to the extreme and results in an inability to discard even the most meaningless items, it’s time to seek help. Clutterers Anonymous is a support group and 12-Step recovery program designed for people whose life and home have been taken over by clutter.

If you have, or a friend, family member or other loved one has, a home that keeps getting more cluttered and filled with unneeded possessions, the first thing you need to realize is that the problem goes much deeper than just not wanting to throw things away.

Like any addiction or psychological problem, you need to find the right tools in order to ever have a chance of changing your life and recovering from this addiction. Clutterers Anonymous is dedicated to helping connect people with this problem to allow them to come together and try to recover using the help and support of their support network.

What Is Clutter and Why Is It a Problem?

While some people might believe that clutter and hoarding aren’t serious problems, the statistics show otherwise. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, approximately 5 percent of the adult population worldwide shows signs of excessive hoarding. This number is more than double the number of people who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and more than four times as high as the number of people with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, making it one of the more common mental illnesses.

Clutter can be defined as many things, but basically it refers to unneeded, broken or unwanted things that take up too much space, time and energy. While on the surface level clutter appears to be the result of an inability to throw things away, the problem usually stems from deeper, underlying psychological issues.

Unlike other forms of addiction, clutter and hoarding don’t typically have consequences on a person’s physical health, but the problem can still be incredibly damaging mentally. It can lead to a person feeling ashamed of their home and how they live, plus it has also caused many people to be evicted, lose custody of their children, get divorced and even be put in jail for breaking various health codes or fire/occupancy regulations. The first Step to recovering from any addiction is to admit and accept that you have a problem, which can be incredibly difficult without proper help and support.

If your life or that of a loved one has started to be taken over by excessive clutter, feel free to visit the Clutterers Anonymous website, or better yet, call us . We have specialists standing by 24/7 who are here to provide you with more information on treatment and recovery program options.

History of the Program

Clutterers Anonymous was founded in California in 1989 and has now expanded to have close to 100 active groups spread all over the United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Germany and Iceland. Its mission has remained the same since its inception.

Clutterers Anonymous

Clutterers Anonymous offers help to those with clutter problems through its own 12-Step recovery program, based on theoriginal 12-Step program developed by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). In fact, the Clutterers Anonymous 12-Step recovery program focuses on the same principles and is nearly identical to those of AA (outlined in the Big Book), with the words “alcohol” and “alcoholic” being replaced by “clutter” and “clutterer.”

12-Step Principles

Each one of the 12 Steps focuses on a specific principle which the person must be able to master before moving on to the next Step. The 12 principles are:

• Honesty and acceptance
• Hope
• Faith
• Action
• Integrity
• Willingness
• Humility
• Love
• Justice
• Perseverance
• Spirituality
• Service

Clutter and hoarding behaviors are often misunderstood, minimized, or dismissed as bad habits. In reality, they’re frequently rooted in deeper emotional and psychological struggles that deserve care, compassion, and support. Recovery is not about forcing change or throwing everything away—it’s about understanding what clutter represents and learning healthier ways to cope, connect, and regain control.

Additional 12-Step Support Groups

Clutterers Anonymous is one of many peer-led 12-Step programs designed to support recovery from behavioral health challenges and compulsive patterns. While each fellowship focuses on a specific concern, they all share a common foundation: personal responsibility, mutual support, and ongoing growth.

For some patients, participating in more than one 12-Step group can provide broader insight and support—especially when cluttering behaviors overlap with addiction, codependency, emotional distress, or financial challenges. The following programs may be helpful depending on individual needs and experiences.

Other 12-Step programs include:

• Alcoholics Anonymous
• Cocaine Anonymous
• Codependents Anonymous
• Crystal Meth Anonymous
• Debtors Anonymous
• Emotions Anonymous
• Gamblers Anonymous
• Gamers Anonymous
• Marijuana Anonymous
• Narcotics Anonymous
• Neurotics Anonymous
• Nicotine Anonymous
• Sexaholics Anonymous
• Sexual Compulsives Anonymous
• Smokers Anonymous

Clutterers Anonymous offers a supportive, structured path forward. Through shared experience, accountability, and the principles of a 12-Step program, many people find relief from shame and isolation while building practical and emotional tools for lasting change. For some, peer support alone is enough to begin healing. For others, combining meetings with therapy or structured treatment provides the strongest foundation for recovery.

If clutter has begun to affect safety, relationships, housing, or mental well-being, help is available. Support groups and professional treatment can work together to help patients reclaim not just their living spaces, but their confidence, autonomy, and quality of life.

Mental health struggles can feel isolating, but compassionate care is within reach. Browse our comprehensive list of inpatient mental health facilities and residential treatment centers for depression, trauma, anxiety, and more. Healing is possible; find mental health help for yourself or a loved one today.