Clutterers Anonymous is a twelve-step program for people who share a common problem with accumulation of clutter. CLA does not exist to provide housekeeping hints, tips on sorting and filing, or lectures on time management, but instead focuses on the underlying issues made manifest by unnecessary physical and emotional clutter. CLA has active meetings in about 70 cities in 24 states in the US, and several in England, Germany, and Iceland, as of June 9, 2011. CLA Tradition 3 states, "The only requirement for CLA membership is a desire to stop cluttering." Clutterers Anonymous replaces "powerless over alcohol" in the First Step of the Twelve Suggested Steps originally developed by Alcoholics Anonymous with "powerless over our clutter." CLA was founded in May 1989 in Simi Valley, California.
Causes and co-morbidity
Some believe cluttering behavior can be symptomatic of deeper issues. Problem clutterers are more likely to have depression, mania, OCD, or ADHD. Any of these disorders can be co-morbid with compulsive hoarding. Others attribute cluttering to the human desire to hunt and gather, while still others describe it as a consequence of over-consumption. Some members of CLA describe the inability to let go of objects as a consequence of spiritual emptiness.
Implications
Unlike alcoholism, addiction, or depression, cluttering is rarely lethal, but it can have other devastating consequences. In extreme cases, clutterers have been evicted from dwellings, have lost custody of children, or have even been jailed for violations of building, fire, or health codes..
CLA-approved literature
The CLA-approved literature includes the two fundamental texts of Alcoholics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous and the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions as well as eight CLA-specific leaflets, and a 28-page booklet, "Is CLA for You? A Newcomer's Guide to Recovery. At some meetings, CLA members read directly from both books and may replace the word "alcoholic" with "clutterer." Clutterers Anonymous is not associated with Messies Anonymous, a support group founded by Sandra Felton, which uses her copyrighted publications.
