{{Short description|Hoarding twelve-step program help group}} '''Clutterers Anonymous''' ('''CLA''') is a twelve-step program for people who share a common problem with accumulation of clutter. CLA says that it focuses on the underlying issues made manifest by unnecessary physical and emotional clutter, rather than hints, tips and lectures.<ref name="google">{{cite web|url=http://clutterersanonymous.org/what-cla-offers/|title=What CLA Offers |website=Clutterers Anonymous|accessdate=2014-11-17}}</ref> CLA had active meetings in about 70 cities in 24 states in the US, and several in England, Germany, and Iceland, as of 2011.<ref name="clutterersanonymous">http://www.clutterersanonymous.org Clutterers Anonymous</ref><ref name="MORFORD2005">{{cite news |last=Morford |first=Mark |title=Clutter cure begins with garbage bag |date=2005-11-04 |work=San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=2007-06-24 |url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/morford/article/Clutter-cure-begins-with-a-garbage-bag-2597289.php |archive-date=2012-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024115126/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2005%2F11%2F04%2FDDG2JFI5V11.DTL |url-status=live }}</ref> CLA Tradition 3 states, "The only requirement for CLA membership is a desire to stop cluttering."<ref name="clutterersanonymous" /><ref name="RANDAZZO1999">{{cite news |last=Randazzo |first=Angela |title=Help Clearing Clutter is a Call Away |work=Los Angeles Daily News|date=1999-10-01 |accessdate=2007-06-24 |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-83627305.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020092641/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-83627305.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-10-20}}</ref> Clutterers Anonymous replaces "powerless over alcohol" in the First Step of the Twelve Steps originally developed by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) with "powerless over our clutter."<ref name="NAZARIO1999">{{cite news |last=Nazario |first=Sonia |title=Self-help: We can't help it |date=1999-08-08 |accessdate=2007-06-24 |work=Chicago Sun-Times|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4507455.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516170152/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4507455.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2011-05-16}}</ref> CLA was founded in May 1989 in Simi Valley, California.<ref name="RANDAZZO1999"/> CLA notes that there are countless reasons a person may become a clutterer or hoarder, however this program does not concern itself with the "why". Instead CLA focuses on helping those still suffering, with a path to "sobriety", in this case de-cluttering in order to restore serenity, clarity, and the ability to live a fulfilling life.
==CLA-approved literature== The CLA-approved literature includes the two fundamental texts of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), ''Alcoholics Anonymous''<ref name="BIGBOOK">{{cite book | last = Alcoholics Anonymous | title = Alcoholics Anonymous | url = https://archive.org/details/alcoholicsanonym00alco | url-access = registration | publisher = Alcoholics Anonymous World Services | year= 1976 | isbn = 0-916856-59-3 | oclc = 32014950}}</ref> (the so-called "Big Book") and the ''Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions''<ref name="12AND12">{{cite book | last = Alcoholics Anonymous | title = Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions| publisher = Hazelden | date = 2002| isbn = 0-916856-01-1 | oclc = 13572433}}</ref> eight CLA-specific leaflets, and a 28-page booklet, "Is CLA for You? A Newcomer's Guide to Recovery''.<ref>[http://www.clutterersanonymous.org Clutterers Anonymous]</ref>'' At some meetings, CLA members read directly from both books and may replace the word "alcoholic" with "clutterer."''<ref name="LAPETER2004">{{cite news|first=Lenora |last=LaPeter |title=12 steps lead to a support group for every human flaw |work=St. Petersburg Times |date=2004-03-15 |accessdate=2007-06-24 |url=http://www.sptimes.com/2004/03/15/Worldandnation/12_steps_lead_to_a_su.shtml |archivedate=2008-07-04 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704211424/http://www.sptimes.com/2004/03/15/Worldandnation/12_steps_lead_to_a_su.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref>''
Clutterers Anonymous is not associated with Messies Anonymous, a support group founded by Sandra Felton, which uses her copyrighted publications.<ref name="BOODMAN2002">{{cite news |last=Boodman |first=Sandra G. |title=The Hidden World of Hoarders; Those who suffer from this little-understood psychological problem distress families, confound therapists and frustrate public authorities |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=2002-12-12 |accessdate=2007-06-24 |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-564308.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026084214/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-564308.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-10-26}}</ref>
==See also== * List of twelve-step groups * Self-help groups for mental health
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== * [http://www.clutterersanonymous.org Clutterers Anonymous]
Category:Twelve-step programs Category:Organizations established in 1989 Category:Non-profit organizations based in the United States Category:Compulsive hoarding