NOTE: Information can change at any time.

Louise Kurzeka

How often have you heard a CD client say “I am a really visual person!” There are ways to meet this learning/processing need. This teleclass will present helpful strategies and tools for working with CD clients with a visual processing preference.

Phyllis Flood Knerr, CPO-CD®

This class is the overview class regarding visual, kinesthetic and auditory learning modalities and how to work with individuals who have specific learning differences.
Note: This teleclass is required for the Level I Certificate of Study in Learning Styles and Modalities.

Sheila Delson, CPO-CD®

Ever wonder how to reach the unreachable? Many service professionals (POs, Mental Health, etc.) express intervention frustrations whether about time, money schedule or geography. Learn how Virtual Organizing (VO) can break through the limitations of the modern day ‘glass ceiling,’ and discover how adding this tool to your service toolbox can be an effective win-win for PO’s and CD Clients alike.

Eileen Stevie, CPO-CD®

What determines a chronically-disorganized (CD) client? This basic class will cover the criteria for CD, defining how a CD client is different from other clients. Basic methods/techniques professional organizers can use and other issues in working with CD
Note: This teleclass is required for the Level I Certificate of Study in Chronic Disorginations.

Kim Anker-Paddon, CPO-CD®

Becoming a self-sufficient adult is a crucial transition for anyone but an especially enormous challenge for young adults who have AD/HD. This class provides information about becoming an adult with AD/HD, the struggles many young adults with AD/HD face, and suggests strategies for those who work with this population.

Catherine A. Roster, Ph.D.

Life transitions include expected events, such as leaving home to attend college, starting new jobs, getting married, having children, “empty nest syndrome,” and perhaps even decisions related to one’s own death. Life courses often force transitions that are not necessarily planned for but are equally disruptive, such as divorce, losing one’s job, the untimely death of loved ones, unexpected health crises, or extreme loss due to natural disasters. This teleclass describes psychological motivations rooted in self-protection that can accompany these disruptions, and the resulting impact life transition events have on meanings a person assigns to material goods. Preliminary findings from the author’s Safe Passage study describe techniques that professional organizers might find useful when dealing with clients who are undergoing personal rites of passage or who are engaging in the process of identity reconstruction following life-altering events.

Roland Rotz, Ph.D.

This foundation class will cover a variety of mental health conditions professional organizer may encounter in their client work. This includes depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Note: This teleclass is required for the Level I Certificate of Study in Mental Health Conditions and Challenges Affecting the CD Client.

Janine Sarna-Jones, CPO®

As organizers we are change agents, charged with the responsibility to facilitate transformation in the lives of our clients. In this role we face challenges and hurdles unique to the process of change. This course provides an overview of the process of change, the inherent challenges and the tools and techniques of effective change agents.

To be announced

This class will present an overview of some of the physical challenges we may encounter working with a disabled individual and provide some strategies for working successfully with a physically challenged client.
Note: This teleclass is required for the Level I Certificate of Study in Basic Physical Conditions Affecting the CD Client.

Janice Russell, CPO-CD®

This teleclass will explore the similarities and differences between Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD). It will also address techniques which can be used to help clients with OCPD.

Debbie Stanley

This class will cover some personal physical and environmental issues we might encounter when working with a CD client. Focus is on staying safe for the organizing professional.
Note: This teleclass is required for the Level I Certificate of Study in Chronic Disorganization.

Kristin Bergfeld

Record numbers of elders are choosing not to enter assisted living or retirement communities, deciding instead to stay in their own homes to age in place. This issue presents challenges for organizers working with elderly clients who may need services and assistance that go beyond the scope of a PO’s expertise, requiring collaboration with other professionals. This teleclass will share ideas on how to reframe assessments, incorporate special issues into an organizing plan and collaborate with others.

Patty Wolf, CPO-CD®, Standolyn Robertson, and Ellen Hankes

Where do we begin when we have initial contact with a prospective CD client? What questions do we ask to determine if this opportunity is a good fit for the client and the organizer? This panel discussion will cover the “getting to know you” process, from initial contact until the completion of the first organizing session.

Sheila Delson, CPO-CD®

This class willl cover the importance of setting and maintaining boundaries when working with CD clients. A strong emphasis on ethics is included.
Note: This teleclass is required for the Level I Certificate of Study in Chronic Disorganization.

Phyllis Flood Knerr, CPO-CD®

According to a survey in 2005, Anxiety Disorders affect about 40 million American adults 18 years and older causing them to be filled with fearfulness and uncertainty. Organization is one of many aspects of life that becomes impaired when someone suffers from an Anxiety Disorder.
Part I will include an overview of Anxiety Disorders, including a description of the various types of Anxiety Disorders, and the symptoms that may be exhibited in a person with an Anxiety Disorder.
Part II “Strategies for Working with CD Clients with Anxiety Disorders”, will be offered in the spring of 2009. It is strongly suggested that part I be taken prior to part II.