This type of person has a very difficult time letting go of her possessions. The Sentimentalist has a strong emotional connection to the things she owns and fears that if she gets rid of a particular item, she’ll lose the feelings and memories that are associated with it. According to a psychologist who works with such people, the anticipatory anxiety around letting go is a far greater problem than the letting go itself. Sentimentalists get stuck in the fear of what will happen after they let go of something, so they basically hang on to everything.

It’s okay to keep some things that hold cherished memories, but this can become a problem when virtually everything in a closet has sentimental value attached to it. I once worked with a client who had taken over every closet in her large house with her substantial wardrobe. She had clothes dating back thirty years or more and everything had a story surrounding it.

This woman found it extremely difficult to let go of anything that had been given to her by her deceased parents and relatives. She hadn’t worn most of those clothes in many, many years, but felt compelled to continue to hold on to them anyway. She was a textbook Sentimentalist and although we made excellent progress on paring things down over the course of a full day together, it was a painstaking process. Fortunately, she was ultimately able to keep a few favorites and let much of the rest go. Source recoveringshopaholic.com

​💖Feel free to share your listeners questions with us over on Instagram @thestylishpsychologistshttps://www.instagram.com/thestylishpsychologists?igsh=MmxibzNlZ3dseWZ0&utm_source=qr

#thestylishpsychologists #fashionpsychology #naledimbayiwa #fashion