Bad odors, objects or waste accumulating in often cluttered homes. This is the environment in which Aude Semons regularly operates as part of her activity as a storage and organization consultant that she created in 2022 and called Method Semons.
“Originally, the idea was more to support families, particularly after deaths. […] For me, organization is something innate, and I have always helped those close to me with that. I told myself that there was something to do,” says the resident of Longeault-Pluvault, who however wanted to keep her job within the territorial management of France Travail.
“A link in a chain”
“Ultimately, my services were reoriented towards seniors who no longer want to or cannot tidy up, or who do not wish to involve their children or justify themselves to them. » By working in conjunction with the coordination support system (DAC 21), which supports professionals in the care of patients in complex situations, this mother identified needs linked to people with disabilities or who have psychological or psychiatric problems. “Today, I mainly work for people under guardianship or curatorship or who have pathologies,” explains the consultant.
In these cases, it is requested by social workers or legal agents. “I am actually a link in a chain. By decluttering and reorganizing the home to make it clean, I will allow others to intervene, because when there are piles of newspapers, waste, or objects, we cannot imagine that a housekeeper or home help agrees to intervene. »
It can also help people with Diogenes syndrome. “These are extreme cases, but I only intervene if the person is willing. »
“They see again the hope of receiving people”
During her “projects”, located mainly between Dijon, Beaune and Dole, the professional first carries out a diagnosis “to assess the way in which the person positions themselves on decluttering their home. I am here to reassure. […] There is emotional support, because we move their entire past. »
Then, it’s time to sort! “I start with what's least sensitive, and often that's clothes, because there's no emotional attachment. Before throwing away or keeping something, you need to ask yourself these questions: why and what do we do with it? […] Afterwards, everything else is simpler. » Aude Semons continues with the other pieces before arriving at the most sensitive, the trinkets, photos, souvenirs.
“Generally, it takes half a day per room. […] What is remarkable is that little by little, people are regaining possession of their interiors and seeing the hope of welcoming people into their home. Moreover, these are sometimes people who like tidying up and order, or even who are maniacs, but who have let themselves become overwhelmed due to a health problem, hospitalization, depression, etc. […] There is sometimes a feeling of shame, but my role is to be neutral, to support them and listen to them without judgment. »
Finally, Aude Semons can intervene “for seniors who are placed in nursing homes (accommodation establishments for dependent elderly people) after being hospitalized, and who do not return home between the two,” she explains. “I am then responsible for preparing their belongings, starting from a list and adapting to the size of the room. »
There is emotional support, because we move their entire past.
Aude Semons
France
