Each 60-minute episode profiles one or two interventions. During most of the first season, the hoarder worked with either a psychiatrist/psychologist, a professional organizer, or an "extreme cleaning specialist," each of whom specialized in some aspect involving the treatment of obsessive/compulsive disorders, anxiety disorders, and/or hoarding. The actual cleanups were done by a crew of professional cleaners (usually a local franchise of the series' major corporate sponsor). Two episodes in the first season featured a cleanup with both a psychologist and an organizer: Jill (episode "Jennifer and Ron/Jill") and Patty (episode "Patty/Bill"). The final episode of the first season, "Paul; Missy and Alex", featured a professional organizer working with Missy, while a child psychologist worked with Missy's nine-year-old son Alex. Beginning in the second season, each hoarder had a psychologist-plus-organizer/cleaning specialist team assisting them in their clean-out. The psychologist-plus-organizer/cleaning specialist combination leads a group of cleaning professionals, family, friends, and relatives of the hoarder in conducting a two- to three-day decluttering session. The goal of these cleanups is to both teach the hoarding person new ways of thinking and patterns of behavior, and make the home a livable and usable space. In most instances, the intervention is prompted by a crisis, such as the threat of eviction or the removal of minor children from the home. Most of the segments are filmed in the United States, although in the third season, a couple of Canadian segments were filmed in Edmonton and Toronto.At the end of each episode, on-screen text indicates the short-term outcome of the cleanup effort, including the subjects' decisions on whether to seek further assistance from organizers or therapists. The show provides six months of aftercare funds to pay these professionals and, occasionally, to provide vital repairs to the home.