I'm married and have a son. We're hoarders. My home needs clearing and it's overwhelming. Is it worth getting in professionals? How discreet are they?

My parents have been hoarders for as long as I can remember, even photos of me as a toddler have piles of stuff stacked up behind me. We had several inspections because my mum worked as a child minder until I was about 7, nothing was flagged up then. Granted it got worse once she stopped child minding and changed jobs but even then, we've never had anyone come in to take us away or anything like that. If you just have piles of stuff, and you haven't got anything important hidden in there like documents (which my mum does, it's annoying!) then you can get some friends round to help you just remove stuff from the house and get rid of it. But you need to be able to stop yourself from getting in the way and thinking "this is mine! I want it to stay here!" because yes it is yours but there's too much of it and you're clearly not using most of it, so why is it there? The difficulty we have with my parents is they blame it on eachother, although my mum has her stuff in almost every room of the house and will have multiple online deliveries arrive per day, she will complain about one small item that is someone else's like that item is the issue, not the other 99% of items in that room that are hers. My dad says half of the stuff in his room is my mum's which is why he can't tidy his room, and says she puts stuff in his room every single time he makes space, but the reality is his stuff gets hidden somewhere and he doesn't know where it is, we'll find it and ask where he wants it and he says "just put it in the other room on the floor". My mum keeps packaging from all of the junk she buys online "incase she needs to send it back" but she never does send it back. Instead of this packaging being in one location it's spread all around the house. She insists on buying things online for people that they don't want (stuff like personalised blankets that are the size of a tea towel, yeah that was one of my Christmas presents...) but can't remember where she bought it from, and waits so long to give it to anyone that the return window is closed. So everything just sits there. She also goes through the bins in the house, digging through things like snotty (and worse) tissues in the bedroom bins to see what items are being thrown away. Those items would then be removed from the bin, be put away somewhere and months or even years later they'd return in our bedrooms. I used to try and get rid of clothing that didn't fit me anymore and put it in a charity bag, she'd say she had bits to put in there too and then half of the clothing would end up back in my bedroom. Earlier this year she gave me a pair of shoes and asked if I still wanted them, I distinctly remember putting them into a charity bag when I was 14 and I'm now 28. She kept them for all of this time, why? They were too small for me and she's got much wider feet than me so it's not even like she would've been able to wear them herself. Be aware that it does take time, especially if there's so much stuff you need to go through it to make sure you're not removing anything important (again, like hidden documents among newspaper cuttings or wrapping paper). It took 3 of us a day and a half to make the living room usable on Christmas Eve, that included digging out the sofas and being able to see the floor. You need to allow things to exit the house and never come back in, because the moment you stop things exiting then everyone else gets frustrated and loses motivation. You can't just keep moving things from room to room, it actually needs to leave! I would also recommend getting some sort of mental help to find why you have such hoarding tendencies, and allow them to help you. For my mum, she was the youngest and only had hand-me-downs or clothing my nan knitted for her, if she wanted anything new she wasn't allowed it until she got a job and even then her mum would take away things that she didn't approve of (funnily enough, my mum used to take away my things but I haven't developed any tendencies). Once my mum had her own place and her income, it was "I can buy what I like, when I like, and do what I like with it!". Sadly that was over 40 years ago and she still hasn't gotten past it as she hasn't sought help. She has bought multiple old fashioned prams "for her dolls" which are random kids dolls she's bought in a charity shop, and also bought a massive dolls house which is empty but sitting in the corner, because she says she didn't get one as a kid. She keeps many little things, insists on having display cabinets to showcase random figurines she found in a charity shop once. My dad keeps lots of big things, thinking they'll make him money one day but they won't. This includes car parts, and cars. He has 4 cars sat on the driveway that he doesn't use, and they're not worth anything. So clearing his stuff is a bit more tricky! I think the biggest step is that you've recognised you have a problem and you are wanting to seek help. Keep that mindset and don't let the intrusive thoughts of "this is mine, I bought that!" seep in. Imagine it as mouldy vegetables, you didn't eat them in time and now they're no use to you, and they need to be thrown away, there is nothing to gain from holding on to them. I wish you luck, as you can see it is difficult for you and those around you, but if you ask for help then people will be very happy to help you. <3