am I a perfectionist?

You probably talk about it openly. 

“I’m a perfectionist”

“I’m a little OCD”

“I’m a control freak”

Self-doubt leads to procrastination because if you start something, you want to do it the right way.

Otherwise why bother if it won’t be good enough?

When things don’t go just the way you planned, you feel like a failure.

You relive the event over and over again, picking apart your past mistakes and beating yourself up.

You miss the gym one day or eat the taco one night, and you think “there went all my hard work. I knew I’d screw this up.”

You try to tell yourself that nobody’s perfect, but the mistakes just seem so stupid that only a stupid person would make them.

You want to forgive yourself.  You’re just not sure how, because you’re scared if you go too easy on yourself, then you’ll become lazy and entitled.

do i have ocd or perfectionism?

Obsessively thinking about getting it right, or maybe about what went wrong, keeps you up at night.

If routines aren’t kept, you feel anxious and uneasy.

Not doing things the right way brings the fear that something bad will happen, and it will be your fault.

Sometimes there’s a fine line between wanting to control things the right way and obsessing about it.

Whether you’ve crossed the line or not, you’re seeing how this obsessiveness in impacting your wellbeing, and maybe your relationships.

can therapy help my perfectionism?

Maybe it’s reached a point where you feel like the perfectionism is adding to your stress.

You want to feel able to let go and relax. To take a moment to connect with your family at the end of the day.

Imagine looking past the messy mistakes and seeing the good things in your life.

What if you felt resilient enough to take action on the list of creative ideas you have floating in your head?

How would it feel to fall asleep at night knowing you were content and satisfied with yourself that day?

There are many approaches to finding relief from self-doubt.  So often, our story involves the message that our worth is tied to our outcomes.

Therapy for perfectionism can help you identify the underlying story you’re telling yourself, tell the voice of self-blame to shut up, and make you truly feel comfortable with yourself and your decisions.

Whether your therapist recommends Brainspotting, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, or another type of therapy approach, you’ll be able to live free from the guilt of giving yourself a break.

what types of therapy are good for perfectionists?

There are many approaches to finding relief from self-doubt.  So often, our story involves the message that our worth is tied to our outcomes.

Therapy for perfectionism can help you identify the underlying story you’re telling yourself, tell the voice of self-blame to shut up, and make you truly feel comfortable with yourself and your decisions.

Whether your therapist recommends Brainspotting, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, or another type of therapy approach, you’ll be able to live free from the guilt of giving yourself a break.

find a therapist

The following therapists at The Joy Effect help clients with perfectionism.  Click on each name to read more about the therapist.

Carolyn Robistow