How to break the vicious circle of 'never good enough'
Perfectionism can be healthy but when it becomes unhealthy and turns into 'clinical perfectionism' (sometimes referred to as 'dysfunctional perfectionism') is can cause serious problems. It is associated with different mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Those suffering from clinical perfectionism tend to judge themselves predominantly in terms of the pursuit and attainment of personally demanding standards and often feel unable to be flexible and change their goals, despite the significant negative impact that the pursuit of perfectionism may have on their quality of life.
Includes:
- Description of Clinical Perfectionism
- Clinical Perfectionism and depression, anxiety, eating disorders, chronic fatigue
- Identifying the problem and monitoring
- Overcoming perfectionism - step-by-step self-help course based on CBT principles
- Avoiding relapse
- Case studies
- Other treatments - an overview
Author Biography
ROZ SHAFRAN has worked at Oxford on the treatment of eating disorders using CBT. She also works as the Charlie Waller Chair in CBT at the University of Reading. She is the author of Cognitive Behavioural Processes Across Psychological Disorders: A Transdiagnostic Approach to Research and Treatment (OUP). DR SARAH EGAN is Director of the Clinical Psychology programme at Curtin University in Perth, Australia and is also the Australian representative of the American Association for Behavior and Cognitive Therapy (ABCT) international associates committee. She also continues to work as a clinical psychologist in private practice. Professor TRACEY WADE teaches at the School of Psychology at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia. She is also Course Director of the university's Clinical Postgraduate training programmes and has worked as a clinician treating eating disorders for the past twenty years.
