Counseling for Overcoming Perfectionism
We will partner with you to encourage you to practice self-compassion, help you set attainable goals, and remove obstacles preventing your success.
Being perfect in all aspects of life is impossible! Social media makes it increasingly easy to compare ourselves to others. How do I compare to others related to parenting, school, relationships?
Living with these constant comparisons increases the likelihood of feeling anxious, depressed, and devalued.
What does it mean to be a perfectionist, or to live with perfectionism?
While many will argue that perfectionism has benefits, there is a difference between wanting to be successful and struggling with perfectionism. How do you know which one you are dealing with?
Perfectionism leads to unhealthy thoughts and feelings:
- If I don’t complete this task I am a failure
- Feeling anxious, depressed, or ashamed
- High attention to detail, and not seeing the big picture
- Always being afraid of being evaluated negatively
You are enough!
Recognizing your need to be perfect – and telling yourself it’s ok not to be – is an important step. Perfection is not realistic, but that does not mean success is lost. We will work with you to set realistic and attainable expectations and to help you practice self-compassion. You deserve to feel accomplished and proud for all of your hard work!
What to expect from counseling for Perfectionism
We create a unique counseling process that is tailored to each person’s strengths and experiences.
Counseling is meant to be a time of self-exploration and growth. Your clinician will tailor treatment to your specific needs based on your goals and what you would like to achieve. Counseling has the potential to be short-term or long-term based on your individual needs.
Sustained progress can be made in as few as 8 weekly sessions, but most people find that they need treatment for a minimum of several months. We encourage you to attend weekly sessions, as this allows you to establish a close working relationship with your clinician and to make progress more quickly. Our hope is for you to reach your goals sooner rather than later so that you can live the life you desire.
Both before and during your first session, you will be asked to provide information about yourself and your reasons for seeking counseling. During the first session, your clinician will briefly review Restorative Counseling’s policies so that you are aware of your rights as a client and can ask any questions you may have. The primary focus of the intake process is to discuss your personal, social, family, and educational history to help give your clinician an overall picture of who you are. Goals for treatment will be discussed and your clinician will provide insight into how they conduct counseling sessions.
In addition to learning about you, the Intake process is a time for you to learn about your clinician. It is important that you feel they are the right fit for your style and needs. We encourage you to ask questions so you can be clear on what to expect from your clinician.
The intake session(s) typically lasts 55-60 minutes.
Working with you, your clinician will help you explore the sources of your difficulties and develop helpful strategies to address your concerns. Your clinician will provide a space for you to identify your strengths and difficulties. You will be empowered to decide what works best for you and what changes you are ready to make.
Ongoing sessions are 45-53 minutes, depending on your insurance plan.
As you move through the counseling process, you and your clinician will discuss your progress. Once it has been decided that you have achieved your goals, you and your clinician will discuss terminating services. These final few sessions will focus on reviewing the progress you have made and how you can continue to maintain these changes moving forward.
Meet our clinicians who focus on counseling for Life Transitions
Stephanie Grunewald, PhD
I am dedicated to helping you break free from whatever has prevented you from living the life you desire.
Katie Jackson-Griffin, LCPC
I am passionate about guiding you to love yourself and build up your resilience to take on all of life’s challenges.