Working with perfectionism:Towards identifying the needs of an emerging client group

Abstract

In recent years, the relationship between perfectionism and emotional distress has become increasingly well-documented. Both the therapeutic and research literatures have implicated perfectionism in a wide range of mental health problems and have also identified that it can represent a significant problem in its own right. This suggests that working with perfectionism may require specifically tailored approaches to conceptualisation and intervention.The developments in the literature raise a number of questions for counselling psychologists. For example, given the emphasis on construing problems as normative human experiences rather than as evidence of psychopathology (Woolfe, 1996), how should counselling psycho-logists attempt to understand the nature of perfectionism? When should it become a direct focus of therapeutic intervention? What issues does perfectionism raise for therapeutic practice and what represents an effective outcome?The aim of this paper is to explore ways in which we might usefully understand and respond to perfectionism, as it presents in our therapeutic work with clients. In particular, through reviewing recent developments in the literature, the paper identifies some key questions which can provide a heuristic framework for thinking about the needs of what may be an emerging client group.