My colleague Sam sent through a brief informative article on perfectionism for clinicians. I thought I’d extract some of the key ideas to give those of you who struggle with perfectionism some actionable strategies.
Striving for excellence is healthy — but perfectionism can sometimes make study (and life) harder than it needs to be.
Perfectionism often shows up when we set impossibly high standards, struggle to recognise our achievements, and tie our self-worth too tightly to performance.
When this happens, study can become a source of constant stress instead of growth.
We’ve created a quick Perfectionism Check-In that you can download and use anytime.
It’s not a complete analysis of perfectionism, nor a full intervention — but it can get you thinking about how perfectionism might be showing up in your study life and what small experiments you can try to loosen its grip.
If you’d like to explore perfectionism more deeply, you might find these helpful:
-
📚 Book: Overcoming Perfectionism (Shafran, Egan & Wade) – available through Flinders Library
-
📓 Workbook: The ACT Workbook for Perfectionism (Kemp & Tkachuk)
If you’re struggling to build momentum with your studies, you can book a chat with a Student Success and Wellbeing Advisor.
If you’re struggling with your mental health more generally, you can book a chat with a University counsellor.
Download the quick guide below and take 5 minutes for your mental health today.
