Making Sense of Error: A View of the Origins and Treatment of Perfectionism

2008/07/01 by Thomas S. Greenspon · 2 citations
Psychology · #Perfectionism, Procrastination, Anxiety Studies #Child Therapy and Development #Counseling, Therapy, and Family Dynamics #Perfectionism (psychology) #Psychology #Psychodynamics #Meaning (existential) #Psychotherapist #Conviction #Judgement #Social psychology #Psychoanalysis #Epistemology

paper · pdf · doi:10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.2008.62.3.263

openalex publication_date 2008/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22

Abstract

Research on perfectionism has generally left unanswered the questions of its developmental history and its meaning in lived experience. A clinical vignette illustrates a contemporary psychodynamic approach used to answer these questions and a therapeutic approach used to overcome perfectionism and its burdensome effects on individuals and intimate relationships. Theoretical developments in contemporary relational psychology, along with the author's clinical experience as a psychotherapist and parent educator, provide source material. Perfectionism is understood as a desire for perfection, a fear of imperfection, the equating of error to personal defectiveness, and the emotional conviction that perfection is the route to personal acceptability.

Citations

• The dimensions of perfectionism
• Perfectionism in the self and social contexts: Conceptualization, assessment, and association with psychopathology.

Cited by

• Your Best Life: Perfectionism—The Bane of Happiness
• Perfectionism (psychology) [wikipedia]

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