Anxiety Treatment and Overcoming Perfectionism

From the outside, everything about your life looks perfect. You’ve got the high-power job that you’ve worked so hard for. Perhaps you’re well-traveled and have accomplished pretty much everything you set out to. But now you’ve found yourself wondering “what’s next?”

Maybe the perfectionist tendencies that have gotten you so far in life have now left you feeling lonely or burnt out. While you worked so hard to get to the top, you forgot about your need for human connection and support. Or maybe you have a strong support network, but internally, you just feel lost or discontent. And it’s not like anything in your life is wrong, but it just doesn’t feel right.

Or perhaps you are going through a life transition. And it’s dredging up feelings of uncertainty concerning where your life is headed. Of course, you would want to talk to someone. And maybe a friend or family member just wouldn’t understand. But, a therapist can listen without judgment and provide support and encouragement while you make a game plan for your next move.

What is Perfectionism?

Those who struggle with perfectionism tend to analyze every aspect of their lives. From relationships to work projects, everything must be up to par in each and every area of life. There’s no room for mistakes. And there’s no wiggle room for other people to pitch in and help when it comes to working with others. So, when you carry such a heavy burden for so long, your mental health can suffer. Consequently, struggling with perfectionism often leads to anxiety.

When you’re going through a life transition or are speculating that you may want a lifestyle shift, perfectionistic tendencies can hold you back. They may say “you’re not cool enough to try that” or “when you tried something new last time, you weren’t good at it.” These beliefs can hold you back from having an open mind about the possibilities of your life. Thus, anxiety ensues, wreaking havoc on the possibility for change.

Anxiety Treatment Can Help

At our Louisville, CO-based counseling practice, we work with people just like you. Together, we can identify areas of your life causing you anxiety or that you feel you’re not succeeding in. And we can explore areas in which you’d like to explore and grow. These could include hobbies, romantic relationships, friendships, or overall lifestyle changes. When you’ve conquered all of your goals to this point, it can feel like there’s nothing “next.” This is where therapy comes in.

Our Approach to Anxiety Treatment

If you have been dealing with perfectionism, overwhelm, and anxiety, therapy can help. In anxiety treatment, we’ll focus on examining the patterns you’ve been engaging in that have contributed to your current state. We’ll discuss who you are, where you’ve come from, and how you got to where you are today.

These discussions are important during therapy because they will not only help your therapist get to know you but will help you get comfortable with your therapist, too. An essential aspect of quality therapy is the relationship between the client and the therapist. Here at our Boulder, CO area counseling practice, we firmly believe that a positive relationship between the client and therapist will help you tap into your inner potential. And this will lead you toward higher life satisfaction.

Methods for Anxiety Treatment

In therapy sessions, your therapist will use multiple tools to help you gain a deeper understanding of who you are and your deepest desires for life. They will use mindfulness practices to help you increase awareness and insight internally. Mindfulness also helps you slow down both inside and outside of counseling sessions. This will help you address symptoms of anxiety that have made life feel overwhelming and unfulfilling.

Additionally, they will work on helping you identify your values. This will allow you to create a picture of your motivations and what fulfills you. Then, you’ll work on finding ways to practice those values in everyday life.

By working through the tough emotions you’re facing, you will gain a deeper understanding of yourself. This can be challenging work. However, your therapist will discuss and help you practice self-compassion to support yourself as you unpack years of perfectionist tendencies.

Anxiety Treatment Helps with Overcoming Perfectionism

Our therapists hope that after working together, you gain a fresh perspective. And not their perspective, but one that you have worked to find inside yourself. This new perspective will help you achieve goals while also maintaining a life that holds meaning for you individually.
You’ll have more clarity about your values and what’s important in your life. And you’ll have the tools to nurture those values and reap the benefits. Further, you’ll have the skills to dismantle perfectionistic mindsets that have held you back in the past.

Moving forward, you will have the confidence and strength to address overwhelm, stress, and perfectionism. And you will have identified healthy outlets for managing the demands of work, relationships, and individual interests.

Other Services at Vitality Therapeutic Services

We want to help you live as your most authentic self. And not only that, but we want to help you make your dream life a reality. With the help of a therapist, you can do just that. Along with anxiety treatment, we provide counseling for life transitions, EMDR, and therapy for sexual assault survivors. Additionally, we work with couples for premarital counseling, counseling for new parents, and therapy for communication problems. If you’d like to know more about our practice, please visit our FAQs page.