How can acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) help with perfectionism?
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) provides a useful and evidence-based framework for helping people with unhelpful perfectionistic patterns. ACT is built on a foundation of functional analysis; the process of considering behaviour’s purpose (function) in its context. By focusing on the function of perfectionistic behaviours, you can identify unhelpful perfectionistic patterns and help people make choices that can move them towards what is important to them, their values.
ACT has been shown to improve well-being, decrease distress, and increase self-compassion in perfectionistic individuals (Ong, Barney, et al., 2019; Ong, Lee, et al., 2019; Ong et al., 2022). Instead of trying to control or avoid unwanted thoughts or feelings (which often perpetuates the problem), ACT encourages people to:
- Unwind avoidance: Perfectionistic behaviours often function to avoid failure and the uncomfortable internal experiences that come with this, including shame. ACT techniques can help people become more willing to experience these uncomfortable internal sensations and not let fear of these experiences control their actions.
- Transform self-criticism: ACT therapists use techniques that can help a person gain greater perspective on their thoughts (cognitive defusion) and develop a flexible sense of self that is more than their perfectionistic standards (self-as-context). This can create more distance from self-critical thoughts and alleviate the distress they can cause.
- Clarify values: When people understand what truly matters to them, it can help them to move in the direction of their values even in the presence of perfectionistic rules and fears.
- Committed action: ACT encourages people to take steps that align with their values rather than being controlled by the rigid demands of perfectionism.
- Increase flexibility and willingness to change: ACT helps people approach change with flexibility, understanding that discomfort and imperfection are inevitable parts of the human experience and that moving gently towards what’s important to you is more helpful than striving for unattainable ideals.
References:
Ong, C. W., Barney, J. L., Barrett, T. S., Lee, E. B., Levin, M. E., & Twohig, M. P. (2019). The role of psychological inflexibility and self-compassion in acceptance and commitment therapy for clinical perfectionism. Journal of contextual behavioral science, 13, 7–16. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2019.06.005
Ong, C. W., Lee, E. B., Krafft, J., Terry, C. L., Barrett, T. S., Levin, M. E., & Twohig, M. P. (2019). A randomized controlled trial of acceptance and commitment therapy for clinical perfectionism. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 22, 100444. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocrd.2019.100444
Ong, C. W., Lee, E. B., Levin, M. E., & Twohig, M. P. (2022). Online process-based training for perfectionism: A randomized trial. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 156, 104152. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2022.104152