The Perfectionism Workbook: Proven Strategies to End Procrastination, Accept Yourself, and Achieve Your Goals | Taylor Newendorp, M.A., LCPC

The Perfectionism Workbook offers actionable exercises to help you overcome the barriers created by perfectionism and develop skills for living a healthier, more gratifying life.

The desire to continuously improve can be a positive trait that fuels success. However, those same aspirations can also turn into perfectionism, which causes us to put unrealistic pressure on ourselves and set impossible standards that negatively influence how we think and act.

In his work as a clinical therapist, Taylor Newendorp has successfully used cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help countless patients who live with the immense pressure of perfectionism and other related issues such as OCD, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, or depression. In The Perfectionism Workbook, Taylor delivers practical, effective exercises to help you change the way you view yourself, set healthy goals, and find contentment in your daily life.

The Perfectionism Workbook is a hands-on guide especially designed to identify and resolve the root causes of perfectionism. It these pages you will find:

• A perfectionism overview that will help you understand the illusion of perfectionism, why it doesn’t work, and what you can do to treat your perfectionism.
• The 5 tendencies of toxic perfectionism: Need for approval and pleasing others; Procrastination, inaction, and paralysis; Fear of making mistakes; Highly self-critical; Judgment of self and others.
• Practical strategies based on the principles of CBT, mindfulness, and acceptance that will help you quiet your critical inner voice, conquer procrastination, and develop true self-worth.
• Real-world examples of perfectionism that will provide meaningful opportunity for insight and reflection into your own perfectionism.

Perfectionism can have serious consequences, both mentally and physically. But there is a solution―and it can be found in the pages The Perfectionism Workbook.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Perfectionism Workbook will be an invaluable resource for anyone has ever been paralyzed by the need to be perfect. Taylor Newendorp takes complex concepts from the world of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and makes them accessible and simple to use. I'm excited to use it in my practice!"― Rodney J. Benson, Ph.D., ACT, Executive Director, Depression and Anxiety Specialty Clinic of Chicago (DASC)

"While there are a lot of self-help books out there, the exercises in this one bring it notches above the rest. It is also a darn good addendum for therapists to assign to their perfectionistic patients so that they have a great resource at their fingertips."―Patrick B. McGrath, Ph.D., A.V.P., Residential Services, AMITA Health, Foglia Family Foundation Residential Treatment Center, Fellow, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies

"This book is a must-read for anyone who suffers from perfectionism. Newendorp takes a complicated subject and makes it easy to understand and apply to your unique situation. I highly recommend this book for any person who realizes that perfectionism is not their friend."―Karen Lynn Cassiday, PhD, ACT, Owner and Managing Director, Anxiety Treatment Center of Greater Chicago

"The Perfectionism Workbook is a terrific new resource for anyone wanting to overcome unhealthy perfectionism and get better at being imperfect. Each new concept is masterfully followed with a relevant exercise to help readers cement new skills. Newendorp's clear understanding of the suffering perfectionism causes and the mindfulness and CBT tools that alleviate this suffering combine to make an enjoyable and accessible read."―Jon Hershfield, MFT, Co-Author of The Mindfulness Workbook for OCD and Everyday Mindfulness for OCD, Author of When a Family Member Has OCD and Overcoming Harm OCD, Director of The OCD and Anxiety Center of Greater Baltimore

"This workbook will be a welcome resource to individuals who struggle with perfectionism. It will not only help people better understand their own style of perfectionism but also addresses important topics as procrastination, fear of making mistakes, the need for approval, impossible standards, and fear of judgement. It holds the potential to make your life much more efficient and satisfying."―Paula Young, Ph.D, ACT, Clinical Director, Rogers Behavioral Health in Chicago

“At best, perfectionism impairs functioning. At worst, it can contribute to OCD, anxiety, depression, and other problems. Fortunately, Newendorp offers the antidote. The Perfectionism Workbook reveals the myths of perfectionism and chronicles the damage of holding oneself, and others, to rigidly held standards. It also provides the tools needed to identify and change the toxic impact of perfectionism. Proclaiming this the perfect workbook would violate the author’s message, so let’s just say it’s darn good."―C. Alec Pollard, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Family and Community Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Director, Center for OCD and Anxiety-Related Disorders, Saint Louis Behavioral Medicine Institute

"This book is truly a self-help gem. Newendorp combines empirically-supported strategies from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MCBT), and exposure and response prevention (EX/RP) into a user-friendly self-help format that will assist readers confront and break the cycle of perfectionism. This workbook will certainly become a part of my collection as a suggested read for my clients."―L. Kevin Chapman, Ph.D., HSPP, Licensed Clinical Psychologist

About the Author

Taylor Newendorp, M.A., LCPC, is the founder and president of Chicago Counseling Center P.C.―a clinical counseling practice that specializes in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), perfectionism, anxiety disorders, and eating disorders. Taylor received his BA in English Literature from Kenyon College and his MA in Marital and Family Therapy from the University of San Diego. He worked as a therapist and clinical supervisor at both the Center for Eating Disorders and the Center for Anxiety and Obsessive- Compulsive Disorders at Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital in Illinois prior to opening his own practice. Taylor has also completed the International OCD Foundation’s Behavioral Therapy Training Institute and is a member of OCD Midwest. He is a scientific adviser for the CBT-based app nOCD. He lives in Chicago with his wife and three sons.