Perfectionism is common among youth with anxiety disorders, particularly GAD, OCD, and social anxiety. While high standards can be helpful, extreme perfectionism often causes impairment. Academically, it may lead to difficulty starting assignments, late work, and excessive time spent on schoolwork. Outside school, perfectionistic youth may over commit to activities and evaluate each performance harshly. Socially, they may worry about others’ impressions or hold peers to unrealistic standards.
CBT offers useful strategies for perfectionistic youth. In this workshop, we will discuss how to engage clients who are fearful of challenging their thinking or changing behavior, especially when high standards are reinforced by families, schools, and society.
The goal of CBT is to help youth rely less on rigid “have to”s and more on values and meaning. We will review cognitive strategies, including weighing the costs and benefits of perfectionism, exploring fears about lowering standards, and addressing discomfort with leisure time. We will also discuss in vivo and imaginal exposures tailored to clients’ concerns, along with ways to involve families and schools. Throughout, we will consider how to adapt these interventions for both children and adolescents.
Objectives:
- 1. Identify 3 key aspects of how perfectionism presents in youth with anxiety & related disorders such as OCD and affects quality of life.
- 2. Describe strategies to increase treatment engagement by examining the personal and societal pros and cons of perfectionism.
- 3. Apply cognitive interventions, exposures, and behavioral experiments to challenge perfectionistic beliefs across ages.
- 4. Create scripts and plans to address perfectionism for clients and families to use in diverse settings including home and the school setting
About Presenters
Lynne Siqueland, PhD, is a psychologist at the Children’s and Adult Center for OCD and Anxiety, specializing in the treatment of anxiety disorders in children and adolescents for over 25 years. She has extensive experience working with children of all ages, beginning in the preschool years with a special interest in transition into adolescence and young adulthood. Dr. Siqueland received her doctoral degree in the Temple University Clinical Psychology Program under the direction of Dr. Philip Kendall, where she was part of the initial treatment manual development and clinical trials of the CBT treatment of child anxiety disorders. She was an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and Center for Psychotherapy Research for 8 years before entering private practice full time in 2001. Dr Siqueland's clinical work and research publications focus on integrating individual CBT approaches with family work. She has a special interest in collaborating with parents to guide their children to cope with their anxiety, to develop competence and autonomy, and to improve family connection and communication. Dr Siqueland also thoroughly enjoys providing training and consultation for professionals on the treatment of anxiety and OCD and for parents locally, nationally, and internationally.
Deborah Roth Ledley, PhD, is a psychologist at the Children's Center for OCD and Anxiety, specializing in the treatment of anxiety disorders in children, adolescents, and adults. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Toronto and did post-doctoral training at the Adult Anxiety Clinic of Temple University. Prior to joining the Children’s Center, she was a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania where she worked at the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety.
Dr. Ledley has done extensive research on the nature and treatment of anxiety, publishing over 50 scientific papers and book chapters, as well as three academic books. Her book, Making Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Work, now in its third edition, is used as a textbook in many clinical psychology training programs throughout North America and has been translated into numerous foreign languages. Dr. Ledley is also a co-author of The Worry Workbook for Kids.
Target Audience
This workshop is designed for licensed professionals & advanced graduate students with clinical experience who anticipate seeking licensure as mental health professionals. The instructional level of this presentation is INTERMEDIATE.
Continuing Education
- Philadelphia Behavior Therapy Association is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists*. Philadelphia Behavior Therapy Association maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
- This program provides two (2) hours of CE credits.
- * PBTA now offers CE to psychologists licensed in the state of New York. Attestation of full attendance and provision of license number post-event required to obtain certificate that meets NY criteria for CE.
- PBTA is also an authorized provider of CE credits for Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, and Clinical Social Workers licensed in the state of Pennsylvania. Non-psychologist licensees in other states should confirm with their respective boards that this training meets criteria for CE in their specific non-PA states or provinces.
- Full attendance with video display is required to obtain CE credit for this program. APA guidelines do not permit PBTA to issue partial CE credits. No refunds are provided for CE programs. No exceptions allowed. Registrants can log in and cancel up to 48 hours before event when registration closes.
- PBTA only offers CE for synchronous events at this time and CE cannot be awarded for asynchronous participation.
Suggested Readings
Chęć, M., Konieczny, K., Michałowska, S., & Rachubińska, K. (2025). Exploring the dimensions of perfectionism in adolescence: A multi-method study on mental health and CBT-based psychoeducation. Brain Sciences, 15(1), Article 91. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15010091
Flett, G. L., & Hewitt, P. L. (2022). Perfectionism in childhood and adolescence: A developmental approach. American Psychological Association..
Shafran, R., Egan, S., & Wade, T. (2018). Overcoming perfectionism: A self-help guide using scientifically supported cognitive behavioural techniques (2nd ed.). Robinson.
Jones, E. J., Howell, J. A., Tonta, K. E., Egan, S. J., Hasking, P. A., Boyes, M. E., McEvoy, P. M., & Mazzucchelli, T. G. (2020). Guided Internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy for perfectionism in a non-clinical sample of adolescents: A study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Internet Interventions, 21, Article 100342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2020.100342
Lunn, J., Greene, D., Callaghan, T., & Egan, S. J. (2023). Associations between perfectionism and symptoms of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression in young people: A meta-analysis. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 52(5), 460–487. https://doi.org/10.1080/16506073.2023.2211736
