Can you settle for good enough? If not you may be ruled by perfectionism which can take over your life in many sneaky ways. OCD is one.
Tip one: Know when perfectionism has taken over. Use the checklist above to see if you are struggling with a brain that focuses too strongly on getting things perfect.
Tip two: Do not let stigma keep your from getting professional help. Part of trying to be perfect means not thinking you need help, particularly professional help. Not helpful.
Tip three: If you seek professional help, make sure you seek competent help. Not so easy. For OCD you want someone who uses a cognitive behavior approach. You also want someone who is comfortable with medication and either can prescribe or is affiliated with someone who can.
When dealing with any therapist, look for someone who has a feedback mechanism in place. The best feedback at the moment comes for the International Center for Clinical Excellence. Not many therapists use this group, however. Another way to measure progress is to develop a SMART Goal for what you want from therapy and see if the therapist will use that as a feedback mechanism.
PARENTING TIPs
Parenting tip one: As there seems to be a strong genetic basis for perfectionism including OCD, if you are a perfectionist, your child might easily struggle with OCD. At the same time, most children show some of the above signs. The trick is always to decide how much perfectionism’s rules.
Parenting tip two With a teen have him or her complete the above check list. Also think of using the check list at a family meeting and then discussion how the media seeks perfectionism.
Parenting tip three: Visit this Parents Are People Blog Post for more tips.
IMPROVE YOUR CRITICAL THINKING
DAILY PROMPT: Burning Down the House – your home is on fire. Grab five items (assume all people and animals are safe). What did you grab?
My glasses so I can see my way out; my hearing aides because they are too expensive, my pills so I can stay alive a bit longer, my lap top and finally mt passport – the back up system for my computer.
LINKS OF INTEREST
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (iocdf.org)
- Perfectionism (wikipedia.org)
- Defeating perfectionism (psychcentral.com)
- Understanding shame (psychologytoday.com)
- Hypnosis basics (mayoclinic.org)
- Hypnosis and hypnotherapy (drweil.com)
- Word Press Daily Prompt (wordpress.com)
FREE POSTER COACHES
Don’t think you can afford a life coach? Like a life coach, EFTI’s poster coaches inspire, teach, motivate, and reinforce thinking about what matters. To use, print up in color and post there it will be seen often. Poster Coaches can also be used at Family Meetings to start a discussion about what matters.
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO
Keep working to stay strong, I work hard to do the same . As noted above, I am not perfect, no one is and this week;s post will be all about praising imperfection.
Member’s sharing is caring and the easiest way to practice kindness is to share this post if you found it helpful. Thank you.
Katherine