Art Therapy For Perfectionism
Art therapy encourages creativity without the pressure of perfection. It focuses on the art-making process rather than the outcome to help reduce perfectionistic tendencies.
Book A Free Consultation
Perfectionism can be exhausting. You may spend hours on a project, only to scrap it and start over because it's not "good enough." You may feel so paralyzed by the fear of failure that you can’t complete certain tasks or get started at all, only to feel disappointed in yourself.
Art therapy offers a safe and constructive outlet for perfectionism. By focusing on the process of making art – and accepting the journey as it is – you can learn to let go of unrealistic expectations and internal pressures.
Book a free consultation with an art therapist. We can help.
How Does Art Therapy Help With Perfectionism?
-
One of the most important aspects of overcoming perfectionism is learning to accept yourself as you are.
Art therapy can help you do this by providing a safe space to express your thoughts and feelings without judgement. In one study (Qiu-Qiang et al., 2021), individuals were able to project their unhealthy emotional stressors into their artworks, relieve anxiety and increase their self-acceptance.
Through art-making, you can start to accept yourself and see yourself in a more positive light. -
Another benefit of art therapy is that it can help you express yourself more freely.
When you're focused on being perfect, it can be difficult to express your true thoughts and feelings.
But in art therapy, there are no wrong answers—only your answers. This freedom can help you break out of perfectionistic tendencies and start to express yourself more authentically.
-
Dealing with difficult emotions is another way that art therapy can help you overcome perfectionism.
When we're struggling with perfectionism, we often bottle up our emotions instead of dealing with them head-on. This can lead to emotional difficulties down the road.
Art therapy has been shown to help improve emotional regulation (Abbing et al., 2019). It can help you to process difficult emotions in a healthy way so that you can begin to let go of your perfectionistic tendencies.
-
Perfectionists often bottle up their emotions for fear of being seen as anything less than perfect. But suppressing your emotions can actually lead to anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems.
Art therapy provides an outlet for those difficult emotions, helping you to process and release them in a healthy way.
About Us
Welcome to Full Circle! We are a non-profit organization founded in 2014. We provide mental health care through individual art therapy sessions, workshops and group art therapy. Our mission is to provide a safe space for people in need of mental health support, by helping them heal through creative processes.
Our team is dedicated to helping people heal and grow, through art therapy and other creative mediums. Please reach out to our team if you have any questions.