I don't know about you but...
Though I’ve been a perfectionist for as long as I can remember,
I didn’t always call it by that name.
I was simply a high achiever.
Someone with high standards and lofty expectations.
Slightly anxious, but isn’t everyone?
A results-driven, detail-oriented, ambitious, admirable woman on the outside looking in.
I lived with an unshakable level of misery,
no matter how much I accomplished.
Over 14 years ago, I began my CBT therapy training after earning my Psychology degree, and imposter syndrome hit me HARD.
I kept waiting for someone to tell me they'd made a mistake about accepting me onto the course 🙄.
I was passionate about the training, but the anxiety was real, and my perfectionism soared to new heights as I questioned if I was really good enough.
When I started as an actual therapist, I constantly bounced between wanting to do so much for my clients, because it was IMPORTANT, but also feeling like I was learning something brand new and couldn’t possibly be very good at it.
I crumbled beneath the pressure and found myself in constant self-criticism, self-doubt, overthinking, procrastination, never feeling like I was good enough or doing enough or reaching my potential.
But truthfully, I thought:
How can I POSSIBLY be a perfectionist if I’m nowhere near perfect?
Truth is...
I'm Natalie
And my mind COULD BE a total disaster zone if I never learned to handle and harness my own perfectionism.
I’m a therapist. I'm running my own biz. I was late-diagnosed with ADHD.
And I’m still able to manage the shit out of my perfectionism.
I know what it's like to REALLY struggle with anxiety and now I barely get anxious - and when I do I know how to handle it.
That’s why I’m so damn passionate about helping other self-proclaimed (or even reluctantly-identified) perfectionists realise that the only answer for them isn’t to OVERCOME their perfectionism. But to learn to handle it and harness it in a way that helps them remain who they are while having a better daily experience because they’re no longer at war with their mind.
And if I can do it? With ALL those odds stacked against me that I mentioned above? There’s SO much hope for you as well, my friend.
Can I be your therapist?
Want to see if we vibe?
When I first started therapy, I was terrified to work with perfectionists. I mean, we have HIGH STANDARDS, don’t we?! But after going through my own healing journey, they’ve become some of my favourite clients. Especially high-achieving, perfectionistic women can have a real shit time going on in their heads despite everything looking cool and collected on the surface. And that can make life feel downright unbearable sometimes.
I’m here to help you make friends with your perfectionism, overcome your anxiety, and finally feel at home with your true self… at least most of the time.
Book in a therapy appointment
I send out a weekly newsletter - Thriving Perfectionist Diaries - and I’d love for you to be on the list. These emails are my effort to normalise that thriving as a perfectionist isn't about achieving less - it's about feeling safe to be more you.
My hope is that it will help you feel seen and understood while also giving you tiny-but-mighty practical tools to handle and harness your perfectionism - so that it works for you, not against you. Sound like something that would make you actually want to OPEN your email instead of avoiding it?
JOIN MY expert EMAIL SERIES
