Identifying Your Demanding Standards

This worksheet assists clients in recognizing and understanding the demanding standards they impose on themselves across various life domains, serving as a valuable tool for assessment and therapeutic intervention.

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Professional version

Offers theory, guidance, and prompts for mental health professionals. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.

Client version

Includes client-friendly guidance. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.

Editable version (PPT)

An editable Microsoft PowerPoint version of the resource.

Overview

The Identifying Your Demanding Standards worksheet aids clinicians in helping clients identify areas in which they set self-imposed, demanding standards. Such standards are often linked to perfectionism and have been associated with anxiety, depression, and other forms of psychopathology. Through this resource, therapists can assist clients in pinpointing specific domains affected by extreme standards and expectations.

Why Use This Resource?

This demanding standards resource can help:

Identify the domains where clients impose demanding standards.
Clarify which standards are most relevant to the client.
Lay the groundwork for interventions targeting perfectionistic standards.

Key Benefits

Recognition

Helps recognize areas affected by perfectionism, making it easier to address in therapy.

Clarification

Assists in clarifying which standards hold personal significance to the client.

Intervention

Provides a starting point for therapeutic interventions focused on perfectionism.

Who is this for?

Perfectionism

Striving to meet extremely high self-imposed standards.

Eating Disorders

Linked to demanding standards around weight, shape, and food intake.

Anxiety Disorders

Where is there a link to extreme standards, such as OCD.

Integrating it into your practice

Introduce

Suggest reviewing the worksheet to identify standards impacting the client's life.

Observe

Have clients observe areas where they set demanding standards.

Rate

Ask clients to rate their agreement with each standard on a scale of 0-10

Discuss

Identify the most relevant demanding standards and add any that are missing.

Reflect

Encourage clients to reflect on how these standards affect their well-being.

Plan

Use insights gained to relevant plan therapeutic interventions.

Theoretical Background & Therapist Guidance

Perfectionism is viewed as a transdiagnostic factor impacting various psychological disorders. It involves self-imposed, high standards that can contribute to emotional, social, and behavioral difficulties. Cognitive-behavioral models indicate that perfectionism can be maintained by several factors including dichotomous thinking, self-criticism, and avoidance. This worksheet provides a vehicle for initial exploration and ongoing discussion of extreme or problematic standards in therapy.

What's inside

A detailed guide for identifying demanding standards across life domains.
Sections for clients to mark relevant standards and rate their agreement.
Instructions for therapists to facilitate conversations about demanding standards.

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FAQs

The worksheet aims to help clients identify demanding standards and explore how these affect their everyday functioning.

Demanding standards are often the backbone of perfectionism, leading to distress when they not met and reinforcing a cycle of striving and self-criticism.

Yes, identifying demanding standards can be a critical first step in addressing disorders where perfectionism plays a role, such as OCD and eating disorders.

How This Resource Improves Clinical Outcomes

This resource supports:

Increased self-awareness about the impact of high standards on daily life.
A foundation for cognitive-behavioral interventions targeting perfectionism.
Improved understanding of specific domains where perfectionism has an influence.

Therapists benefit from:

A clear framework to start conversations about high standards.
A tool for assessing perfectionistic domains.
A resource for gathering information that can inform case conceptualizations and treatment planning.

Clinicians Who Use This Resource Also Use

Demanding Standards – Living Well With Your Personal Rules

References And Further Reading

Egan, S. J., Wade, T. D., & Shafran, R. (2011). Perfectionism as a transdiagnostic process: A clinical review. Clinical Psychology Review, 31, 203-212. DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2010.04.009.

Egan, S. J., Wade, T. D., Shafran, R., & Antony, M. M. (2014). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of perfectionism. Guilford Press.

Limburg, K., Watson, H. J., Hagger, M. S., & Egan, S. J. (2017). The relationship between perfectionism and psychopathology: A meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 73, 1301-1326. DOI: 10.1002/jclp.22435.

Shafran, R., Cooper, Z., & Fairburn, C. G. (2002). Clinical perfectionism: A cognitive-behavioral analysis. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40, 773-791. DOI: 10.1016/S0005-7967(01)00059-6.

Shafran, R., Egan, S., & Wade, T. (2010). Overcoming perfectionism: A self-help guide using cognitive behavioural techniques. Constable and Robinson.

Smith, M. M., Sherry, S. B., Chen, S., Saklofske, D. H., Mushquash, C., Flett, G. L., & Hewitt, P. L. (2018). The perniciousness of perfectionism: A meta-analytic review of the perfectionism-suicide relationship. Journal of Personality, 86, 522-542. DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12333.

Stoeber, J., & Stoeber, F. S. (2009). Domains of perfectionism: Prevalence and relationships with perfectionism, age, gender, and satisfaction with life. Personality and Individual Differences, 46, 530-535. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2008.12.006.