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"The Unnoticed Unhealthy Perfectionist Perspective"

Description/Abstract: Many people associate giftedness with consistent, nearly perfect achievement and performance.  Perfectionism is a popular topic of discussion, especially among the gifted.  It is a popular belief that perfectionism stems from within or transmitted from parents’ expectations.  This paper focuses on the topic of perfectionism, which is relevant topic pertaining to the social-emotional development for gifted children and adolescents. Identifying and understanding perfectionism is essential for examining and better meeting gifted students’ affective needs; however, perfectionism can go unnoticed by parents, teachers, and guidance counselors.  This paper also aims to better define and clarify perfectionism with a brief review of research and findings, alternate viewpoints, inclusion of possible counseling strategies, curricula, and/or possible programs and services to better address the issue of perfectionism among gifted students.  A personal account of dealing with unnoticed perfectionism is shared, which aims to reveal how perfectionism can be perceived internally and by parents, peers, teachers, and guidance counselors.  A reference to The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe is also related to healthy vs. unhealthy perfectionism with consciousness.  This paper also brings awareness to the implications for identification and counseling where relevant.