When Perfect Isn't Good Enough: Strategies for Coping with Perfectionism

Martin M. Antony, PhD, is professor in the department of psychology at Ryerson University in Toronto, ON, Canada, where he also served as department chair and graduate program director. Previously, he was founding director of both the Anxiety Treatment and Research Clinic and the Psychology Residency Program at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton. He is also past president of the Canadian Psychological Association. Antony has published thirty books, and more than 225 scientific articles and book chapters, mostly in areas related to cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), social anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, specific phobia, and perfectionism. He has received a number of prestigious awards, and he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the American and Canadian Psychological associations, the Association for Psychological Science, the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, and the Canadian Association of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies. Antony has trained and supervised numerous students in psychology, psychiatry, social work, and other disciplines. He has given more than 300 workshops and presentations to professionals across four continents. He has also been interviewed, featured, or quoted more than 450 times in various print, radio, television, and online media outlets, including CBC, CNN, CTV, The Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Chatelaine, O, The Oprah Magazine, Reader's Digest, Prevention, Scientific American Mind,and many others. Richard P. Swinson, MD, is professor emeritus and past chair of the department of psychiatry and behavioural neurosciences at McMaster University in Hamilton, ON, Canada. Previously, he was medical director of the Anxiety Treatment and Research Clinic, and psychiatrist-in-chief at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK. He was awarded an inaugural Distinguished Fellowship of the Canadian Psychiatric Association in 2006, and Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association in 2017. His research interests lie in the theory, assessment, and treatment of anxiety disorders, particularly OCD and social anxiety disorder (SAD). He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers, thirty book chapters, and ten books. Swinson has held numerous research grants since 1966, and has been an invited speaker at many conferences around the world on anxiety disorders and substance use disorders. He also chaired the steering committee for the Canadian Anxiety Treatment Guidelines Initiative, leading to the publication of Canadian Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Anxiety Disorders in 2006.