That Feeling of "Always-Behind and Never-Enough"—Here's the Antidote | Ellen Hendriksen

Move on from the inner critic and beat perfectionism without lowering your standards.

Dr. Ellen Hendriksen is a clinical psychologist who helps people calm their anxiety and be their authentic self. She serves on the faculty at Boston University's Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders (CARD) and is the author of HOW TO BE ENOUGH: Self-Acceptance for Self-Critics and Perfectionists and HOW TO BE YOURSELF: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety. You can find her on Substack at How to Be Good to Yourself When You're Hard on Yourself. This episode originally aired in 2025.

In this episode we talk about:

The relationship between perfectionism and anxiety
The definition of perfectionism––and why the word is actually a misnomer
Dr. Hendriksen's own struggles with perfectionism, and how they manifested physically
The difference between healthy perfectionism and unhealthy perfectionism
Changing your relationship with your inner critic
Shifting from rigid rules to flexibility
Keeping high standards while making room for mistakes
Overcoming procrastination
Navigating social comparison
And much more

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