Perfectionism and Imposter Syndrome Treatment in Toronto Psychologists for High Performers

Therapy for perfectionism and imposter syndrome at Laksman Doell Psychology is delivered by doctoral-level psychologists who have extensive experience working with high-achieving professionals, both in person at our office in the Annex neighbourhood of Toronto and virtually across Ontario.

What Perfectionism and Imposter Syndrome Look Like

“Even though the ‘success-failure’ binary feels productive, it can lead us to dwell on the past and to personalize results. We cannot improve if we are overly focused on the fact that we failed.”

Dr. Andrew Hunter, Laksman Doell Psychology

Perfectionism is not the same thing as having high standards. Having high standards is an adaptive strategy that keeps you focused, makes you care about your work, and that pushes you towards meaningful goals. Perfectionism is something very different. It is the relentless pressure that comes from the belief that nothing you do is quite good enough, that any visible mistake is catastrophic, and that the next achievement will finally settle the feeling. And yet it never quite does.

Imposter syndrome is the second half of the same story. The persistent belief that you are not as competent as people think, that you are about to be found out, that your success was a fluke or someone else’s oversight. The two run together more often than not. The perfectionism keeps you producing, and the imposter syndrome keeps you grinding harder. Neither one ever lets you arrive at a destination.

The research is clear. The three elements that turn high standards into harmful perfectionism are: standards that keep rising no matter how much you achieve, self-criticism that is disproportionate to any actual failure, and motivation driven by fear rather than by purpose or genuine care.

And here is what matters: these are not personality traits. They are patterns. And at Laksman Doell Psychology, we understand that patterns can be understood, mapped, and changed.

IF YOU ARE READING THIS

You may not be sure what you need, but something brought you here…

You are very accomplished, and you are also exhausted in a way that a long weekend doesn't touch. The next achievement was supposed to settle that feeling. It didn't. The one after that won't either. And somewhere, quietly, you have started to know that.
You're convinced that you've fooled everyone. The promotion, the offer, the praise - all of it feels like a mistake that someone is about to notice. So you work harder. And the harder you work, the more that story feels true.
You hold yourself to a standard that you would never apply to anyone else. The mistakes loop in your head for weeks. The wins don't land. You can name every piece of critical feedback you have ever received, and you can not quite name the praise.
You are still producing, still performing, still in the meeting, still leading the team, still holding it all together. From the outside, no one would know. Inside, the bandwidth is gone and the self-doubt is louder than it has ever been.

This is what has brought you here. And you are in the right place.

Perfectionism and imposter syndrome treatment in Toronto

The presentations that we treat:

At Laksman Doell Psychology, we provide psychological treatment to individuals who are struggling with perfectionism and imposter syndrome. This includes both individuals who are already identifying as perfectionists, and those who have not yet come to that conclusion. Most high performers who walk through our door are not driven by a love of excellence, rather, they are driven by a terror of what happens if they fall short. Every success temporarily quiets that fear, but it also raises the bar. And the cycle continues.

Our doctoral-level psychologists have extensive experience working with high performers across a number of different fields: executives, founders, lawyers, physicians, academics and athletes. We treat a number of different presenting issues including:

Maladaptive Perfectionism

It is important to explore when our perfectionism may have previously worked for us, and when it is no longer doing so. The beliefs and strategies that pushed us forward when we were students, that worked well when we were in situations with clear boundaries (e.g., discrete tasks that needed to be completed, courses that ended, etc.), may no longer work when we are in situations that have no clear end or that have multiple competing demands. We help people to reflect on and to understand their goals, and to work towards strategies that allow for the pursuit of excellence without the increased risk of burnout.

Excessive Standards

Perfectionists have a tendency to set standards that are both impossible to keep up with and that keep rising no matter how much they achieve. These often show up as rigid rules about how things “must” be done, and they can prevent us from considering alternative solutions or asking for help at times when we need it most. Consistently rising standards are somewhat like a rising tide, if we don’t keep treading water, eventually we are at risk of drowning.

Self-Critical Evaluations

The internal critic that runs alongside perfectionism and imposter syndrome often masquerades as high standards, and as a result it is often identified as both necessary and helpful for performance. It uses the language of accountability and rigour. However, this internal critic is not interested in your growth or your performance. It is interested in your protection, and it has decided that the best way to protect you is to never let you rest, to never let you make a mistake, and to never let anyone see you sweat.

Motivation Driven by Fear

More often than not, perfectionism is driven by a fear of failure, judgment and rejection, rather than by a desire to be the best. Moreover, trying hard to never make mistakes can also keep us feeling scared, because we never get to learn that the judgment and rejection that we are afraid of don’t actually happen. Understanding what really drives us allows us to make more intentional decisions and to connect with motivations that are based in our values and that connect us to a sense of meaning and purpose.

Excessive Procrastination

Research has consistently shown a strong link between perfectionism and procrastination. After all, it is easy to see how having excessive standards and a fear of making mistakes might lead to uncomfortable feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt, uncertainty, or overwhelm. Procrastination allows us to put these feelings on hold temporarily, but it also tends to keep them going in the long run.

Behavioural Avoidance

Because so much of perfectionism is held in behaviour and in behavioural avoidance, the work includes that too. The checking, the over-preparing, the difficulty delegating, the not asking for help, the avoidance of anything where you might not immediately excel. These are not flaws. They are the logical outcomes of a pattern that has been running for a long time and that is telling you that mistakes will not be tolerated.

Our Approach

Treatment that starts with understanding you.

At Laksman Doell Psychology, our doctoral-level psychologists utilize evidence-based treatments to target perfectionism and imposter syndrome directly. When you come to us for therapy, you can expect to start by working collaboratively with your psychologist to develop a comprehensive understanding of who you are, how you came to see the world the way that you do, what it is that drives you, and the things that are most important to you. It is through this formulation that we can develop a better understanding of where the perfectionism and imposter syndrome originate and what it is that keeps them going, and can better understand what it is that is most needed to address them.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is the foundation of the work that we do with perfectionism and imposter syndrome. Both of these concerns involve specific patterns of thinking, predictable assumptions, and behaviours that maintain the feedback loop and that keep people feeling stuck. The inner critic operates through cognitive distortions: all-or-nothing thinking, dismissing evidence of competence, or forecasting catastrophic failure from minor mistakes. CBT brings these patterns into view and gives you something concrete to do with them.

Where appropriate, we also bring in Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) or Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) to address the inner critic that has crowded out anything resembling a fair internal voice. Addressing the inner critic is not about lowering your standards. It is about building the kind of internal relationship that high performance can actually rest on, rather than the kind that punishes you for every perceived gap and that calls it motivation.

What changes, for the people who do this work well, is the relationship with the inner critic and the relationship with your work itself. Work stops being the place where you are constantly trying to prove your worth, and starts being the place where you do something that you actually care about. None of this means that you have to stop caring about excellence or achievement. It simply means that you start working from something more sustainable than fear.

OUR DIFFERENCE

Specialist training.
Private practice access.

Laksman Doell Psychology is a preferred psychology provider for the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) for individual and couples therapy, and a provider for the NHL Alumni Association. Dr. Zoë Laksman, C.Psych., one of our Co-Founders and Clinical Directors, served as a Staff Psychologist at Cleveland Clinic Canada in their executive health, stress and anxiety, women’s health, and cardiac prevention programs, and has delivered on-site psychological services, professional talks, and emotional health programming for Boston Consulting Group (BCG)’s Toronto office and across BCG’s Canadian offices. Our team of doctoral-level psychologists have worked with high-performing athletes and individuals and executives who work in high-demand fields such as consulting, finance, law, medicine and academia and have given talks and workshops that address the unique needs of individuals working within these fields.

We understand high-stakes environments because we have worked inside them for years. We do not romanticize the pressure. We understand it.

Every clinician on our team is a doctoral-level psychologist who is registered with, or working toward registration with, the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario (CPBAO). Sessions are PHIPA-compliant. Confidentiality and discretion are absolute.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between perfectionism and high standards?

High standards drive you. Perfectionism controls you. The difference is what happens when you fall short. High standards allow for recovery and learning. Perfectionism produces shame, self-criticism, and avoidance. One fuels performance. The other quietly erodes it.

Will therapy make me less driven or lower my ambition?

No. The goal is not to lower your standards. It is to disconnect your worth from your output. Most people find that they perform better after this work because they are no longer operating from fear. Drive without the weight of perfectionism is sustainable. Drive with the weight of perfectionism eventually breaks us.

I have been this way my whole life. Can perfectionism actually change?

Yes. Perfectionism is a learned pattern, not a fixed trait. It formed for reasons that made sense at one point. Those patterns can be understood and shifted regardless of how long they have been running. We have seen sustainable change happen for many people who had previously given up on the possibility.

Is imposter syndrome a real clinical condition?

Imposter syndrome is not a formal diagnosis, but it does describe a very real and very common pattern of thinking, particularly in high-achieving professionals. When it runs alongside perfectionism and anxiety, it can significantly affect wellbeing and performance. It responds well to treatment.

Do you work with executives and professionals specifically?

Yes. Our doctoral-level psychologists have extensive experience with professionals in law, medicine, finance, consulting, and sport. We understand the specific pressures and the particular way that perfectionism shows up in high-stakes environments.

How is this different from coaching?

Coaching focuses on performance and goals. Our work is psychological. We address the underlying patterns of thinking and feeling that are driving the perfectionism or imposter experience, not just the surface behaviours. This is clinical work delivered by doctoral-level psychologists.

Is there a connection between ADHD and perfectionism?

Yes, and it’s underrecognized. Many adults with undiagnosed ADHD develop perfectionism as a compensating strategy, working twice as hard to produce what seems effortless for others. If this resonates, we can assess for ADHD alongside the therapeutic work to address the perfectionism.

Can I be seen virtually?

Yes. All services are available virtually via PHIPA-compliant video for any Ontario resident.

Life is complicated. We give you clarity.

The first step is a brief consultation to help understand what you are looking for. No referral required. Email us at [email protected] or complete our contact form online.