#IREHEARSE DANCE PROFESSIONAL#
Amy is a mental health professional for Coastal Beaches Therapy and former classically-trained dancer who work closely with populations struggling to find balance while striving for unattainable perfection.A few weeks after the party, I sit in the dance studio waiting for my next class to begin. Guest post contributed by Amy Pope-Latham. With permission from your school or company, change up your hair style or choose another leotard.
Prepare a new lunch using different ingredients. Work out in the company of other people. Take a workout class that you have never tried before. Other ways to overcoming perfectionistic behavior: Can you challenge yourself to bake or cook a specific recipe without the specific measurements? In this situation, give yourself permission to not have the correct measuring tools. Perfectionism helps to create safety behaviors (e.g. A few examples include: larger plates, eating after a specific window of time, ordering take-out, and eating foods with sauces. If there is a fear related to food, try to expose yourself to those scary situations. But what flexibility with your thinking? Challenge your thoughts and how you interpret them. We know that dancers are physically flexible. “Five years from now, will I think about it any differently?”. “If my best friend was thinking the same thing, what would I say to them?”. “Have I been through this in a way that proves it to be true?”. “What facts and experiences support what I am believing to be true?”. Reassurance seeking (seeking reassurance and specific feedback from the teacher). Goal achievement behaviors (over-preparing for turns). Procrastination (waiting until you are the last dancer in line to do turns across the studio). Avoiding situations that might test your performance (practicing in front of others). “What did I think would happen in this situation?”Īre your current behaviors evidence for your perfectionism? Examples include:. “What was I saying to myself at that moment?”. “ What was going through my mind just before I started feeling this way?”. Explore your emotions and prompt yourself with the following questions: For now, assess whether these thoughts are related to appearance, performance, food, meal planning, etc. If I don’t get the lead role, I don’t deserve to be in this school.Ĭognitive Behavioral Therapy is often used in practice to identify common triggers that exacerbate perfectionism. I always need to look perfect in front of others. If I eat one cookie, I may as well eat ten cookies. If I break my perfect diet, I’m a failure. You might believe that a low body weight is the standard of which you must uphold. Such instances, however, are not only fictitious, but also likely to be impractical for you. Perhaps they’re cast as the lead role or they’re receiving special attention in class. Let’s say, for example, you observe another dancer being rewarded for weight loss. 
Relationships with food and eating habitsįor dancers, perfectionism often stems in the studio and further develops with the reinforcement of such behaviors from teachers.Relationships, friendships, and family life.Where does your perfectionism reside? Here are a few common sources: Now, examine where those thoughts come about. The more I rehearse, the better I will be when compared to my peers.Giving up any outside distraction from dance will allow me to succeed.Restricting my food intake will put me ahead.The harder I work, the better I will do.#1: Identify The Roots of Perfectionistic ThoughtsĪsk yourself if any of these sound familiar: If your perfectionism is limiting your progress, then consider these 5 steps to begin the process of building a more sustainable path. And while this seemingly harmless trait can be motivating, those who strive for the unattainable often feel inferior and therefore, limited. High expectations and striving to perfect the imperfect creates an environment prone to obsessive tendencies and comparative behaviors. What came first: the perfectionist or the dancer? With body ideals at the forefront of the industry, dancers are especially vulnerable to perfectionistic behaviors surrounding both food and body.
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