On-Demand CE Training
ODL 438: People-Pleasing, Perfectionism, and Anxiety: Clinical Strategies for Effective Treatment
Please make sure to check with your own state board to ensure the transferability of CE credit for an asynchronous course. Some state boards may place restrictions regarding the modality of training required for ethics credits to be awarded. If this training indicates ethics credits are available, please verify that your state allows them to be earned through an on-demand course format.
Please note: This on-demand webinar is a replay of a live CE event. The format reflects the original presentation and may include live Q&A, transitions, and intermittent audio/visual fluctuations typical of a live recording.
3 CREDIT HOURS APPROVED FOR:
Social Workers
ASWB ACE – 3 Clinical Continuing Education credits
New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work – 3 Contact hours
Psychologists
APA – 3 CE credits
Counselors 3 Contact hours
NBCC ACEP – 3 Contact hours
New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners – 3 Contact hours
Addiction Professionals
NAADAC – This course is not approved for NAADAC Contact hours
Nurses
California Board of Registered Nursing – This course is not approved for Nursing Contact hours
Case Managers
CCMC – This course is not approved for CCMC Contact hours
Created On: 09/22/2026
Target Audience:
This course is targeted for social workers, psychologists, counselors, nurses and case managers.
Instructional Level:
Beginner
Overview:
People-pleasing and perfectionism often appear in clinical settings as drivers of anxiety, burnout, relational distress, and persistent self-criticism. Clients struggling with these patterns frequently have difficulty setting boundaries, avoiding conflict, and separating their self-worth from performance or approval. While these behaviors may appear adaptive, they are often rooted in deeper fears of rejection, attachment dynamics, and longstanding relational conditioning.
This training provides clinicians with a practical framework for recognizing and addressing anxiety related to people-pleasing and perfectionistic tendencies. Participants will explore common behavioral and cognitive patterns, examine underlying psychological drivers, and identify barriers to change such as shame and conflict avoidance. Designed for mental health professionals working with adult clients, the training introduces evidence-informed interventions that promote self-compassion, healthier coping strategies, and assertive communication.
Participants will leave with practical tools to support clients in building boundaries, tolerating relational discomfort, and reducing anxiety linked to people-pleasing and perfectionism.
Course Objectives:
By the end of the session, the participant will be able to:
- Identify common behavioral patterns, cognitive processes, and triggers associated with people-pleasing and perfectionism-related anxiety across multiple life domains.
- Apply evidence-based clinical interventions to address anxiety driven by people-pleasing and perfectionistic tendencies.
- Integrate therapeutic strategies that promote healthier coping mechanisms and cultivate self-compassion in individuals experiencing anxiety rooted in people-pleasing and perfectionism.
- Analyze underlying clinical drivers of people-pleasing and perfectionism, including attachment dynamics, family-of-origin influences, and fear of rejection or disapproval.
- Evaluate common barriers to change – such as shame, conflict avoidance, relational conditioning, and therapeutic alliance dynamics – and implement strategies to support clients in developing assertiveness and sustainable boundary-setting.
- Develop treatment planning approaches and in-session interventions that effectively address people-pleasing and perfectionism using structured case conceptualization and clinical decision-making frameworks.
Presenter:
Bethany Comeau, MA, LPC
Bethany Comeau is a licensed professional counselor in private practice based in Americus, Georgia, with over 20 years of experience in the mental health field. In addition to working with clients whose anxiety is rooted in perfectionism and people-pleasing, her clinical areas of focus include grief and loss, the Highly Sensitive Person, and women’s mental health during perimenopause.
Bethany is also a recovering perfectionist and people-pleaser, and is deeply passionate about helping others navigate these experiences and find their way back to themselves.