No matter how much our rational brain knows that “perfect” relationships are a mythical unicorn (i.e., they don’t exist ), our perfectionist brain inevitably tries to convince us that if we work really hard and do allllllll the right things, we’ll be able to ride that unicorn off into the sunset. But relationships are tough enough. We certainly don’t need toxic perfectionism creeping in and eating away at them.

If you’ve ever struggled with wanting to be the perfect partner, child, parent, sibling, friend, or employee, strap in for some real talk, red flags, and responses when it comes to toxic perfectionism in relationships.