The effect of group psychotherapies on perfectionism: A systematic review

Perfectionism is known to be both a risk factor and explanatory mechanism for many psychological disorders and also a barrier to treatment.Perfectionism is considered as a transdiagnostic concept in terms of these characteristics and has led to the development of many interventions to treat different psychopathologies by targeting perfectionism.In the literature, it is seen that in addition to individual intervention approaches that are known to be effective on perfectionism, interventions in group format have also been developed.The aim of this study was to systematically examine the effectiveness of group psychotherapies addressing perfectionism.Method: For this purpose, Pubmed MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct, Wiley and ULAKBIM Medical and Social Sciences databases were searched for English and Turkish articles between 2004 and 2024.Eleven eligible studies were included in the systematic review.Results: Results showed that different group psychotherapy approaches (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dynamic Relational Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy) were effective in reducing perfectionism in non-clinical samples.However, it was concluded that the treatment protocol should be carefully considered for groups with diagnoses such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and eating disorders.Conclusion: Group psychotherapies can be effective depending on the therapy approach adopted.However, addressing only perfectionism in clinical samples provides a limited approach.