Beyond Perfection: Navigating Anxiety in High-Achieving Kids

Perfectionism and achievement-related anxiety are common but often misunderstood in children and adolescents. While these traits can be socially reinforced and even rewarded, they may mask significant internal distress and rigid thinking patterns that impair functioning and emotional well-being.

This 90-minute webinar will explore how perfectionism, performance anxiety, and fear of failure present in high-achieving youth and how these traits can intersect with anxiety disorders and OCD. Co-presented by experts from Anxiety Institute and the McLean OCDI Jr program, this session will provide practical strategies to differentiate between healthy striving and maladaptive perfectionism. Participants will learn how to engage clients and families in treatment, incorporate exposure-based strategies, and promote cognitive flexibility, self-compassion, and values-based goal setting. Real-world case examples will illustrate the nuances of assessment and intervention for this unique population.

CE credit(s) available for clinical professionals, psychologists, therapists, counselors, and social workers. See below for details.

Learning Objectives

Identify key traits of perfectionism and achievement-related anxiety in children and adolescents, including how they overlap with anxiety disorders and OCD.
Differentiate between adaptive striving and maladaptive perfectionism that interferes with functioning and emotional regulation.
Apply exposure-based and cognitive strategies to help high-achieving clients confront fears of failure, mistakes, or not meeting expectations.
Engage families in supporting treatment goals through psychoeducation, values clarification, and reducing reinforcement of perfectionistic behaviors.

Presenters

Maria G Fraire, PhD

Program Director, Child and Adolescent OCD Institute, McLean Hospital

Maria G Fraire, PhD, is the program director of McLean’s Child and Adolescent OCD Institute (OCDI Jr.). She is a licensed clinical psychologist and specializes in the treatment of severe anxiety, OCD, and co-occurring disorders, specifically utilizing cognitive behavior therapy and exposure and response prevention therapy.

Dr. Fraire started at McLean Hospital in 2014 as the first post-doctoral fellow of the newly established OCDI Jr. During her time as a post-doctoral fellow and staff psychologist, she was involved in the development and implementation of the research and training programs. In 2017, she became the clinical director of the McLean-Franciscan Community-Based Acute Treatment (CBAT) program, where she oversaw all aspects of admissions, supervision, training, and clinical programming. In 2020, Dr. Fraire returned to OCDI Jr. as the program director. In her role, she oversees all aspects of clinical programming, research, and training.

Stacey Dobrinsky, PhD

Director of Training, Anxiety Institute

BA, Rutgers University // MA, Montclair State University // MEd, University of Florida // PhD, University of Florida

Dr. Stacey Dobrinsky has over fifteen years of experience treating children and adolescents with OCD and anxiety disorders. She was a founding faculty member of the McLean OCD Institute for Children and Adolescent program (OCD Jr.) and ultimately served as the Clinical Director. Dr. Stacey Dobrinsky specializes in severe, treatment refractory anxiety and OCD while utilizing a combination of exposure response prevention (ERP) and acceptance commitment therapy (ACT) in her treatment.

She has been trained through the International OCD Foundation’s Behavior Therapy Training Institute (BTTI) and has completed the Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) training. She is also certified in cognitive processing therapy (CPT) for PTSD. Dr. Stacey Dobrinsky has given multiple presentations on OCD, Anxiety and ACT, both locally and nationally.

Read all articles by this author

Co-Hosted By

Questions regarding this course?

Kyrsten Bravo, Director of Outreach

Email: [email protected]
Phone: (203) 570-9623

Training Refund, Cancellation & Certification

Virtual Courses and Webinars

If you are unable to attend an online course or webinar, Anxiety Institute offers a 100% money-back guarantee, if you notify us at least 24-hours prior to the scheduled start date. For a multi-session course, cancellation must be received 24-hours prior to the first session.
If you are unable to attend a course session/webinar due to extenuating circumstances, a recording of the session will be available for viewing for two weeks after the live session date.
If Anxiety Institute cancels the availability of a course or webinar for any reason, participants will be notified via email. Though we would not do so without good reason, we reserve this right, as well as the right to reschedule courses and webinars and/or substitute presenters. In the case of a cancelled or rescheduled course, you may request a full refund of course/webinar fees paid.
If you wish to cancel your course registration, notification must be sent to [email protected] at least 24-hours prior to the scheduled start date.

Anxiety Institute, LLC disclaims any liability for any losses or damages, direct or indirect, arising from a training cancellation.

Certification
To receive CE credits, clinicians must attend the course sessions in real time, not via recorded sessions. All CE Certification fees are non-refundable.

Join Us