Up: [[Compulsion]] Created: 2025-08-17 Updated: 2026-04-02 Maladaptive perfectionism is a compulsion that arises when the spark of love and belonging is not unconditionally met by our parents or caregivers. The only thing that will stop us from continuing to try to earn love through overachievement and people-pleasing is to follow the process of [[When a Spark isn't Satisfied]] and then, when we've grieved the loss, we can find the spark by proxy of giving acceptance and love to ourselves through[[ self-compassion]].