Perfectionism and Mental Health in Adolescents and Young Adults/Webinar by Michael P. Twohig, Ph.D.

Dr. Michael P. Twohig of Utah State University will present a free webinar, “Perfectionism and Mental Health in Adolescents and Young Adults” as part of the Alan Hu Foundation Mental Health Lecture Series. Co-Founder and President, Ms. Xiaofang Chen, is grateful for the support of Three Valleys Community Foundation, and Mental Health Association for Chinese Communities to offer Dr. Twohig’s presentation free to the public, including live simultaneous Chinese and Spanish interpretation during the webinar.

Dr. Twohig will examine the distinction between healthy striving and clinical perfectionism, highlighting the psychological processes that differ between a desire to do well, and high standards that lead to self-criticism, avoidance, and emotional suffering. Attendees will learn how clinical perfectionism manifests in adolescents and college students, including common warning signs. Attendees will be encouraged to consider practical questions that can help individuals recognize problematic perfectionism within themselves and loved ones, and better understand its impact on mental health, relationships, and functioning. The presentation will then introduce an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) framework for responding to clinical perfectionism. Participants will leave with a practical understanding of how ACT can help adolescents and college students pursue valued goals while reducing the rigid patterns of behavior that maintain clinical perfectionism.

Michael P. Twohig, Ph.D. is a psychologist and Professor at Utah State University, where he co-runs the ACT Research Group. He is past-President of the Association of Contextual Behavioral Science and winner of the 2025 D. Wynn Thorne career research award. His research focuses on the use of ACT across a variety of clinical presentations with an emphasis on obsessive compulsive and related disorders. He has published over 250 peer-reviewed papers, many book chapters, and 13 books. In 2022, 2024, and 2025, he was rated as the most productive author on ACT in the world.

The free webinar will be held on Monday, November 2, 2026, via Zoom. It will include 15 minutes for questions and answers following Dr. Twohig’s presentation. Please RSVP by November 1, 2026, at: https://alanhufoundation.org/ to receive the Zoom meeting link. Participants may join beginning at 6:15 pm PT.

The Alan Hu Foundation was created by Xiaofang Chen and Chih-Ching Hu in memory of their son, Alan. He passed away due to mental disorders in 2018 at the age of 15. Their mission is to promote mental health, raise awareness and remove stigma surrounding psychiatric disorders, and to support fundamental research for cures.

For further information and to support the Alan Hu Foundation, please visit the website: https://alanhufoundation.org/please-help