Imposter Syndrome
What is Imposter Syndrome?
In 1978, psychologists Dr Pauline Rose Clance and Dr Suzanne Imes wrote a paper about women who were unable to believe and accept their own accomplishments. Despite objective successes they felt as if they could be found out at any moment for being frauds – they termed their discovery the imposter phenomenon believing it to be an experience rather than something more medically rooted. It has come to be known as imposter syndrome.
It would be remiss to believe that feeling like a fraud in your own life is something only experienced by women. There are many men suffering with imposter syndrome. The difference is cultural attitudes around success and confidence differ across the gender and these inequalities reinforce the problem. There are also cultural expectations around talking about feelings and so have more evidence from women because men talking about their feelings is still an emerging phenomenon of its own.
Imposter syndrome is often experienced by minorities having been told by other people and maybe other countries, that they are not good enough. When this opinion is so commonplace and pervasive we can often find ourselves in adulthood not feeling good enough in our own life and in our own skin, despite what we may have achieved.
When to seek treatment for Imposter Syndrome?
One of the most problematic aspects of imposter syndrome is that no matter how much you achieve, it is never enough. This can give rise to symptoms such as:
• Work stress and burnout
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Self-sabotaging behaviours to mask the feeling like drugs and alcohol
• Insomnia
• People pleasing
• Emotional dysregulation
• Mounting fear
• Loneliness and isolation
• Chronic self-doubt/loud inner critical voice
• Perfectionism
The Role of Psychotherapy in the Treatment of Imposter Syndrome
It is likely that feeling not good enough is not a recent development. Imposter Syndrome is a trait connected to a longer story of how have come to feel this way. Our families and early childhood experiences can shed much light on these issues and using a psychotherapeutic framework we can unpick the roots of your feelings of insecurity and inadequacy together to understand what is happening to you in your life today. In a non-judgemental, safe and confidential space we can begin a conversation and start to gently at certain dynamics which might now be serving to limit your potential.