3 Ways to Overcome Imposter Syndrome in Therapists
By Shannon Heers
If you are a therapist or aspiring therapist, then you have likely experienced Imposter Syndrome at some point in your career. Imposter Syndrome can occur in any section of your life, but most often it is referred to as happening in the work or professional sphere.
Basically, Imposter Syndrome is when you do not believe that you are good at something despite having education, training and skills to prove that you are. Imposter Syndrome can pop up at times or can be a constant pattern of how you think about yourself.
The good news is, that the more experience you have, the less likely you will allow Imposter Syndrome to affect your mind and your work. But, you cannot just automatically “get” experience. It takes time and effort. So, until you are 5, 10, or even 20 years into your career as a therapist, how do you combat Imposter Syndrome?
Here are 3 ways that I have found to be most effective in overcoming Imposter Syndrome in therapists.
Discuss with Your Clinical Supervisor
The thing about Imposter Syndrome is that it is a personal mindset, or for those of you CBT therapists a “distorted thought”. How you doubt yourself and your skills is probably not accurate with how others see you. If you have gone through 2 years of graduate school and have some level of experience in the field, then you are much more of an expert in therapy than someone who does not have that training and background.
So, what you want to do to dispel the myth you’re saying to yourself about your lack of abilities, is to bring your doubting thoughts forward into your clinical supervision sessions. The more you can talk openly and freely about your personal mindset blocks and your specific doubting thoughts, the less weight you’ll give to your thoughts. And then it becomes easier to battle down those Imposter Syndrome thoughts when they come up again.
Now, I’m not talking about when you’re working with clients outside of your scope of practice or experience. If you really don’t know what you are doing and have no experience or specific training in a certain area, then you should definitely not be working with that type of client. But, as I said above, Imposter Syndrome is different from this.
Do Continued Professional Development
One of the reasons why Imposter Syndrome decreases the longer you are practicing as a therapist is because you are also getting more clinical training and professional development. The more knowledge you have and the more practice you have in applying that knowledge to your work, the less you doubt yourself.
For example, when I have a client come into my office for an initial intake appointment, I know exactly how to structure the assessment. I know what questions to ask, what information I want to know, and how to develop rapport quickly with new clients. I know how to summarize the intake and provide treatment recommendations, and I know how to collaborate to create a treatment plan.
But when I first started as a therapist, even though I logically knew what to do in the intake, I still didn’t know how to do it. So I doubted myself – I wasn’t sure what information I needed to know, what questions to ask, or how to manage the time in the session. But, I got comfortable with it the more I learned about different ways of conducting assessments and the more I learned about diagnoses.
Whenever you have the opportunity, time, and money to invest in your own professional development, you won’t regret it. I can’t recall any therapist I know ever saying they went to a clinical training and didn’t learn something from it. Ongoing professional development is a requirement for most if not all clinical licenses, but go the extra mile and really make the most out of it. Your Imposter Syndrome mind will thank you.
Join a Clinical Supervision or Consultation Group
As a CBT therapist, I often work with not only clients but also supervisees and other therapists on their Imposter Syndrome. Sometimes I feel like a cheerleader, saying “yes! You can absolutely do this. I have full faith in your abilities”. Because I do! I’m not lying. I know that my therapists and supervisees are really good at what they do.
But sometimes you need to hear it from others. The more you hear from colleagues and supervisors that you are competent, and even fantastic, at what you do, the more you will be able to overcome your Imposter Syndrome.
And one of the best ways to hear consistent feedback from others, is to join a clinical supervision or consultation group. You will develop trusting relationships with the others in the group, and may even talk about others’ experiences with Imposter Syndrome. Knowing that others experience this too somehow makes the Imposter Syndrome less impactful.
When other therapists that you trust in your group tell you that you did a great intervention with a client, or how much they admire your ability to be open and vulnerable, you start to believe it. And increasing your confidence in your skills and abilities means that your Imposter Syndrome is decreasing. Wow, what a great feeling!
I hope that these 3 tips on how to overcome Imposter Syndrome are helpful for you. Even after being in the field for 25 years, at times my Imposter Syndrome rears its head. I’m at the point where I’m able to acknowledge it and quickly “talk back” when I have thoughts like that, so it doesn’t affect my clinical work anymore. But, I’ve had to work hard to get to this point.
I still get my own clinical supervision. I still invest in my own professional development. And I still am part of a consultation group. All of these things combined have been significant in helping me to stay in the field and combat my Imposter Syndrome. And if I can do it, you can too.
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Author Bio
Shannon Heers is a psychotherapist, approved clinical supervisor, guest blogger, and the owner of a group psychotherapy practice in the Denver area. Shannon helps adults in professional careers manage anxiety, depression, work-life balance, and grief and loss. Follow Firelight Supervision on Instagram.
