While aspects of impostor syndrome can lead to increased conscientiousness and greater effort, clients with Impostor Syndrome manifestations struggle with self-efficacy, perfectionism and neuroticism; tending to attribute their achievements to external or transient causes, such as luck, good timing or effort that they cannot regularly expend. The underlying fear that others will eventually unmask them as frauds never goes away.

Impostor Syndrome affects both men and women, across the age spectrum and often coexists with depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, somatic symptoms and social dysfunction.

This intellectually stimulating and contemporary video course examines the nature and dynamics of impostor syndrome and how this can limit our clients in their lives, and how we can best support them. Clients who have unattainable expectations of themselves to succeed in every area of their life are often highly anxious and riddled with fear of failure, self-doubt, low self-esteem and shame which can lead to self-sabotaging behaviour and an insatiable hunger for external validation of self-worth. This is often masked by a high-functioning achievement orientation leading to working harder to prove their worthiness and disguise feelings of impostorism, which can lead to burnout and a range of mental health presentations. Through case examples, we will also ask the question whether impostor syndrome is a personality trait or situationally induced, or a self-preservation strategy.

To fully understand impostor syndrome, this workshop will identify the various types of impostors:

• The perfectionist
• The natural genius
• The individualist
• The expert
• and The superhero

We will examine how they present themselves and how to work with each effectively. We will also examine the origins of impostor syndrome and how this links to childhood and over critical or over praising parental practices, socio-cultural factors such as cultural expectations with regard to gender, ethnicity and culture, and high-achievement occupational and work practices. Equipped with a deeper understanding of the impostor syndrome, practitioners will be able to work more effectively with clients through building their self-esteem, reducing shame, increasing self-confidence, reducing the need for external validation, and setting healthier boundaries. We will also help our clients find ways to evaluate and identify personal values, hobbies and other activities to feel ‘good enough’ without relying solely on striving for achievement and success as determined by others.

Specifically, we consider:

• Understand the nature of Impostor Syndrome (IS)
• Identify the signs and symptoms of Impostor Syndrome
• Examine whether it is state or trait phenomenon, or a self-preservation strategy
• Identify positive and negative aspect of IS
• Link Impostor Syndrome to low self-esteem, self-doubt, comparison and shame
• Identify the types of impostors such as the perfectionist, the natural genius, the rugged individualist, the expert, the superhero
• Explore the childhood origins of impostor syndrome such as over critical or over praising parental input
• Identify socio-cultural factors such as cultural expectation with regard to gender, ethnicity and culture, and success and achievement driven cultural norms
• The impact of occupational and working practices
• Identify the Impact on mental health and burnout
• How to work with impostor syndrome to build self-esteem, self confidence in abilities and skills, set more appropriate boundaries, improve life work balance, and enhance feelings of being ‘good enough’

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