Mental Health Care: When You’re Learning to Be Okay With Yourself - 6 Signs You Might Have Impostor Syndrome

Impostor syndrome, or “impostor phenomenon,” is a term that was first used in 1978 by psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes to describe why many high-achieving people felt like impostors in their respective fields. Do you often feel like a fraud or an imposter? Learning about impostor syndrome can help put a name to feelings of phoniness and give people struggling with it reassurance that they are not the only ones experiencing these feelings. So, here are a few signs you might be experiencing imposter syndrome. If you resonated with this video need more reassurance, we also have a video on the things to remember if you think you're not good enough: https://youtu.be/ZguFzyI-CCQ Writer: Carley Swanson-Garro Script Editor: Isadora Ho Script Manager: Kelly Soong VO: Amanda Silvera Animation: Andrew Allan YouTube Manager: Cindy Cheong Reference Clance, P. R., Imes, S. A. (Fall 1978). The impostor phenomenon in high achieving women: Dynamics and therapeutic intervention. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice. 15 (3): 241–247. http://mpowir.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Download-IP-in-High-Achieving-Women.pdf. Langford, J., Clance, P. R. (Fall 1993). The impostor phenomenon: recent research findings regarding dynamics, personality and family patterns and their implications for treatment. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training. 30(3): 495–501. doi:10.1037/0033-3204.30.3.495. McAllum, K. (2016). Managing imposter syndrome among the “Trophy Kids”: creating teaching practices that develop independence in millennial students. Communication Education, 65(3), 363–365. Doi: 10.1080/03634523.2016.1177848. Richards, C. (October 26, 2015). Learning to deal with the impostor syndrome. The New York Times. Retrieved 9 May 2020 from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/26/your-money/learning-to-deal-with-the-impostor-syndrome.html. Sakulku, J., Alexander, J. (2011). The impostor phenomenon. International Journal of Behavioral Science. 6: 73–92. doi:10.14456/ijbs.2011.6. If you have any stories or video requests that you would like to share with us, please email us at [email protected]