Imposter Syndrome

 Recently, I had a dream that I showed up to OT school only to find out we were minutes away from taking a chemistry final. The problem with this is that in my dream I did not know we were taking a chemistry class so I was not prepared for a final. However, I looked around and everyone else seemed ready for the exam. So, I decided not to tell anyone and proceeded to take the exam. Our dreams have a funny way of revealing some of our biggest worries in abstract ways. It does not take too much analysis of this dream to realize I must be suffering from "imposter syndrome." 

Imposter syndrome or imposter phenomenon is something many people, especially new graduates, experience where they worry they are not as competent as other perceive them to be. Instead of trusting in their education, hard-work, and experiences, someone experiencing imposter syndrome may believe that they are in their position due to luck and that they are undeserving or under-qualified. Anyone experiencing this lives daily with anxiety that someone will discover this secret. However, this is solely a figment of someone's anxiety and is not a form of accurate self-reflection. 

I used a self rating form called the "Clance IP Scale" to score my amount of imposter syndrome characteristics. My score of 73 indicates that I frequently have Imposter feelings. I noticed a pattern of scoring items "very true" that involved repeating success, fearing that I will not do well even though I have in the past or people have confidence in me, and discounting my success when praised. It is import to have accurate self-reflection, especially for a life transition, to get ahead of Imposter feelings and feelings of anxiety. This is very prevalent to new graduates, OT's, and other healthcare professionals. Realizing this statistic is one way to try and extinguish Imposter feelings. Other ways to try to combat Imposter feelings, that I hope to utilize when starting my fieldwork in two weeks, are to create a list of accomplishments, study or take CEU courses, learn to appreciate positive feedback and praise by saying "thank you" instead of discounting the praise to luck. There are many of us on this journey to defeat our Imposter Syndrome together, and if you are reading this and relating to these 'symptoms,' I hope you take comfort in knowing you are not alone.