I Feel Like a Fraud: Therapy for Imposter Syndrome at Work
- ✓I rehearse presentations ten times and still feel unprepared
- ✓I attribute every win to luck and every mistake to proof I'm failing
- ✓My manager gave me positive feedback and I thought 'they're just being polite'
You're not broken—and you're not alone in this pattern.
Research shows up to 70% of people experience imposter feelings at some point in their careers (Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2019). This isn't a competence problem—it's a psychological pattern that therapy can interrupt.
This isn't about actual competence—it's about a perfectionism-anxiety loop that keeps you scanning for threats. Your brain has learned to discount evidence of success, making every achievement feel like a fluke. [When anxiety is part of the picture](/topics/anxiety/), this pattern can feel even more relentless.
Why Imposter Syndrome Persists at Work
Imposter feelings arise when your identity and self-worth collide with workplace demands. Research confirms this is a psychological pattern where you discount success and attribute it to external factors, not a reflection of actual competence (Frontiers in Psychology, 2024). This creates an exhausting loop: you over-prepare to compensate, achieve, then immediately discount the win. Unlike [career burnout](/topics/career/career-burnout/), which is physiological depletion, imposter syndrome is a cognitive distortion that keeps you braced for exposure. This is why generic confidence-building rarely works—the problem isn't lack of skill, but how your nervous system processes evidence of competence.
Signs You're Dealing With Imposter Syndrome
- •**The Success Discount:** You attribute wins to luck, timing, or other people's help—not your own skill.
- •**The Over-Preparation Compulsion:** You work twice as hard as colleagues, terrified of being 'found out' with any mistake.
- •**The Praise Deflection:** Compliments make you uncomfortable; you immediately point out what you 'could have done better.'
- •**The Exhaustion of Pretending:** You're mentally drained from maintaining the façade and waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Something to try
The Competence Receipt (CBT-Based)
When you complete something, write down three things: what you did, the concrete skill you used, and one piece of evidence that shows it worked. Example: 'I led the Q3 review, used data analysis to spot the trend, and the team approved the budget shift.' This forces your brain to process success as factual, not accidental. Research shows this interrupt pattern helps internalize achievement (Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2019).
This is a pattern interrupt—not a cure. To rewire the loop for good, you need support that maps your specific triggers and builds internalized self-worth.
What to expect in therapy
Therapy for imposter syndrome typically uses CBT to catch and reframe distorted thoughts, ACT to separate your worth from your performance, and mindfulness to reduce the anxiety that fuels perfectionism. Sessions focus on building evidence-based self-trust, not just positive thinking.
With the right support, you can internalize your competence and stop bracing for exposure.
Ready for support that fits?
If mindset tools or self-help books haven't stuck, it's not your fault—this pattern runs deep. You don't have to figure out which therapy works; we match you to clinicians who specialize in interrupting this exact perfectionism-anxiety loop.