Cincinnati Counselor in Training Explores Using Mindfulness to Overcome Imposter Syndrome
You get a doubt, you get a doubt, everybody gets a doubt!
This profession has a wonderful way of humbling oneself. Up until my practicum class I’ve had the opportunity to work with all manner of different individuals with all manner of different issues in a particularly challenging environment. A state-run forensic psychiatric unit has a way of maturing you like few experiences can. I presumed I would walk into counseling with a fair amount of confidence in myself. This illusion was quickly shattered when I began my pre-practicum and practicum courses.
Perhaps, the most stressful and uncomfortable aspect of beginning one’s counseling career are the words “you have no idea what you’re doing”“, or “you can’t do this” sometimes it can be an insidious whisper, other times it comes in a cacophonous roar, spurring on a whirlwind of terrifying what if’s cascading into a wave of insecurity inundating us with its implications:
What if I say the wrong thing?
What gives me the right to be in charge of this person’s treatment?
What if they find out how terrible of a therapist I am?
What if I wasted all this time, money, and energy?
Imposter Who?
Self-doubt and insecurity are universal parts of the human condition and can affect virtually anyone regardless of gender, age, social status, skill level, profession, or degree of expertise.
In the late 1970’s psychologists Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes, coined the term “imposter phenomenon” which is a state of mind in which feelings of intense inadequacy and doubt are cast upon our competence, achievements, or skills and chronically worries about being exposed as a “fraud”. This fear is exacerbated considering, as counselors, we are entering into a highly delicate and sensitive space with someone who is trusting us with their innermost thoughts and feelings.
Growing out of the Imposter
Since choosing this topic for my blog I’ve been thinking of different ways to understand imposter syndrome and whether or not it is something that can be eliminated once and for all. Unfortunately, the jury is still out on this one, but I think I stumbled upon a close approximation how we heal from and learn to manage that imposter within ourselves. Back in 1996, Dr. Lois Tonkin offered the world another way of looking at grief and recovery. People tend to believe that grief shrinks over time but what really happens is that we grow around our grief. I believe this is similar to what occurs with our recovery from imposter syndrome. What I’ve learned is that developing our self-awareness, self-acceptance as well as cultivating self-compassion are effective tools for helping to outgrow that fear and shame.
Below I introduce an incredibly helpful tool to help address feelings of doubt and insecurity through the acronym RAIN.
Looks like RAIN
Though it may feel like we have no idea what we are doing, and sometimes this may even be true (after all we are just beginners at something, one way to maneuver out from under the crushing weight of this doubt and start to build up confidence in ourselves is to look inward with curiosity and compassion.
RAIN was coined by Mindfulness teacher Michele McDonald but one psychologist Tara Brach has since adapted and expanded on it. RAIN is a highly practical and easy-to-remember tool to practice mindfulness and compassion. It stands for Recognize, Allow, Inquire, and Nurture.
R- Recognize what is going on.
The first step of RAIN is learning to recognize. Essentially this is making the conscious choice to acknowledge what is happening around you and within you, the thoughts, feelings, sensations inside of you and, who is involved, and what other people are doing or saying. This process puts you in a position to detect, interrupt, and ultimately overcome the limiting beliefs that feed into your feelings of doubt and inadequacy.
A- Allow the experience to simply be there, as it is.
Next, it is important to allow your thoughts, emotions, feelings, or sensations to just be there, as opposed to judging, resisting, or avoiding them. Imposter feelings are generally accompanied by anxiety, fear, guilt and shame.
When these emotions fire off, they are almost always associated with the experience of specific sensations in the body as well as specific urges to do something. Learning what these emotions feel like in the body and what they motivate us to can help clue us in to what we are experiencing. We allow these experiences by hitting the pause button with intention, and simply noticing the experience as it is.
I- Inquire with interest and care
Then, we inquire with kindness, calling on our innate curiosity to simply pause and ask what is happening inside me? What is happening in my nervous system? What am I believing right now? What is this feeling trying to tell me? This differs from recognition in that it is more of an active investigation of our current internal experience. Without inquiring into your internal experiences bringing out into the sunlight of conscious awareness your unconscious beliefs and emotions will, much in the spirit of Godzilla, run amok!
N- Nurture with self-compassion
Finally, nurture with self-compassion. Having gone through the previous steps of this technique try to sense what the hurting, wounded, or frightened parts inside you need most. It could be a self-affirming statement that gives you reassurance, forgiveness, gratitude, or love. Try to experiment and see which intentional gesture of self-love helps to comfort you the most.
Bless the Rains
Imposter syndrome is something I’ve noticed within myself and within many of my fellow counseling students. Acknowledging it can often be the hardest part but only when we turn towards the unpleasant thoughts and feelings engendered by our imposterism are we able to move through it. The RAIN technique offers us the opportunity to check in with ourselves, acknowledge what we are experiencing, and connect us with those parts of ourselves that need a little rain to grow.
References:
Lois Tonkin TTC, Cert Counseling (NZ) (1996) Growing around grief—another way of looking at grief and recovery, Bereavement Care, 15:1, 10, DOI: 10.1080/02682629608657376
Brach, T. (2022, October 4). Feeling overwhelmed? remember rain. Mindful. Retrieved December 6, 2022, from https://www.mindful.org/tara-brach-rain-mindfulness-practice/
Photo Credits:
Rain by Max on Unsplash
Brandon Mueller (he/him/his) is currently a student in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program at Xavier University and is excited to be an intern at Rooted Compassion. As a counselor in training, Brandon brings experiences from his work as a direct care provider to his work with clients. He has experience working with individuals who struggle with trauma, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and symptoms associated with Bipolar Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder.
The Rooted Compassion team is made up of a group of counselors who have a variety of specialties in order to best serve our clients. We recognize that every person has his/her own personal and unique life experiences and that one modality will not work for every client. Listed below is a summary of our counselors’ specialties at Rooted Compassion:
Emotional Freedom Techniques
Grief Counseling
Somatic Focused Counseling
EMDR
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Mindfulness-Based Practices
Trauma Responsive Care Techniques
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Drama Therapy/Expressive Arts
If you are interested in learning more about what Rooted Compassion is all about, please contact us today, look through our website, or find us on Instagram and Facebook.
Rooted Compassion Counseling is Ohio’s leading practice for trauma therapy through the lens of the nervous system. Our focus is to walk alongside clients as they heal from depression, anxiety, trauma, grief and/or loss. If you or someone you know are seeking to explore and build an inner sense of calm and safety, please contact us today. We would love to help you to find a counselor and counseling techniques that will guide you on your mental health journey to healing.
