Dean Watkins Therapy Blog
Blog posts and information on Imposter Syndrome and related topics including worry and self-doubt, perfectionism, procrastination, and self-criticism.
There’s a particular kind of exhaustion that high achievers know well. Not the tiredness that comes from a genuinely demanding period – that kind makes sense, and it passes. This is something different. It’s the exhaustion of someone who can’t stop, even when they know they should. Who starts early and finishes late not because […]
Introduction When people come to therapy feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or caught in a loop of self-doubt, they often expect change to follow a neat, linear path. In reality, the process is much more fluid. You move between awareness, understanding, skill-building, and action in a way that matches your situation, your values, and whatever life throws […]
Part of the Awareness → Action Framework: Four Steps to Working with Imposter Feelings If you’ve followed this series from the start, you’ve already developed three essential foundations: Awareness: recognising the patterns that fuel imposter feelings. Understanding: making sense of why the mind reacts the way it does. Skills: learning how to steady yourself when […]
Step 3: Skills to Overcome Imposter Syndrome Part of the Awareness → Action Framework: Four Steps to Working with Imposter Feelings If you’ve followed the first two steps of this series – Awareness and Understanding – you’ll have a clearer picture of what keeps imposter feelings alive and why your mind works the way it does. […]
Step 2: Understanding your Imposter Syndrome Part of the Awareness to Action Framework: Four Steps to Working with Imposter Feelings If you’ve followed this series so far, you’ll know that Step 1 (Awareness) is about recognising the patterns that keep imposter feelings alive, learning to notice the triggers, thoughts, and behaviours that pull you into […]
Awareness & Imposter Syndrome When people come to therapy for imposter feelings, they often want to jump straight to the solution:“How do I stop feeling this way?”“How can I finally feel confident?” It’s understandable as feeling like a fraud is exhausting. But the truth is, we can’t change what we don’t yet understand.That’s why the […]
Ever felt like you’re doing well on paper, but quietly waiting for someone to realise you don’t quite deserve it? Maybe it shows up before a big meeting, when you get positive feedback you can’t quite accept, or when you take on more responsibility and find the self-doubt gets louder rather than quieter. From the […]
The Five Imposter Types Summary Over the past few weeks, I’ve shared a series of posts exploring five common imposter patterns: the Perfectionist, Expert, Soloist, Natural Genius, and Superhuman, as identified by the work of Dr Valerie Young. This final post brings everything together. It’s not another “type” or framework to memorise, it’s a chance to step […]
The Superhuman Imposter In the fifth post focusing on the five types of Imposter Syndrome as identified by Dr Valerie Young, we look at the fifth type which is less about perfectionism, knowledge, or doing things alone, and instead is about doing everything, and still feeling like it’s not enough. This is the Superhuman Imposter: the […]
The Natural Genius Imposter In the fourth post in this series looking at the different types of Imposter Syndrome as identified by Dr Valerie Young we will be looking at the Natural Genius, the fear isn’t about being wrong, it’s about struggling at all. This type believes that competence should come easily. And when it […]