Making Sense of Anxiety, Self-Doubt & Imposter Syndrome
Practical, compassionate articles for capable people who overthink, second-guess themselves, and feel like frauds despite the evidence. Drawing on CBT, ACT, CFT and EMDR, these posts will help you make sense of what your mind is doing, understand the patterns that keep you stuck, and learn to trust your own experience.
Most of the people I work with aren’t failing. On paper, things often look fine – sometimes more than fine. They’re capable, thoughtful, hard-working, and in many cases, genuinely successful. But internally, it’s a different story. There’s a persistent sense of not being quite good enough, a quiet fear of being found out, and an […]
Part of the Patterns that keep you Stuck Series Introduction We often think that avoidance looks like procrastination, for example: Scrolling instead of working.Watching Netflix instead of starting the work.Putting things off. But in therapy, I see something much subtler, and far more common among high achievers. People aren’t avoiding work, rather they’re avoiding discomfort. […]
Most people think reassurance is helpful. And in one sense, it is – for a moment. You ask a colleague if the email sounds okay, or check whether the presentation landed well, and the anxiety drops. The tension eases., and you can breathe again. The problem is that the relief never lasts. Within hours, sometimes […]
Most high-achieving professionals who struggle to delegate will tell you it’s because it’s quicker to do things themselves, or because they don’t want to overload their team, and on the surface, that sounds entirely reasonable – even responsible. But when you look more closely, the reluctance to delegate is rarely really about efficiency or consideration […]
People-pleasing is one of the most common patterns driving anxiety, burnout, and imposter feelings. This blog explains why high achievers struggle to say “no,” how over-accommodation keeps them stuck, and how therapy helps build healthier boundaries. Introduction If you’re someone who quietly takes on more than you can handle, avoids disappointing others, softens your opinions, […]
You’ve read the email four times. It’s fine, and you know it’s fine. And yet – one more read, just to be sure. This is what perfectionistic checking feels like from the inside. It’s not about thoroughness, or diligence, but it’s a kind of compulsion that reason can’t quite reach. The task is done and […]
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 […]
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 at […]
Part of the Awareness to 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. And Skills, learning how to steady yourself […]
Part of the Awareness to 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. But awareness and understanding only take you so […]