That Quiet, Familiar Feeling

I recall one of my early sessions quite vividly. The client had shared something deeply personal, and I responded with care — nodding, reflecting, and doing my best to hold the space with presence.

But the moment the session ended, a different voice took over.Was that helpful enough? Did I miss something important? What if I caused harm instead of helping?

I sat with my notes, feeling a weight that wasn’t about the session’s content — but about my own sense of adequacy. It wasn’t about competence alone. It was about belonging. About feeling like an imposter. As though I had somehow slipped into a role I wasn’t yet ready for — and any day now, someone would notice.

That feeling, uncomfortable and lingering, is known as Imposter Syndrome. And if you’ve felt it, you are far from alone.

What Imposter Syndrome Feels Like in Therapy Work

Imposter syndrome is a persistent internal experience of self-doubt, where your perceived competence falls short of your actual accomplishments. It is not uncommon in high-responsibility, emotionally demanding professions — especially in mental health care.

For early career therapists, it might sound like:

• Second-guessing every response you gave during a session

• Comparing yourself to supervisors or peers and always coming up short

• Feeling undeserving of your clients’ trust or vulnerability

• Minimizing or dismissing positive feedback

• Questioning your right to support others through their healing

This internal voice is often not dramatic or panicked — it shows up as a subtle, gnawing sense of inadequacy.

Why It’s So Common in the Early Years

Therapy is not simply about applying interventions — it is about being present, emotionally regulated, ethically grounded, and deeply attuned to another human being. And when you're just starting out, you're often doing all of that while also trying to remember models, manage your own reactions, and meet expectations.

You might be:

• Still finding your therapeutic voice

• Wondering whether your presence is “enough”

• Trying to balance theory with real-time human complexity

• Comparing yourself to therapists with years (or decades) more experience

• Longing for feedback but unsure how to ask for it

And because therapy is confidential work — done in quiet rooms, without applause or immediate validation — the self-doubt often grows in silence.

A Few Truths I’ve Learned Along the Way

• Imposter syndrome is extremely common — even among experienced therapists. The difference is, over time, many learn not to give that voice too much power.

• Caring deeply can make you more vulnerable to doubt. If you didn’t worry at all, it might be worth exploring that too.

• Perfection is not the goal — presence is. Clients rarely recall the exact interventions, but they do remember how safe, seen, and respected they felt.

• Self-doubt can be a sign of thoughtful reflection. And reflection is an essential skill in ethical, evolving therapy work.

What Has Helped Me (And May Help You Too)

1. Speak about it openlyBring it to supervision. Name it with peers. Most will simply nod and say, “I’ve felt that too.”

2. Track your small winsKeep a simple log — the moment a client said, “That really helped me,” or when you sat with discomfort and didn’t rush to fix it. These moments matter.

3. Reframe what success meansInstead of “Was I perfect?” ask: Was I present? Was I kind? Did I listen with intention? These are powerful indicators of therapeutic impact.

4. Practice self-compassionSpeak to yourself the way you would to a struggling client. “You are learning. You are growing. That matters.”

What I Wish I Knew Earlier

You don’t have to feel confident 100% of the time to be competent.You don’t need to have all the answers to be helpful.You don’t need to perform perfection to be worthy of your role.

You are allowed to stumble, pause, reflect, and continue learning. Therapy is a deeply human process, and so is the journey of becoming a therapist. Clients do not need flawless clinicians — they need safe, compassionate, and authentic ones. Even in moments of self-doubt, you can still be that person.

In Closing

If you find yourself reading this after a session where you're questioning everything you said — take a breath. You are not failing. You are becoming. This in-between space, filled with both self-doubt and sincere effort, is where growth lives.

Keep showing up. Keep reflecting. Keep caring.

You're doing better than you think.