How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome: What Actually Helps

Overcoming imposter syndrome is not a matter of trying harder to believe in yourself. Most people who have lived with it for any length of time have already tried that, and found that the effort of convincing themselves they belong lasts about as long as the next piece of work lands on their desk. What actually helps is different from the standard advice, and understanding why the standard advice falls short is a useful place to start.

Why Does Standard Advice Fall Short?

The advice most commonly offered for overcoming imposter syndrome tends to focus on changing the internal narrative: remind yourself of your achievements; collect positive feedback and re-read it; recall times you succeeded when you expected to fail. These suggestions are well-intentioned and not without value. The problem is that imposter syndrome is not primarily an information problem.

The person experiencing imposter syndrome at work already knows their CV. They know about the promotions, the good feedback, the things that went well. That information exists, it just does not produce the feeling of genuine belonging and deserved success that the advice promises. This is because the feeling of being a fraud is not generated by a shortage of evidence to the contrary. It is generated by a deeper belief about worthiness that does not update on evidence alone.

What actually does change imposter syndrome

What changes imposter syndrome over time is not accumulating more counter-evidence, but changing the relationship to self-doubt itself. The goal is not to eliminate the voice that says ‘you might not be good enough for this’, that voice is often, to some degree, what drives the care and thoroughness that make someone good at their work. The goal is to stop giving it total authority.

This is a different kind of work. It involves understanding where the voice comes from, what it is protecting, and why it responds to success by raising the stakes rather than by updating downward. It is slower and less neat than a list of affirmations, and it tends to require external support to do properly.

What Does Overcoming Imposter Syndrome Actually Look Like?

Overcoming imposter syndrome does not mean arriving at a permanent state of total professional confidence. Very few people, including those who appear most confident, actually live there. What overcoming imposter syndrome looks like in practice is a gradual shift in the relationship between the person and their self-doubt: the doubt becomes smaller relative to the competence, less reflexively believed, less able to prevent action.

The person who has worked through imposter syndrome can receive praise without immediately deflecting or internally dismissing it. They can take on a new challenge without the primary experience being fear of exposure. They can feel uncertain about something without that uncertainty becoming evidence of fundamental fraudulence.

This shift happens incrementally and non-linearly. It is not a destination but a direction of travel — and setbacks, such as a new role or a public failure, may temporarily intensify the imposter feeling even when significant progress has been made.

Understanding the Perfectionism Connection

Overcoming imposter syndrome almost always involves working with the perfectionism that accompanies it. The two are closely linked: perfectionism provides the impossibly high standards against which any actual performance can be measured and found wanting. As long as the standard remains impossible, the gap between the standard and reality will continue to function as evidence of fraudulence.

Working with perfectionism is not about lowering standards. It is about understanding that the standard was set by fear rather than by any realistic assessment of what excellent work actually requires. People with imposter syndrome typically produce very good work, the perfectionism tends to ensure that. The question is whether the cost of that perfectionism is one the person is choosing to carry or one that was imposed on them by much earlier experiences.

Practical Approaches That Genuinely Help

Three approaches that move the needle

Naming the pattern accurately and consistently is genuinely useful, not ‘I am not good enough’ (which accepts the imposter narrative as true) but ‘imposter syndrome is telling me I am not good enough, which is different.’ This sounds like a small distinction and its effect is modest in isolation. Over time, combined with other work, it begins to shift the relationship between the person and the voice.

Deliberately staying in the room, continuing to engage with challenges, take visible risks, and receive recognition rather than deflecting it, matters. Avoidance maintains imposter syndrome; continued exposure to the thing that triggers it, in manageable doses, gradually reduces its power. This is uncomfortable and it is not the same as forcing confidence. It is closer to tolerating the discomfort of visibility while acting as though the imposter narrative is not the whole truth.

Talking about it, whether in counselling, with a trusted colleague, or through a peer community, is consistently reported as one of the most useful things. The disclosure breaks the isolation that makes imposter syndrome more powerful, and frequently reveals that others share the experience in a way that genuinely updates the belief that only you are faking it.

How Can Counselling Help With Overcoming Imposter Syndrome?

Counselling can help with overcoming imposter syndrome by going further than surface-level reframing into the underlying material: the early messages about worth and performance, the specific nature of the perfectionism, the anxiety about visibility, and the way those earlier experiences are still shaping the present-day professional life.

A counsellor experienced in working with self-esteem and professional anxiety can provide the consistent, external perspective that is difficult to generate alone, someone who can see the pattern from outside it, identify the specific mechanisms that are maintaining it, and support the gradual work of changing them.

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THE AUTHOR

Lisa Capper

• MNCPS

Integrative Counsellor, Clinical Supervisor & Coach — Hope Therapy & Counselling Services

Accredited Member of the NCPS · L4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling · Advanced CBT Diploma · Certificate in Supervision · Certificate in Rewind Therapy · Certificate in Transactional Analysis · Certificate in EFT · Certificate in Life Coaching

Lisa is an experienced integrative counsellor, clinical supervisor, and coach with a background in the care sector, where she developed a deep understanding of supporting neurodivergent individuals and their families. Her experience enables her to adapt therapy to each person’s unique needs and life circumstances.

Lisa holds an L4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling, an Advanced CBT Diploma, and additional qualifications in Clinical Supervision, Rewind Therapy, Transactional Analysis (TA), Emotionally Focused Tapping (EFT), and Life Coaching. She is an Accredited Member of the National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society (NCPS) and is committed to ongoing professional development.

Her specialist interests include PMDD, perimenopause and menopause, neurodivergence, bereavement, domestic and narcissistic abuse, anxiety, and trauma. Lisa also brings lived experience of PMDD to her work, combining professional expertise with personal insight into the challenges of hormonal mental health.

Lisa provides a warm, compassionate, and collaborative environment where clients can explore their experiences safely and without judgement. Drawing on an integrative approach, she tailors therapy to each individual, helping clients better understand themselves, overcome life’s challenges, and create lasting positive change.

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