Imposter Syndrome

Imposter syndrome is something that I have learned about during my time in OT school. When I first learned about this phenomenon it sounded funny to me. Why would anyone doubt themselves that much? But then I read more about it and realized that it was describing me to a T. I have always had some form of imposter syndrome in my life and I didn't even realize it.

Growing up, I played a lot of different sports. I would pick up on different sports pretty easily. Once I got a little older, I started to doubt myself and my abilities thinking my coaches wouldn't want to play me once they realized I wasn't as good as I let on. Which in reality was me getting in my own head and mentally messing myself up. I wish someone would have told me about this "imposter syndrome" back then so I could have realized what was going on and done something about it. 

Since I have been in grad school, I have struggled with imposter syndrome while on my Level I fieldwork rotations. I know that I will probably feel the same way once I start my Level II's as well. Hopefully now that I know some tips on how to combat this, I can get rid of these imposter syndrome feelings! After taking the rating scale test, I realized just how bad I had it. I scored in the range of having intense IP experiences. This is not surprising to me considering how I used to be with sports and how I have been feeling since in grad school. I know that this is something many people struggle with, which gives me hope knowing that if other people can overcome these feelings, then I can as well. I think some huge tips from the article we read that will help me are self-reflection and creating goals for myself. I am not one to usually create goals to reach, but I think this is something I could benefit from in the future as a new upcoming OT practitioner. Working on toning down perfectionism would also do me some good. I have always been a little bit hard myself no matter what it is. If I can remind myself that mistakes are good and that we can only learn from them, then I will be better off for it. 

These strategies will take me far in the future and I plan on utilizing them in my upcoming fieldwork rotations as well as my first job that I accept. Knowing how to deal with these feelings is the first step, and I know that my confidence will continue to grow as I work towards becoming a successful OT practitioner.