Imposter Syndrome within the Social Work and Mental Health Field
Imposter Syndrome at its finest
I graduated in 2023 with my Masters in Social Work, I’ve worked in countless areas of the field such as child welfare, substance abuse centers, family court just to name a few. I have built countless relationships within my community and if I don’t toot my own horn, I am a very likable person. However, I have recently transitioned into a full-time business owner who works in private practice I often find myself with “self doubt’s” and “what if’s.”
Imposter Syndrome a common experience where competent professionals feel as if they are committing fraud and will be exposed despite having a high level of skill, drive and knowledge within the professional field. Somehow while having imposter syndrome we also very well feel over-worked and have high level of burnout due to high case loads particularly in community mental health and child welfare settings. It has been estimated that between 60-70% of social workers and mental health professionals experience imposter syndrome and feelings of inadequacy.
I regularly go through my Reddit and Facebook feeds for Social Work and Mental Health and so many of us (clinicians) are struggling with our own mental health; anxiety, depression, ADHD, OCD, the list goes on. A lot of times as professionals we struggle managing paperwork and intrusive thoughts. I’ve noticed as a full time therapist who is in private practice and a 1099, not a W-2 in site, I am battling with fears of making sure I take enough taxes out at the end of the year, expanding my practice yet asking, am I keeping an appropriate amount of case load while juggling not burning myself out but having an expectation of my own personal life, wants/needs. Because what they don’t tell you or teach you in school when going for this career field is how to run your own business. They teach you how to work as a cog in the system and for someone, non-profits, school settings, hospitals, or government. They teach that social work and mental health is a thankless field with little pay outside of good karma. They teach principals and ethics (which are very important) but not the gray areas of the field the ones that aren’t “evidence based” that only come from real life experience and being in the dirt with the dogs.
Somewhere in our education and mingling amongst others we built in self doubt that our own knowledge that we bring to the table isn’t as valuable or as important as the DSM V. That the people coming to seek reprieve from their own stressors won’t see our knowledge as valuable, how we’ve interpreted the text in conjunction with life as important. Somewhere we are going to get a clawback from insurance for not documenting correctly that add’s to the anxiety of imposter. That we will mess someone else up, but what does that even look like because in all actually we are all a little messed up and we’ve all had to deal with things.
Even as I write this article, the imposter in me is saying I know nothing about writing (which that was not my degree in the slightest), this article isn’t clinical based (although I can give data), this is partially a informational, testimonial, and a Cumbauya for others in the field and a business move. I am interested in writing more and broadening the areas of my practice, not only to generate income, but to influence and gather more like minds, to better the community. Because as a practitioner within the social work and mental health fields we also deserve to be heard and to not have to carry the imposter along with us because we are knowledgeable, we went to school earned out degrees, took our tests, paid the fee’s and we are all human and as the world goes on we find out more, learn more and do more. Imposter syndrome is going to be there however, the take away is, we as clinicians are able to recognize it as a thought pattern rather than an actual reality. We fight it by talking to others, cataloging our accomplishments and accepting the mistakes as learning opportunities, while accepting the praise without deflection and practicing self-compassion.