"The good news is that imposter syndrome can be quieted with increased awareness and replacing negative internal messages with positive ones. In our work together, I helped Sheila identify the voices, understand the positive role the voices fill (and there is always a positive or protective role), and find specific mechanisms for turning down the volume.

Imposter syndrome may crop up again, but she now has a toolkit to quiet the intrusive thoughts and move ahead with confidence. Not only is Sheila now waking up without dread, she's explored several career paths and settled on one that she's excited about.

You don't need to stay imprisoned in the dank dungeon of imposter syndrome. With the right tools, freedom is possible. Think of all you can accomplish, and how much lighter you will feel, when a more positive set of voices fills your head."

Here's a questionnaire to assess imposter syndrome. (https://paulineroseclance.com/pdf/IPTestandscoring.pdf)

Diane W. Shannon is an internal medicine physician and physician coach and can be reached at her self-titled site, Diane W. Shannon.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Solving imposter syndrome in physicians." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/12/solving-imposter-syndrome-in-physicians.html)