The Impostor Phenomenon in Mental Health Professionals: Relationships Among Compassion Fatigue, Burnout, and Compassion Satisfaction

Imposter phenomenon is defined as a sense of intellectual fraudulence and an inability to internalize success and competency. Although imposter phenomenon has been noted in several populations, literature is sparse that focuses on mental health professionals. In addition, little is known about the r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Contemporary family therapy 2022, Vol.44 (2), p.185-197
Main Authors: Clark, Pamela, Holden, Chelsey, Russell, Marla, Downs, Heather
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Burnout
Clinical Psychology
Compassion
Family
Fatigue
Imposter phenomenon
Medical personnel
Mental health care
Mental health professionals
Mental health services
Original Paper
Prevention programs
Psychology
Psychotherapy
Satisfaction
Social Work
Sociology
Sympathy
Workers
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Summary:Imposter phenomenon is defined as a sense of intellectual fraudulence and an inability to internalize success and competency. Although imposter phenomenon has been noted in several populations, literature is sparse that focuses on mental health professionals. In addition, little is known about the relationships between imposter phenomenon, compassion fatigue, and compassion satisfaction for mental health workers. Using a survey design with a convenience sample of 158 mental health workers, this study found that imposter phenomenon was positively associated with compassion fatigue, as well as negatively associated with compassion satisfaction, when controlling for years of work and age. Further, the combination of lower levels of compassion satisfaction and higher levels of burnout predicted higher levels of imposter phenomenon. Implications and preventative measures are discussed.
ISSN:0892-2764
1573-3335
DOI:10.1007/s10591-021-09580-y