Behavior: Fearing the Mask May Slip

Victims of the impostor phenomenon doubt their achievements

The psychotherapist quietly takes notes as her patient pours out his troubles, wondering why the poor fellow thinks that she can possibly be of any help. A trial lawyer with a winning record lives in constant fear that he will make a terrible mistake because he is not familiar with some obscure point of law. A talented computer programmer dreads the day when his boss will give him the Big One to do. The Big One is an assignment that encompasses all of the intricate programming tasks that he has never learned and will reveal him, once and for all, as...

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