Therapy for imposter syndrome and work anxiety, for when you are waiting to be found out

Does this sound familiar?

• You rewrite an email three times and still worry about how it landed.
• Before a meeting you rehearse. Afterward you replay every word and find the one you got wrong.
• Praise makes you uncomfortable. Criticism feels like confirmation of what you already suspected.
• You explain your success as luck, good timing, or other people being generous.
• You over-prepare and over-work, or you put things off until the last minute and then scramble. Sometimes both.
• Saying no feels impossible, so you are carrying more than anyone around you knows.
• A new role, a bigger team or a bigger stage has turned a quiet worry into a loud one.
• You compare yourself to colleagues who seem to find it easy.
• Reviews, presentations or interviews bring real physical anxiety: racing heart, blank mind, a bad night before.
• You have thought, "If they knew how hard I work just to keep up, they would think less of me."

If you recognized yourself in more than a few of those, you are in very good company. Most of the professionals I see in my California practice are high performers in tech, healthcare, law, finance, education and leadership roles. They are not under-qualified. They are tired of feeling like they are.

Why this happens

Imposter feelings are not a lack of ability. They are an old belief, usually something like "I have to earn my place every single day" or "a mistake would prove I never belonged," that has not caught up with the evidence of your actual track record. Those beliefs tend to be learned early: in families where praise was tied to achievement, in schools where you were the capable one, or in being the first in your family or the only person like you in the room.

Anxiety then adds fuel. When your body is on alert, your mind scans for threat, so even a win registers as a near miss. Over time the strategies that once helped, such as over-preparing, over-delivering and never asking for help, become the thing that is wearing you down. Work performance anxiety is the same loop under a brighter light: the meeting, the review, the pitch.

How therapy helps

1. We name the pattern. Where the belief came from, the specific situations that set it off, and the ways you have been managing it. Seeing the whole loop clearly is a relief in itself.
2. We work with the anxiety directly. Cognitive and mindfulness-based tools for the racing thoughts and the body response before and during high-stakes moments, so you can think while the pressure is on.
3. We change the rules you live by. Perfectionism, over-functioning and not asking for help each get examined and tested. You practice doing it differently at work this week, not someday.
4. We build an honest account of your competence. Not affirmations. Evidence. Success starts to register, and the bar stops moving every time you clear it.

What working together looks like

Sessions are 50 minutes by secure video, so you can join from a quiet room at work, your car, or home, anywhere in California. Most people start weekly and move to every other week as things settle. Between sessions you will have specific, practical things to try, and we review what happened.

I am direct and warm. I will ask real questions, tell you what I notice, and I will not pretend a hard thing is easy. After 20 years, the pattern is familiar to me even when it feels uniquely shameful to you.

I am in-network with Aetna, Cigna, Optum, United Healthcare, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield of California and others, and with the Lyra Health and Modern Health programs many employers offer. Private pay is $140 per session. See insurance and rates for details.