Impostor Assessment and Intervention

Measuring Intensity (Clance Scale)

To assess the severity of this experience, the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS) is used.

This instrument consists of 20 items that explore feelings of untruthfulness, fear of eva luation and difficulty in accepting praise.

It is not a binary diagnosis (to have or not to have), but a spectrum of intensity.

A low score indicates mild characteristics, while a high score (above 80) suggests that the impostor experience severely interferes with the subject's life, generating clinical anxiety and limiting professional growth for fear of taking on new challenges.

List-Comparison Technique (Objectivity vs. Subjectivity)

An effective cognitive intervention is the comparison of lists of competencies. The patient is asked to describe the "Ideal Profile" for his or her position: what skills, knowledge and experience should the perfect person have for this position? Then, he or she is asked to list his or her own actual skills.

By comparing the two columns, the patient usually finds that he or she meets a very high percentage (e.g. 80-90%) of the "ideal employee" requirements.

The goal is to move the patient from his or her subjective perception ("I feel I don't deserve to be here") to an objective, fact-based assessment ("I have the required credentials"). This helps to rationalize the "fraud" belief.

Flattery Exposure and Restructuring

People with this syndrome often reject or minimize compliments ("It was easy," "Anyone would do it"). The behavioral intervention consists of exposure to compliments.

The patient is trained to simply say "Thank you" when receiving praise, without adding explanations that detract from his or her work. In addition, imaginary exposure to successful situations is used.

The patient is asked to visualize a scenario where he/she receives recognition and observe his/her anxiety and automatic thoughts ("They are lying to me", "They are just being nice").

Work is done on restructuring those thoughts to accept the recognition as genuine validation of their effort and abili