Any advice on how to deal with these feelings?
Ive been accepted for a clinical placement. The email straightway made me feel like I couldn’t breath, that I’m kidding myself to come from my background to progress into a clinical career, that I won’t be able to cope, I’m not good enough etc…
Even though I know I do deserve this and that I am passionate and hardworking.
Congratulations 🎉 that’s wonderful! You should be very proud of yourself. F.E.A.R .. forget everything and run OR face everything and rise. It’s ok to doubt yourself sometimes but you wouldn’t get the placement if you are not qualified in the first place. You got this, you can do this. Say it to yourself everyday and believe it.
First off Congratulations!!! 🎉🎉🎉What an amazing opportunity and you must be so proud.
I feel you and if it helps I’m going through this exact feeling too. I spoke with my counsellor about this on Thursday and she said that it is understandable to feel this way but one way to help is to “feel the fear and do it anyway” and to recognize our inner worth. Remind yourself you are deserving, they are lucky to have you and that this just the beginning. It is not expected that you will have all the skills but you will get there and grow more each time. And that you can do this!! You are great enough and you will grow each day on placement.
On a side note, I recently read the book “Mindset” which talks about the difference btw fixed mindset (that you have the skills innately) vs growth mindset (that skills are ones you can learn). This has helped especially in this clinical space where you might not know or can do everything. This is something I was struggling with as I felt that I couldn’t keep up and wasn’t good enough. So now I am going to say myself now- “ I don’t know how to do this YET”. Emphasis on the “yet” as this something that I will learn to do and not that I had to be born with these skills. OP I wish you all of the best in this new opportunity!! You’ve got this Queen ❤️
What helped me battle imposter syndrome was switching my mindset to be like a mobster. Instead of worrying about if I'm good enough, I replace it with "Do I deserve this? Doesn't matter. Am I gonna take it and make the best of it? Yup"
Hope this helps
My advice would be to think in specifics. Think of a specific situation that you're worried about. What would you do? What have you done in the past? Whatever situation you face, someone else has faced it before and there's probably procedures or resources to deal with it. You might have even faced it in your past, and know how to deal with it. (E.g. I'm assuming you've started a new job that you were unfamiliar with before. It likely took you a bit to learn the ropes, but then you were eventually successful.) When you think of the job not as this nebulous thing, but as specific tasks and situations that have specific answers, it's not so vague and intimidating.
If you still don't know what you would do, think about it from the perspective of a new colleague asking for help. If your colleague was in this situation and needed help or wasn't sure what to do, would you think they deserved judgment because of it? Likely not, you'd just help them or give them advice or tell them where to turn without even thinking about it. You'd think it was natural, because needing help comes with the territory, not just in a new job, but in any job. So be as patient with yourself as you would with anyone new at their job.
It's when the situation feels vague or unknown that we get imposter syndrome. Learning curves in new jobs are part of the territory. But you wouldn't have been accepted if you weren't innately qualified. You've got this.
You feel like that because you care!It's okay to feel overwhelmed. Just remember that less competent people get further ahead than you do, simply because they decide not to doubt themselves so much
First, CONGRATS! That’s amazing!!!! What are you doing to manage your anxiety? Move your body. Rest. Nutrition. drink water. Meditate. This type of fear - imposter syndrome- is extremely normal! I just went through it with a new job I started Monday. You’ll feel so much better after your first week. As each one of your fears pops up, counter it with the truth. “They hired me for my experience.” “I’ve done ___ before.” Remind yourself that you’re capable of learning as you go as well. Part of the excitement of a new job is also the CHALLENGE of taking on a new, unknown project. Of course there will be a learning curve, that’s to be expected! Try to check the tendency to catastrophize by making a list of things you’re actually excited about for your new role, etc. Focus on those.
Congratulations! You deserve it💖!
I'm starting my second round of clinical and I know exactly how you feel! Here's what I learned through out my first round. (We're probably in diff fields but clients are the same everywhere lol.)
Let your patient rant. The more they talk the better. This allows you to learn more about their communication style, temperament, and attitude.
Have compassion for your patients. You will eventually bud heads. Be prepared where it happens and contact your adviser immediately. This happened to me I was still required to work with this patient (for the entire semester 🤬😭 lol) but after that, they were no longer allowed to receive any more servifromform my program.
Except to do things outside of your field. Never in my adult life did I think I was going to be working on patient self-esteem issues lol. My best advice is to try to read more books about Psychotherapy.
If you don't know the answer. Don't pretend you do. You're there for experience. Just nod. Tell them you'll contact XYZ and get back to them.
Advocate for your patients. I'm telling you now some of these patients are hella wrong and they know it 🤣! Example: My problematic patient refused to do the required formal assessments. I was supposed to do 3 assessments on her and she would only allow me to do 1. Mind you I was trying to get experience in my field and this girl was making it difficult for me. And I was doing all this for FREE!? I had to fight my professor and advocate for my annoying patient lol. My professor let me drop the 2 formal assessments and instead I worked on informal assessments with her.
Get along w/ everyone. When your assigned patient isn't there you'll still be required to complete your hours. This happened to my classmate. Basically, we left on a bad note. She was rude to me for no reason and ended up paying the price for it. One day her patient didn't show up and she had no friends in the program = no observation. The girl had to beg me to let her observe. She looked hella dumb lol. She tried hard to have small talk with me lol and I tried my best to fake it but the tension was thick.
Fake the confidence. And fake the eye contact. Cant look them in the eye? Stare at their forehead lol.
Good luck! You go this💖!
A practical trick that I do - WW(insert name)D. Do you have role models? I have some and I socialize with them or read their books and study their paths to find out exactly what it takes to achieve their level of success. For example when I invest and deal with uncertainties and fear of losing, I think to myself what would Elon musk do. WWEMD. In my clinical career I think about my past clinical mentors and think what they would do in a situation I face. Did they step into a new placement and felt like they weren’t good enough in the past? Probably. Everyone feels that way at some point. But did they give up and cave into their fear? No and that’s why they’re successful today. Embody your role model’s spirit. And remember fear is ALWAYS in your good company. I tell myself this ALL THE TIME. Repeat this 10 times - YOU GET TESTED THE MOST WHEN YOU ARE ABOUT TO ELEVATE. Good luck!