Jessie Ku, MA, MT-BC, Rina Tabuchi, MT-BC – “The Path to Emotional Health: Utilizing Music and Other Strategies to Fight Imposter Syndrome”

As a helping profession, music therapists often are placed in emotionally demanding environments, working with vulnerable populations. When work-related emotional stress is not dealt with effectively, it can negatively impact music therapists as individuals and professionals. Although there are different stressors and challenges that music therapists face, this presentation strives to examine imposter syndrome while discussing strategies to develop professional resilience to conquer it.

Imposter syndrome is a universal phenomenon that all music therapists have the potential to experience regardless of therapy settings, age, or culture. It is characterized by sentiments of shame and insecurity regarding one’s competency and is commonly experienced by many professionals. Research has shown that a minimum of 70% of people experience imposter syndrome at least once in their lifetime (Gravois, 2007). When left unresolved, imposter syndrome can lead to detrimental effects, including but not limited to anxiety, depression, neuroticism, and low self-esteem (Michael & Garry, 2019). It is important to note that imposter syndrome manifests differently for each individual, as it can be affected by one’s socioeconomic and cultural upbringing. 

The presentation will examine the characteristics and detrimental effects of imposter syndrome on music therapists. Current research surrounding the topic will portray how imposter syndrome manifests uniquely for individuals dependent on their socioeconomic and cultural upbringings. To illustrate the examples in clinical settings, case examples of our experience of imposter syndrome as music therapists will be examined.

Moreover, discussions will also focus on strategies to cope with imposter syndrome. This includes discussions surrounding the vulnerability of supervision and interdisciplinary collaborations (Hyrkäs et al., 2006). Additionally, we aim to highlight the use of music as a modality that not only supports clients but also music therapists. This is important because music therapists may often find it difficult to rely on music as a medium to support their emotional health if they conceptualize it as professional support for clients. Finally, the participants will be given time to share their insights and coping tools to create a more diverse list of strategies to encourage them to acknowledge that there is no clear-cut way to deal with imposter syndrome. We hope that this presentation will be the first step for the participants to become aware of their potential imposter syndrome experiences and create personalized self-care strategies to develop professional resilience. 

Biographies