The Main Reason You Still Feel Like an Imposter!
Dr. Z addresses the number one consistent pattern that leads trans women to struggle with imposter syndrome—whether you're at the beginning of transition, mid-transition, or have completed all elements you consider important.
This pattern follows you like a "skunky smell" beyond gender transition. Dr. Z has seen it follow trans women who, if passing is important, have zero problem passing. Yet they still struggle with that feeling of being an impostor: I don't belong. I'm going to be found out. I'm still faking it. I'm trespassing. They're going to find out I'm a trans woman.
The core fear: Someone's going to know I have transgender history. Someone's going to find out I'm a woman of trans experience.
The paradox: Some of you accept being trans cognitively—you even display it openly on social media or tell people directly. Yet you still feel like an impostor. That's because it's one thing to think acceptance in your head, another thing to feel it in your heart.
The lack of full heart-on acceptance of yourself as a woman with transgender history—acceptance of all parts, including decades of living with dysphoria—is the number one cause of imposter syndrome across the board.
In this video, Dr. Z addresses:
Why so many trans women disavow essential parts of their past (creating internal opposition). How navigating stealth can mean pretending to have cisgender history you don't have (breeding anxiety). Why confidence that eradicates imposter syndrome comes from ownership, not "fake it till you make it." The work required to open your heart completely to all parts of yourself.
