The Two Main Types of Imposter Syndrome and How to Overcome it!

Imposter syndrome is the number one problem so many trans people face. It predominates at the beginning of the transition, during the transition, and even after the transition is complete. It's an energy sucker, a power sucker—and it eats at the roots of your ability to own who you are.

Think of ownership like a tree with deep roots. When you're strongly rooted in accepting who you are, life's storms—discrimination, stigma, politics, hardships—might shake you and you might lose a branch or two, but you'll remain standing. If you're not rooted because you haven't owned your trans history, those storms will knock you over completely.

Imposter syndrome is the parasite eating at your roots, and there are two most common types of imposter syndrome:

External parasite (tied to passing and validation): You're hypervigilant about whether others see you as your authentic gender. Every interaction, every glance becomes "Are they clocking me?" This is deeply tied to wanting external validation that you exist beyond your own subjective reality.

Internal parasite (struggling to accept your trans history): Nobody misgenders you, you pass completely, yet you still feel like a fraud. This comes from within because you're still struggling to fully accept and own your transgender history.

In this video, I go into detail about each type of imposter syndrome and offer tips and suggestions for working on it.