Imposter Syndrome

5 Strategies to Build Self-Confidence

Anxiety, Blog, Depression, Imposter Syndrome, Self-Criticism & Perfectionism, Self-Esteem / Hayden Finch, PhD

What does it feel like to be confident? A lot of people have no idea…they’ve never experienced self-confidence, and the idea of being confident is nearly unimaginable. When you struggle to trust your abilities or your judgment, it’s easy for anxiety and depression to creep in. But having a healthy dose of self-confidence can help you develop skills for handling stress, setbacks, and even failure. So in this week’s article, I’m bringing you 5 strategies to begin building self-confidence.

In this week’s article, I’ll share with you

5 proven strategies to build self-confidence
Evidence-based techniques to make real changes in how you feel about yourself
*Free* worksheets to put those strategies into practice

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10 Questions to Ask Yourself to Stop Overthinking

Anxiety, Blog, Imposter Syndrome, Self-Criticism & Perfectionism / Hayden Finch, PhD

Overthinking is a real issue for many of my clients. They tell me that they think about the same issues, problems, fears, or worries far too much or for far too long, and they realize it creates unnecessary anxiety. But they’re not sure how to stop it. Today, I’ve got 10 questions to ask yourself to stop the overthinking.

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10 Questions to Ask Yourself to Stop Overthinking

Anxiety, Blog, Imposter Syndrome, Self-Criticism & Perfectionism / Hayden Finch, PhD

In this week’s article, I’ll share with you

10 questions to ask yourself to stop overthinking
A free worksheet to help you put the questions into action and really take control of your overthinking
A complete example using the worksheet to work through one of the issues my clients overthink the most….see how to use the questions in action

Dive in here!

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15 Coping Mechanisms That Are Keeping You Stuck

Alcoholism & Substance Use, Anxiety, Blog, Burnout, Depression, Imposter Syndrome, Panic Attacks, Procrastination, Self-Criticism & Perfectionism, Stress / Hayden Finch, PhD

Hey, we’re all doing our absolute best to just get from day to day and from week to week. And over the years, we develop coping mechanisms to help us do just that. Sure, not all of those coping mechanisms are healthy, and we know it. Of course smoking and drinking and spending too much are helping us feel “better,” and we know they’re not actually fixing the problem. But today, we’re diving deep into 15 coping mechanisms that you might not even realize are keeping you stuck. Have you adopted any of these habits?

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6 Triggers for Anxiety So You Can Stay Ahead of It

Anxiety, Blog, Imposter Syndrome, Panic Attacks / Hayden Finch, PhD

Knowing what triggers your anxiety can help you predict when it’s going to flare up so you can double down on your healthy coping strategies (I brought you 9 of my personal favorites last week) and hopefully prevent a meltdown, breakdown, or shutdown. Today, I’m bringing you 6 triggers for anxiety so you can stay ahead of it.

Everyone has their own idiosyncratic anxiety triggers. For some people it’s being away from home, for others it’s public speaking, and for some it’s spiders or balloons or even puppies. This post isn’t about listing every single thing that could trigger anxiety (that’d be impossible)…it’s about listing the general life factors that trigger just about everyone’s individual brand of anxiety.

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5 Things You Need to Know About Imposter Syndrome

Anxiety, Blog, Imposter Syndrome / Hayden Finch, PhD

Imposter syndrome is a super trendy topic on social media now. And like anything online, it’s hard to know what information about it is legit and what information about it has been totally made up and shared enough times that it seems legit. Unlike lots of social media concepts, imposter syndrome is an actual psychological concept. It’s been researched and we know a lot about it. So I’m here to tell you 5 things the science says about imposter syndrome so you’ll know the real deal.

I’ll give you the official definition and tell you some of the thinking and behavior patterns we see in imposter syndrome and tell you what we know about how it affects your mental health.

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18 Key Characteristics of the Conscientious but Critical Personality Type

Anxiety, Blog, Imposter Syndrome, Self-Criticism & Perfectionism, Stress / Hayden Finch, PhD

Have you heard of the enneagram? It describes nine personality types that are more based in spirituality and anecdote than science, but they’re an interesting description of how we think about the world, the choices we tend to make, our personal values, how we interact with people, and how we respond to stress.

A lot of the articles I write are geared toward folks who are enneagram type 1. In part, this is because enneagram 1s tend to think nothing is ever quite good enough so they’re always on a personal improvement quest. They love a good self-help book and are addicted to researching how to do things. In my article today, I’m sharing with you the core characteristics of type 1s — from their strengths and weaknesses to their core fears and desires. See if you relate here.

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You're Insulting People with Your Modesty | Hayden Finch, PhD | Paradocs Psychological Services | Hayden Finch, PhD | Paradocs Psychological Services

Your Modesty Is Insulting

Anxiety, Blog, Imposter Syndrome / Hayden Finch, PhD

When someone says

“You look nice today!”

Do you respond with something like

“I snoozed too long this morning, so this is day 3 hair.”

Most of us dismiss compliments because we think it makes us look modest. Today, I’ll show you how this habit can mean you’re actually insulting people. Oopsies. And I’ll show you how to change your response to one that’s not so insulting. If you’re in an intimate relationship, this is a critical skill to develop if you want the compliments to keep flowing.

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A Message for When You’re Feeling Like a Total Failure

Anxiety, Blog, Depression, Imposter Syndrome, Purpose & Meaning, Self-Criticism & Perfectionism, Self-Esteem / Hayden Finch, PhD

Who doesn’t want to be more perfect? To dress nicer, look nicer, be nicer? We worry that our imperfections will not only hold us back from living the lives we want, but we also worry our flaws will negatively impact the people around us…the people we love most. If this is you and you feel like you’ve just dropped all the balls or can’t keep any of the plates spinning, I’ve got a question you need to ask yourself. See the question here.

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Shonda Rhimes Has the Secret to Doing It All

Anxiety, Blog, Burnout, Imposter Syndrome, Purpose & Meaning, Self-Criticism & Perfectionism, Stress / Hayden Finch, PhD

Did you know that I’m slightly obsessed with Scandal? Sure, it’s off the air, but I still watch it on repeat. The creator of Scandal, Shonda Rhimes, gave the graduation speech at Dartmouth a few years ago, and her speech was so epic it’s still quoted. In it, she tells you the secret to keeping it all balanced. This is a woman who has a super demanding job (she writes and produces three major television shows) and has a family. And she’s got the secret. It’s not what you’d think. I’ll share it with you here.

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5 Strategies to Build Self-Confidence

10 Questions to Ask Yourself to Stop Overthinking

10 Questions to Ask Yourself to Stop Overthinking

15 Coping Mechanisms That Are Keeping You Stuck

6 Triggers for Anxiety So You Can Stay Ahead of It

5 Things You Need to Know About Imposter Syndrome

18 Key Characteristics of the Conscientious but Critical Personality Type

A Message for When You’re Feeling Like a Total Failure

Shonda Rhimes Has the Secret to Doing It All

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