Abstract
Impostor Phenomenon (IP), a psychological state in which people have self-doubt about their abilities and success despite the concrete evidence of their achievement, has been a widely studied construct across different fields. Most researchers found that IP negatively impacts the job performance and mental health of IP sufferers, such as lower job satisfaction, the risk for burnout, anxiety, emotional exhaustion, workaholism, and lower compassion fatigue. In the mental health field, IP negatively impacts counselors’ counseling self-efficacy, self-compassion, and compassion fatigue. However, research about IP among counselors has been minimal, and no instrument specifically measures IP in counseling practice among counselors. Thus, this study aimed to develop and validate a counseling impostor scale (CIS) to be used in clinical practice among counselors and examine the relationship between the counseling IP and clinical experience. Three hundred and ten responses from counselors and counselors-in-training were used for data analysis. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) results indicated that the Counseling Impostor Scale (CIS) is a 38-item scale with promising psychometric properties. The bivariate correlation analysis revealed good convergent validity as evidenced by a strong correlation with Harvey’s Impostor Phenomenon Scale (HIPS) (r = .81) and a moderate correlation with the Burnout subscale of ProQOL (r = .44). The statistical analysis also revealed good internal consistency reliabilities of three subscales (α = .97, .95, .93) and the total scale (α = .98). The EFA revealed a three-factor structure explaining 58% of the variance. These factors are Counseling Self-Doubt, Fraud Counselor, and Praise Adverse. Overall, the CIS shows promise to be used to evaluate the counseling impostor phenomenon in clinical practice formally. Additional validation research is needed to establish consistent results.