242 - Imposter Syndrome Through the Lens of CPTSD: Confronting the Fraud Inside242 - Imposter Syndrome Through the Lens of CPTSD: Confronting the Fraud Inside
Adult Child
Andrea Ashley breaks down imposter syndrome through the lens of complex PTSD, childhood roles and toxic shame, using her own story as a guide. The episode blends humour, honesty and trauma-aware tools like somatic work and parts work to speak directly to adult children of dysfunctional families who feel like frauds in their own lives.
50:21•5 Aug 2026
Imposter Syndrome, CPTSD, and Feeling Like a Fraud at Life
Episode Overview
- Imposter syndrome is framed as a trauma response rooted in childhood roles, not a simple lack of confidence.
- Toxic shame can create a belief of being fundamentally defective, leading to avoidance rather than taking risks.
- Parentified children often feel like kids trapped in adult bodies, which fuels panic around ordinary adult responsibilities.
- Minimsing one’s own trauma and doubting the right to support is itself a trauma response that blocks healing.
- Somatic practices and parts work can help build safety, connect with younger parts, and reduce the grip of imposter feelings over time.
“Imposter syndrome is really just a wounded little kid who thinks that they're running a grown adult's life.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol, trauma, and constant self-doubt? This episode of Adult Child zooms in on imposter syndrome through the lens of complex PTSD, with Andrea Ashley taking listeners on a raw, funny, and brutally honest solo ride. Aimed at adult children of dysfunctional families, this conversation speaks to anyone who’s ever felt like a fraud, no matter how much they achieve.
Andrea breaks down the origins of imposter syndrome, starting with the 1978 "imposter phenomenon" research on high-achieving women, and links it directly to childhood roles and family dynamics. She shows how being labelled the “sensitive one” or the “golden child” can morph into lifelong self-doubt, especially when paired with narcissistic parenting, generational trauma, and toxic shame. Andrea doesn’t stay theoretical.
She shares candid stories about her own imposter syndrome around doing solo episodes, launching her course Safe Within, and working one-on-one with people. Despite knowing that “my gift is communication” and that she helps others feel safe, she explains how a deep-seated belief of being fundamentally flawed kept her stuck in avoidance and procrastination.
The episode also looks at more hidden forms of imposter syndrome: feeling like a fraud for having trauma at all, doubting your right to therapy, feeling like a kid in an adult’s body because of parentification, and fearing that healing work makes you a “problem” in relationships. Andrea discusses how somatic work and parts work have helped her slowly build safety in her body and update those younger parts who still think they’re in danger.
With plenty of swearing, humour, and zero sugar-coating, this is aimed squarely at those who grew up in chaos, are doing the hard healing work, and secretly wonder, “Who am I to take up space?” If that line feels uncomfortably familiar, this episode might be exactly what you’ve been waiting to question.
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