Darragh McCashin on imposter phenomenon and multi-level strategies (Part 2)

Welcome to Part 2 of my discussion with Dr Darragh McCashin. In Part 1 Darragh discussed his PhD in Digital mental health and his path to being an Assistant Professor in the School of Psychology at Dublin City University during COVID. In part 2, we start off replaying what he was saying about the mental health challenges faced by PhD and early career researchers in particular and then we get into a focus on the imposter, something that we can probably all relate to. Based on his work and that of his colleagues in the EU ReMO COST Action, ReMo standing for Researcher Mental Health Observatory, Darragh talks about what is imposterism, how it is experienced, the importance of raising awareness and the power of sharing our imposter experiences. He also talks about the importance of taking both top down and bottom up approaches for dealing with imposterism, and shares practical strategies for doing this. “You see the value in putting oneself out there”“It's incredibly powerful when somebody beside you a different career stage …spews the same type of impostor stuff”“It's multi level… it has to be top down meets bottom up”“You're externalising it. And you're living with rather than…living under the feelings of impostor”“At an institutional level, there needs to be an acknowledgement matched with resources”Overview (times approximate):0:30 Preamble01:40 How he got into this work in the first place – by putting himself out there07:29 The themes that come up in discussions about mental health, how mental health issues practically play out and the patterns he sees12:28 The importance of taking both a top down and bottom-up approach15:50 How he defines imposter19:13 Moving to talk about the levels and practical tips for taking action; Being aware of the imposter cycle - ‘It’s always the next thing’ and imposter awareness21:44 Changing toxic lab environments by connecting, and sharing to disrupt the imposter cycle by increasing awareness27:50 Externalizing the imposter as a common experience, finding ways to disrupt the patterns – the importance of language framing – living with rather than under the imposter34:15 More about what can be done to support each other at the group level 37:03 The systemic issues and working at the system/institutional level where there needs to be acknowledgement matched by resources, and the challenges of a duty of care42:59 Final thoughts wrapping up – signposting ReMO COST Action and their manifesto re multi-level change44:35 My reflections at the end47:29 EndDownload a full transcript of the conversation here.Related LinksPeople/Projects/Webinars:Darragh’s ReMO Webinar on ‘Understanding the Psychology of Impostor Syndrome in Academia and Beyond’ YouTube link ReMO COST ActionReMO Researcher Mental Health and Wellbeing Manifesto Gábor Kismihók, Brian Cahill, Stéphanie Gauttier, Janet Metcalfe, Stefan T. Mol, Darragh McCashin, Jana Lasser, Murat Güneş, Mathias Schroijen, Martin Grund, Katia Levecque, Susan...

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