The Waterbury Times OP/ED- Oct 19, 2026

By Martha Fernandez, LCSW | Opinion

Anyone who holds a position of responsibility in a community, whether chairing a committee, running a business or leading a department, may have experienced the same private thought: Someone is going to figure out that I don’t belong here.

Clinicians often call it imposter syndrome. The name makes it sound like a passing quirk. In practice, it can become a persistent pattern that goes unnoticed for years while the person continues to perform.

The delay is particularly striking. A 2026 CEREVITY report, Why Executives Wait 21 Months for Therapy, examined 307 executives who received care through the CEREVITY network between January 2025 and August 2026. The clinical review found a median delay of 21 months between recognizing significant mental health strain and attending a first clinical session. Fifty-eight percent waited until a crisis or near-miss, while 52 percent cited professional image or career concerns as a primary reason for delaying care.

These findings reflect CEREVITY’s own clinical population, rather than executives generally. Still, they raise an important question: Why do people accustomed to managing responsibility wait so long to ask for help?

Imposter syndrome feeds on the gap between how competent someone appears and how competent they feel. Each success gets credited to luck, effort or timing rather than ability. As a result, no accomplishment fully settles the question. The usual response is to work harder and say less. That may maintain performance, but it leaves the underlying doubt untouched.

Effective therapy doesn’t simply try to convince someone to feel confident. It examines the belief underneath the doubt: “I am only acceptable while I am flawless.”

In therapy, that belief can be traced to its origins, tested against the evidence of a person’s actual experiences, and challenged through small, manageable steps. A person might allow a minor imperfection to be visible and discover that nothing collapses. The goal isn’t to convince someone they’re secretly brilliant. It’s to help them stop treating their worth as a daily audition.

This matters beyond the individual. People take their cues from those in leadership positions. If the person at the head of the table never acknowledges uncertainty, others may feel discouraged from doing so. Mistakes can remain hidden until they become more difficult to address.

Saying “I don’t know yet” in a meeting is a skill. It’s easier to practice when private fears no longer dictate professional behavior.

For people holding public or professional responsibilities in Waterbury, seeking help doesn’t have to wait until a crisis. Persistent dread before routine tasks, repeatedly rehearsing explanations for otherwise sound decisions, or consistently deflecting credit may be reasons to speak with a licensed mental health professional.

You don’t have to wait until doubt starts making your decisions for you.

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About the author: Martha Fernandez, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker and co-founder of CEREVITY, a private-pay concierge network of independent licensed clinicians serving high achievers, including executives, founders, physicians, attorneys and finance professionals. She is the author of Wired to Burn: A Therapist’s Guide for High Achievers Running on Fumes (2026). Learn more at cerevity.com.

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