The Imposter Syndrome and the ‘As-If’ Personality:  Illusions in the Mirror

Two-Hour Online Seminar: March 16, 2024

The ‘as-if’ person faces a conundrum: hide or expose the truth of who they are. 

Feelings of loss, limitation and curtailment, alienation, and obsolescence are prevalent yet concealed with glitzy persona/imposter images. Intimacy and being emotionally present are difficult. 

The imposter and ‘as-if’ personalities withdraw into phantasy. They live estranged from their true selves at the cost of their desire. The relationship to life outwardly appears ‘as-if’ it were complete, yet there is a haunting sense of lack and authenticity.  Existence is singular. 

Very possibly we know these struggles as they are part of us.

The themes we will consider in this seminar include aging, the cultural influence of social media, the role of the father, analytical transferences, and body image. The recognition of the unconscious, a hallmark of Jungian analytical psychology is based on the incorporation of the dissociated personality parts into the self, reflecting the multiplicity of the psyche in its movement towards balance. 

Susan E. Schwartz, Ph.D. trained in Zurich, Switzerland as a Jungian analyst is also a clinical psychologist and member of the International Association of Analytical Psychology. She presents to numerous Jungian conferences and teaching programs in the USA and worldwide. Susan has articles in several journals and chapters in books on Jungian analytical psychology. Her book The Absent Father: Effect on Daughters,  Father Desire, Father Wounds is translated into several languages.

Her newest book is The Imposter Syndrome and The ‘As-If’ Personality in Analytical Psychology: The Fragility of Self. 

Analytical psychology practice in Paradise Valley, Arizona. www.susanschwartzphd.com