Let’s move the challenge of treating character armor up a notch. How do we work with an impostor? Perhaps we are more in the role of helping our client identify impostors in their life or their own fears of being an impostor? Does the impostor really want to abandon their role? The secondary gains can be quite compelling. Are they growing tired of being the impostor or have they begun to believe their own lie and can now live comfortably with their false self? Reality and the “truth” can get quite confusing.
Perhaps a “personal SWOT analysis” is appropriate. What really are your impostor-client’s strengths (that can be truthfully acknowledged and engaged) and what are the weaknesses that this client should acknowledge (as a first step toward moving into a more authentic role). And to whom should the impostor-client first convey this more realistic analysis of strengths and weaknesses?
What about the environment in which the impostor is working? Given that the impostor is often quite narcissistic, it might require quite a bit of “heavy lifting” for us to bring the realistic threats (as well as realistic opportunities) to the attention of our client. The impostor might be quite gifted with regard to opportunities. However, even here we are likely to find both false opportunities and “botched” opportunities – from which one’s client can learn (with our help).
We have one other suggestion—that we have gained from observing our cowardly lion and wizard. Perhaps we can advise our client to engage the “real” world in a manner that makes full use of our imposter’s actual skills and talents. If nothing else, our imposter knows how to “sell” themselves and their ideas. Perhaps our client can become an effective advocate for some important cause.
Alternatively, our client (like the Lion and Wizard of Oz) can actually begin acting on behalf of another person’s welfare. Would some work at a homeless shelter or assistance on a suicide prevention hotline be appropriate? We suspect that in many instances, the imposter fears being found out, thrown out on the street, and waiting in line at a shelter for food and lodging. The imposter might have even contemplated suicide when confronting the prospect of being found out. They might find that their own armor is cast aside when they do battle against a wicked witch in their own community.
Conclusions
Dorothy and the Scarecrow are waiting alongside the Tin Man. Toto is still racing around beneath their feet and in the nearby forest. He is increasingly restless to get on with their journey. Wilhelm Reich and Moshe Feldenkrais have worked with the Tin Man and our metallic colleague declares that he is ready to join his colleagues on their trip to Oz. He offers a few dance steps and is the first to sing about being “off to see the Wizard—the wonderful Wizard of Oz [though he is fully aware that the Wizard is not needed for his own liberation from tin].” Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man can now reflect even more critically on the validating of the Good Witch’s claim that the Wizard can solve everything.
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