Are you worried your teen doubts themselves no matter how hard they work? Do they brush off compliments or beat themselves up when things don’t go perfectly?
In this powerful episode, Dr. Lisa Orbé-Austin, psychologist and author of Your Child’s Greatness, joins Colleen to explore how imposter syndrome shows up in teens—and how parents can help prevent it. Lisa shares how imposter syndrome stems from not internalizing success, overvaluing others, and defaulting to perfectionism. Drawing from personal stories—including her daughter's fencing journey—Lisa highlights the importance of embracing failure, savoring small wins, and teaching your child to develop a growth mindset. You’ll hear heartfelt insights about helping your child build resilience and why internalizing success matters just as much as achieving it.
Dr. Lisa Orbé-Austin is a licensed psychologist and executive coach. She earned her doctorate in counseling psychology from Columbia University. Her expertise on impostor syndrome is regularly sought by the media, and she has appeared in outlets such as the
Financial Times, the TODAY show, Good Morning America, Forbes, HuffPost, Refinery29, and more. Dr. Orbé-Austin has been an invited speaker at various national conferences. Her first book, Own Your Greatness: Overcome Impostor Syndrome, Beat Self-Doubt, and Succeed in Life (Ulysses Press, 2020) coauthored with her partner, Dr. Richard Orbé-Austin, was a finalist for the Foreword INDIES Book Award. Her second book, Your Unstoppable Greatness: Break Free of Impostor Syndrome, Cultivate Your Agency, and Achieve Your Ultimate Career Goals H(Ulysses Press, 2022) is focused on dealing with the systemic dynamics that keep impostor syndrome in place and how to directly combat those dynamics.
Here are three inspiring takeaways from this conversation:
Failure is not the enemy—it's the classroom. Helping your teen reframe failure as part of the growth process builds resilience and self-belief. Let them fail safely, and support their emotional regulation afterward.
Celebrate the small wins. Whether it’s improving by one point or making it through a tough day, acknowledging progress helps your teen internalize success and develop confidence in their abilities.
Model and nurture self-worth. Teens learn by watching. When you savor your own wins and embrace your imperfections, you give your child permission to do the same—and combat imposter syndrome from the inside out.
Learn more at https://www.dynamictransitionsllp.com/
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