Why High-Functioning Women Battling Anxiety and Imposter Syndrome Need Both Sisterhood & Womanhood
- Brainz Magazine
- Feb 14
- 4 min read
Written by Lisa Skeffington, Psychotherapist
Lisa Skeffington is a psychotherapist and thought leader shaping the future of mental health. She is the founder of the Empowered Momentum Community and hosts coastal escapes empowering high-functioning mid-life women to authentically remove the mask they wear in their outwardly successful life; author of the book From Anxious to Empowered.
To the world, she is unstoppable. She is successful, accomplished, and in control. Yet, behind closed doors, she wrestles with a truth she dares not speak. The anxiety, the self-doubt, the relentless pressure to perform, to hold it all together while secretly wondering, "When will I finally feel like I belong?"
This is the hidden reality for countless high-functioning women over 40: women who have climbed corporate ladders, built businesses, raised families, and checked every box of success, only to feel trapped behind the mask they have created.
What they crave isn’t just another strategy for confidence or another book on self-improvement. They need something deeper, something that reconnects them with who they truly are beneath the expectations, the achievements, and the performance.
That something is Sisterhood and Womanhood, two distinct yet essential forces that, together, empower women to break free and step into their full, unshakable confidence.
The high-functioning woman’s hidden struggle
We are taught that success is the antidote to self-doubt. “If I achieve enough, prove enough, and perfect enough, then I will finally feel worthy.”
Yet, time and again, Lisa sees women who have “made it” but still feel like frauds, women who are constantly juggling the expectations of their careers, relationships, and personal lives while battling the silent weight of:
Anxiety: A racing mind that never switches off, questioning every decision and fearing the judgment of others.
Imposter syndrome: The fear of being “found out” despite years of hard-earned experience and success.
Perfectionism & people-pleasing: The relentless drive to be everything to everyone, often at the cost of personal peace.
Loneliness: The deep, unspoken isolation that comes from feeling like no one truly understands the pressure they carry.
These women don’t lack capability. They lack spaces where they can put the mask down and breathe.
And this is why they need both Sisterhood and Womanhood.
Sisterhood: The space to be seen & understood
Sisterhood is not about networking. It is about belonging.
For high-functioning women, it can be hard to find genuine support without judgment. They are used to being the strong ones, the leaders, the fixers, the caregivers. Yet, when they struggle, they feel they must suffer in silence, afraid of being perceived as weak.
Sisterhood changes that.
The power of true connection
Being seen: A space where women no longer have to prove themselves, where they are met with understanding, not competition.
Shared experience: The realisation that they are not alone in their struggles. Other high-functioning women feel the same pressures and fears.
A safe space to exhale: A place to remove the mask, to be vulnerable, and to receive support, not scrutiny.
Why It Matters? Without Sisterhood, women stay trapped in isolation, feeling like they must carry everything alone.
Womanhood: The strength to own your power
If Sisterhood is about support, Womanhood is about self-ownership.
Many high-functioning women spend their lives seeking external validation, whether through professional achievements, relationships, or societal expectations. But true confidence is not something given from the outside; it is built from within.
The power of self-liberation
Unshakable self-worth: No longer needing success or approval to feel "enough."
Owning your voice: Speaking up, setting boundaries, and communicating with confidence in every area of life.
Freedom from the mask: Stepping into life unapologetically, without fear of judgment or rejection.
Why It Matters? Without Womanhood, women continue to seek external validation, fearing that without their mask, they have nothing left to offer.
Sisterhood & womanhood: The path to true empowerment
Sisterhood offers the safe space to take off the mask.
Womanhood provides the inner strength to never need it again.
Women cannot thrive with one and not the other. They need both.
Lisa says, “This is why I created the Empowered Momentum Community, a space for high-functioning women who are tired of battling self-doubt alone and are ready to step into their next level of confidence, clarity, and personal freedom.”
The VIP experience: For women ready to go deeper
For those who are ready to confront what lies behind the mask, to work through the deep-seated fears, patterns, and conditioning that have kept them playing small, Lisa offers a VIP tier inside the Empowered Momentum Community. This exclusive level includes:
Private mentoring to address personal challenges in confidence, communication, and self-worth.
Small-group mastermind spaces designed for intimate, high-level transformation.
The next step toward self-liberation, for those who are done performing and ready to start truly living.
For those fully committed to removing the mask once and for all, her signature program and luxury coastal escapes provide a powerful, immersive escape from the noise of everyday life, allowing women to reconnect with themselves on a profound level.
Because true success is not just about how the world sees you; it is about how you see yourself.
Are you ready to step beyond the mask?
If you are a high-functioning woman who is done carrying the weight of success alone, who is ready to be supported, be seen, and be free, Lisa invites you to join her inside the Empowered Momentum Community.
You are invited to step into a world where you don’t have to prove yourself, where you finally get to be yourself. Visit here.
Because life beyond the mask isn’t just possible, it’s waiting for you.
Read more from Lisa Skeffington
Lisa Skeffington, Psychotherapist
Lisa Skeffington, Psychotherapist of the Year 2024/25, is the leading light for wounded women worldwide. Her own personal story, from trauma to triumph, led her to dedicate her support to mid-life women and their families to heal their emotional wounds so that they feel enough as they are, break free from anxiety, and communicate confidently in healthy relationships. Over her 25 years in mental health, she has developed a unique psychological approach with a seamless blend of psychological therapies, which she calls psychodynamic mentoring. Based on the UK Dorset coast, Lisa runs exclusive coastal escapes and one-day events helping women to remove the mask and thrive in their lives today, without excuse or apology.
