Welcome to this introductory training resource about multilingualism and mental health. The resource is for trainee and qualified counsellors, psychotherapists, supervisors, psychological wellbeing practitioners, clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health nurses, social workers, family therapists, interpreters and anyone else interested in multilingualism and mental health.
The resource consists of an introduction and ten sections.
The first eight sections are about a trainee therapist, Frankie, who is feeling de-skilled and lost when dealing with his current clients. The sections contain filmed extracts of dramatised sequences from therapy cases, introduced and/or followed by exercises and questions. Section 9 contains two filmed extracts of a different scenario. Section 10 contains a summary, evaluation and review.
The resource can be used on its own, or as an introduction to the issues of identity, emotional expression and trauma for multilingual clients and practitioners. Please note that this resource is also available via the Open University/OpenLearn platform:   https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/course/view.php?id=6699 

​If you want to complete the extension exercises you will need  the companion book Other Tongues: psychological therapies in a multilingual world ​

The resource was created by The Pásalo Project www.pasaloproject.org  It was made possible by funding from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
With support from The National Lottery this resource has been extended to make it relevant for the Welsh language context. It can be accessed and used by both Welsh speakers and non-Welsh speakers. This supplementary resource is suitable for everyone (not just for those working in the Welsh context) as it provides examples of other challenges and includes suggestions for good practice for working therapeutically across languages.

COURSE CONTENT
The course content is outlined below. You can click on any section here and it will take you through to this section of the course.
Introduction
Course Introduction

• Information about the course, including Learning Outcomes and an introduction from the Course Director.

SECTION 1 Linguistic agency and justice

• The socio-political implications of using English as the lingua franca in therapy and counselling. These include power differentials, colonial legacies, linguistic privilege, linguistic agency and linguistic justice

SECTION 2 Working with an interpreter (1)

• Setting ground rules, the active stance of the therapist, pre-meeting and debriefing, group/family settings, power dynamics

SECTION 3 Multilingualism as a therapeutic asset

• How multilingual people can feel they have a different identity and that they are able to express different emotions in each of their languages
• How later-learned languages can have a protective function when processing trauma

SECTION 4 Linguistic prejudice, privilege and power

• Working with clients’ and practitioners’ experiences of linguistic prejudice, privilege and power

SECTION 5 Working with an interpreter (2)

• Ground rules, pre-meeting and debriefing, managing ruptures

SECTION 6 Multilingualism – racism and discrimination

• Audio racism and discrimination and its impact in the therapy room

SECTION 7 Multilingual therapists’ experiences

• Multilingual therapists’ professional and personal identities and their implications for therapeutic work

SECTION 8 Code-switching and self-translation in the therapeutic context

• Code-switching and client self-translation as a therapeutic asset

SECTION 9 Working with couples across languages

• Interpreter-mediated couple therapy
• Clinical supervision across languages

SECTION 10 Summary and evaluation
Supplement: Welsh Language Extension

Next... Course Introduction