SECTION 1 : Voice
The languages we speak give us agency. They give us a voice. Sometimes people need another person – an interpreter – to make their voice understandable to others. We voice our languages through physical and embodied processes and speaking is a sensory experience. Accents reveal our socio-political status and people’s accents may create an expected or unexpected effect on the hearer. The sounds we make have an impact.
This section may be used as supplementary material to Section 4 of the Multilingualism, Mental Health and Psychological Therapy course. Please see that material here.
Listen to the course materials, and / or download the transcripts below:
Accents One
| Accents One |
Interpreter-mediated Therapy
This section may be used as supplementary material to Section 5 of the Multilingualism, Mental Health and Psychological Therapy course. Please see that material here.
| Interpreter-mediated Therapy |
Reflections
It is very easy to feel anxious when you work with an interpreter.
Put the following concerns about working with an interpreter in order of priority for you:
It is very easy to feel anxious when you work with an interpreter.
Put the following concerns about working with an interpreter in order of priority for you:
- Feeling excluded
- Feeling that the control is slipping away from you
- Feeling judged
- Feeling apprehensive that you and/or the client will not be translated accurately
Good practice
1. A more active facilitation stance is needed when working with an interpreter to manage the anxieties of all three participants in the triadic therapeutic encounter. Preparation is essential for interpreter-mediated therapy to be effective. This includes arranging for and booking time for a pre – meeting with the interpreter and recognising your own default position when you start to feel excluded. 2. A whole-system approach to working with an interpreter is useful, starting with familiarising yourself with agencies used and booking procedures, to thinking about what happens if you leave an interpreter and a client on their own together, through to the type of support available for interpreters.
3. A collaborative team approach to working with an interpreter enhances the effectiveness of interpreter-mediated therapy.
1. A more active facilitation stance is needed when working with an interpreter to manage the anxieties of all three participants in the triadic therapeutic encounter. Preparation is essential for interpreter-mediated therapy to be effective. This includes arranging for and booking time for a pre – meeting with the interpreter and recognising your own default position when you start to feel excluded. 2. A whole-system approach to working with an interpreter is useful, starting with familiarising yourself with agencies used and booking procedures, to thinking about what happens if you leave an interpreter and a client on their own together, through to the type of support available for interpreters.
3. A collaborative team approach to working with an interpreter enhances the effectiveness of interpreter-mediated therapy.
Interpreter tips – good practice for working with interpreters:
| interpreter_tips.pdf |
