Life & Language: Mental Health Interpreting

Diversity of experience makes translation and interpreting great. Many linguists can attest to this experience, as their relationships with language have invited them to a rich variety of cultural memories. An article in this month’s issue of The ATA Chronicle focuses on one of those intriguing cultural experiences: mental health interpreting.

When  partnering with a clinician and patient, an interpreter is given a unique opportunity to which a clinician may not have cultural access. That is, since an interpreter shares the patient’s native language, she or he may be able to foster dignified trust, which is one of the foundational elements of success between helping professional and client or patient.

Much like medical interpreting, an interpreter may partner with a client many times, and clients may be in the midst of confusing and troublesome psychological experiences. An interpreter, then, has the chance to encourage honesty and transparency, which will benefit client and clinician alike.

The article’s author also outlines some skills that benefit a mental health interpreter, such as educating self on the language of psychological experiences, specifically idioms of distress and culture-bound syndromes.

Idioms of distress are cross-cultural indicators of physical, mental or psychological discomfort; in other words, the variety of physiological or psychological manners in which people express distress.

Culture-bound syndromes are those that tend to take place within a specific group. The author uses the example of Caribbean women and their use of the phrase ataque de nervios, literally translated “nerve attack,” which is characterized by screaming, crying, trembling and verbal or physical aggression—not the typical panic attack.

An effective mental health interpreter researches these terms outside of the session and understands the difference between perceived meaning and culturally-relevant meaning.

In cases where a patient is experiencing aphasia or other speech barriers, an interpreter is neither to assume a client’s intent nor ignore the client’s apparent incoherence. Rather, he or she should interpret all that the patient says, even if it does not make logical sense.

Lastly, on a logistical level, an interpreter may need to request breaks to collect her or his thoughts or if the clinician is not recognizing that a client is overwhelmed.

Perceptive, understanding responses like these often characterize successful mental health interpreters.

Source: Mental Health Interpreting: Diagnosis through Speech, Idioms of Distress, and Culture-Bound Syndromes By Arianna M. Aguilar