Psychotherapy in a shared foreign language. Exploration of psychotherapists’ perceptions of multipleness in the therapeutic interaction

Abstract

ABSTRACT In today’s multilingual society, psychotherapists are more and more likely to encounter clients with a different mother tongue than their own. The objective of the study reported here was to map therapists’ perceptions of and experiences with psychotherapy in a shared foreign language (LX). Data was collected by means of in-depth interviews among psychotherapists (N = 10). The transcripts were analyzed thematically with great attention to researcher reflexivity. The findings show that the participants report complex experiences taking place in LX therapy sessions. Therapists’ views could be thematically organized under the headings ‘linguistic challenges’, ‘awareness of linguistic and cultural identity’, ‘cultures in interaction in third space’, and ‘multiperspectivity’. Taken together, the themes reveal that the therapists are aware of the linguistic and cultural dimensions of providing therapy in an LX, and that they perceive themselves as operating in a third space that is co-constructed by themselves and their clients. Providing psychotherapy in a shared foreign language brings with it particular linguistic, cultural, and psychotherapeutic challenges for psychotherapists, which need to be managed well if therapy is to be successful. From this understanding follow specific suggestions as to which cultural, linguistic, and personal orientations to take in LX psychotherapy, as well as some suggestions for the education of psychotherapists.