Interpretation In Psychotherapy Research Articles

Secondary Traumatic Stress in Interpreters in Psychotherapy – A New Research Area?

Research in the field of translation studies and its association to other scientific fields is increasing day by day. In this regard, it is inevitable that community interpreting, which has emerged and rapidly developed to meet the need for translation in community services in different fields, will benefit from psychological approaches and theories. It is seen that with the increase in migration mobility, the community translator, who works with trauma victims in particular, plays an important role in institutions such as hospitals and social services. It is seen that the studies in Turkey the focus is on the competencies, duties and responsibilities of the health translator. However, interpreters who provide interpretation services to people with trauma experiences may be emotionally affected by the events they hear. Findings related to secondary traumatic stress disorder were found in occupational groups such as social workers and psychologists.
 In this study, the assumption is that community translators can also experience secondary trauma-related stress seen in different occupational groups working in the field of community service. Academic studies on the question of whether people who undertake the task of interpreting for Syrian refugees who benefit from psychosocial support services, especially in the context of migration, will be exposed to the risk of possible occupational secondary traumatization will be traced and the findings will be discussed holistically. When we look at the literature on community interpreting in Turkey, it has been determined that there is no scientific study in the context of secondary traumatic stress, but research on the mental health of interpreters has gained momentum as a result of the increase in migration mobility in European countries. This study aims to contribute to the development of the relevant literature and to raise awareness for interdisciplinary studies.

Narrative Exposure Therapy: A Case for Use With Refugees via Telehealth With the use of an Interpreter

Rates of PTSD and depression are as high as or higher among samples of refugees than in the general population. There have been few randomized controlled trials of trauma-focused therapies conducted with refugees. Additionally, there has been little research on the use of interpreters in psychotherapy with refugees, but across the studies included in a meta-analysis, a nonsignificant difference between studies that used an interpreter and those that did not was found. Due to COVID-19, mental health providers have had to adapt to the crisis by utilizing telemental health. Research on telemental health with refugee clients is limited, despite a recognition in the literature that telemental health can address some mental healthcare disparities. We review the case of a 26-year-old Afghani/Iranian bilingual diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who presented with intrusive thoughts, panic attacks, nightmares, and flashbacks. Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) was used with an interpreter via telehealth because it is effective in reducing symptoms of trauma in refugee populations. Treatment success for this case was reflected in the client’s self-reported reduction in symptoms. From this case study, we can conclude that (a) NET is a short-term, cost-effective means for providing trauma-focused care for refugees/asylum-seekers; (b) NET diminishes trauma symptoms with the use of an interpreter via telehealth; (c) a good relationship between therapist, interpreter, and client aids in the effectiveness of NET; and (d) clinician flexibility in the delivery of telemental health and interventions being utilized with refugee/asylum-seeker populations is imperative.

Language Choice in Psychotherapy of Multilingual Clients

Language is an essential part of psychotherapeutic work. In psychotherapy involving more than one language and/or culture, acknowledging the impact of the therapist’s and the client’s language(s) can facilitate achieving the most beneficial therapeutic process and outcome. The field has witnessed a surge in interdisciplinary work combining research methods from multilingualism and psychotherapy. This research aims to investigate the role of multilingualism in emotion expression and interpretation in psychotherapy offered by multilingual/multicultural therapists. Ten individual semi-structured interviews with therapists in the Netherlands focused on therapists’ experience of working as a multilingual/multicultural therapist with culturally and linguistically diverse clients. Thematic analysis of the results showed that language choice influenced the therapeutic process and its outcome in terms of discussing emotional topics, establishing and maintaining rapport with the client, and managing linguistic and cultural differences. Linguistic awareness of therapists allows them to manage the linguistic and cultural issues that inevitably arise in encounters with multilingual/multicultural clients.

Ethical Issues in the Use of Interpreters with d/Deaf Patients

Clinical work with individuals who are culturally and linguistically different from their therapist is a challenge involving ethical and psychotherapeutic issues. Individuals who have been d/Deaf the vast majority of their life and who use American Sign Language as their primary language are culturally and linguistically different from most psychotherapists. Using qualified mental health interpreters in psychotherapy with d/Deaf patients may facilitate the therapeutic process, support retention in treatment, and improve outcomes. A number of ethical and practical issues must also be addressed before and during the use of interpreters with individual patients.

Conducting psychotherapy with an interpreter.

This qualitative study assessed how clinicians prepared and used interpreters during psychotherapeutic sessions and investigated the strategies they used to manage the dynamics of this process. Ten therapists were interviewed at the Victorian Foundation for the Survivors of Torture (VFST). A semi-structured interview format was used. Thematic analysis was conducted on transcripts of recorded interviews to identify key themes. Factors affecting the provision of psychotherapy with interpreters agreed with general guidelines for working with interpreters but there were exceptions. The possible roles of the interpreter as a cultural consultant, community advocate and co-therapist were explored. Specific troubleshooting strategies were identified for improving empathy, redefining roles, and adjusting interactions with interpreters. Working with interpreters in psychotherapy is a complex process. These findings may benefit clinicians providing psychotherapy to patients using interpreters.

Intermediated communication by interpreters in psychotherapy with traumatized refugees

Immigrants in need of psychotherapy are often confronted with the fact that there is no psychotherapist available with whom they can proceed in a common language understood well by both. In some cases psychotherapy with communication intermediated by interpreters is offered. This study compares the outcome of 190 individual psychotherapies with refugees with post-traumatic disorders, half of them with the help of interpreters, the other half without. The results show that psychotherapies with the help of interpreters were as effective as those without, even though the psychosocial conditions (such as employment, training, foreign language proficiency and social network) for those patients who needed interpreters were tougher. We conclude that psychotherapy with the help of an interpreter should not be considered the poorer alternative.

Creating a bridge to healing: a professional/paraprofessional team approach

This paper describes a therapeutic model in which an English-speaking licensed clinician and a bilingual paraprofessional provide psychotherapy using a team approach in working with Cambodian refugee survivors of the Khmer Rouge. The team approach model differs from professionals who use interpreters in psychotherapy. The strengths and challenges of this approach are discussed. Agencies that serve refugees may not have professionally trained mental health providers who are from the country of origin of their clients. This model holds promise to provide culturally sensitive treatment. However, it is a model that is in its infancy in terms of knowing what works and how to duplicate that to other agencies and populations. This paper shares some of the benefits as well as some of the drawbacks.

The Role of Interpreters in Psychotherapy With Refugees: An Exploratory Study.

Findings are presented from a narrative study that examined the use of interpreters in psychotherapy with refugees. Fifteen therapists and 15 interpreters were interviewed at 14 refugee mental health treatment centers in the United States. Core findings concerned the impact of interpreters on the therapeutic alliance, the complex emotional reactions that may arise within the therapy triad, the effects of interpreting on interpreters' own well-being, the multiple roles that interpreters play in addition to translating language, and the training and supervision needs of interpreters and of therapists who work with them. Implications of these findings for agencies that use interpreters in their clinical work with refugees are considered, and specific recommendations are made concerning the hiring, training, and support of interpreting staff.

The utility of hermeneutic interpretation in psychotherapy.

The utility of hermeneutic interpretation in psychotherapy.

Feminists and psychological practice

Part 1 Choosing psychology: where's your sense of humour? - swimming against the tide in higher education, Carolyn Kagan and Sue Lewis moving out of psychology - two accounts, Sue Sharpe and Jane Jefferson choosing psychology or not throwing the baby out with the bathwater, Jane Ussher making a difference - questioning women's studies, Meg Coulson and Kum-Kum Bhavnai. Part 2 Changing definitions of psychological knowledge: feminism as antipsychology - learning and teaching in feminist psychology, Corinne Squire social research in the context of feminist psychology, Ann Phoenix fantasy or reality? the problem with psychoanalytic interpretation in psychotherapy with women, Maye Taylor resisting the discipline, Celia Kitzinger. Part 3 Struggles and change: women organizing within psychology - two accounts, Sue Wilkinson and Jan Burns steps towards silence - women in educational psychology, Anonymous at whose service? a herstory of educational psychology, Anonymous women in the shadows - women, clinical psychology and feminism, Christine Adcock and Karen Newbigging.

Book Review: The Problem of Interpretation in Psychotherapy

Book Review: The Problem of Interpretation in Psychotherapy

The inadvisability of admixing psychoanalysis with other forms of psychotherapy

Current opinion overwhelmingly favors eclectic and/or integrative mergers of the various schools of psychotherapy, including psychoanalysis. A review of the empirical literature concerning therapeutic techniques, however, reveals that the quest for eclectic and/or integrative technique definitions seriously impairs the relevance of research for theory and practice, especially as concerns the technique of interpretation in psychotherapy. In addition, recent work in the history and philosophy of science provides an additional warning against the one-sided pursuit of eclecticism and/or integrationism, for it is the clash between, and not the merger of, distinct theories and practices that serves to advance science and objectivity. In concluding, a critical pluralist perspective is recommended as the preferred orientation in the scientific study of psychoanalysis and other forms of psychotherapy.

Comments, Questions, and Answers

COMMENTS, QUESTIONS, AND ANSWERS Alan B. Crammatte Editor, Comments The Comment, Question, and Answer department is published as a service to professional readers and parents of deaf children. It is an attempt to provide practical information on the basic aspects of deafness, particularly in relation to education. Although all questions submitted cannot be used, those considered to be of greatest interest to readers will be published. Answers are prepared by competent authorities. Material submitted must contain the writer's name and address. Address questions and comments to: Alan B. Crammatte, 897 Windsong Dr., Arnold, Md. 21012. COMMENT—"Three is a crowd" is the traditional view of the psychotherapeutic situation. Yet deaf folk history is full of instances of horrible misdiagnoses in counseling of deaf patients by psychiatrists unable to communicate with the patient and unknowing about problems of deafness . Inclusion of interpreters has been an amelioration of this difficulty, yet problems remain. A letter from Robert Pollard, Jr., points out one problem. Lucinda Shupe, an interpreter at a nearby mental health center, was asked to contribute the interpreter's viewpoint—ABC. Dr. Michael Harvey's article concerning interpreters in family therapy (Annals, December 1982) helped fill a noticeable gap between the clinical utilization of interpreters in psychotherapy and the literature which has been published in the area. Of particular interest, however, was Dr. Harvey's assertion that "an interpreter is strictly prohibited from disclosing any feelings or opinions , even if requested . . . by the therapist" (p. 826) which, he claims, is the stance of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID). While attending two recent conferences on deafness and mental health in Rochester, New York, I was struck by the great deal of time which the programs devoted to the specific issue of interpreters in the therapy situation. At both meetings, it was stressed that post-therapy interviews with the interpreter would provide useful information concerning not only problems encountered in interpretation, but would also shed light upon the nature of transference issues which would undoubtedly arise between the client, interpreter, and the therapist. Since such discussion would involve a degree of selfdisclosure of "feelings" and "opinions" by the interpreter, it is apparent that a conflict may exist between the RID Code of Ethics and recommended clinical practice. The use of interpreters in psychotherapy is not specifically addressed in the RID Code of Ethics, though several statements could relate to the therapy situation. Quoting directly from the RID Code of Ethics (1979): Even seemingly unimportant information could be damaging in the wrong hands. Therefore . . . interpreter transliterators must not say anything about any assignment . . . If the interpreter/transliterator's own feelings interfere with rendering the message accurately, he/ she shall withdraw from the situation, (emphasis added) These statements seem to leave enough leeway for the unusual dynamics of the therapy situation to allow for therapist/interpreter discussions of the interpreter's feelings and reactions . Specifically, the therapist is a professional as well, acting in accordance with the American Psychological Association's Code of Ethics and is certainly not the "wrong hands" referred to by the RID. Secondly, the purpose of discussing these feelings with the interpreters would be to address transference and countertransference issues. There is an important distinction between this and the issue of "feelings interfer(ing) with rendering the message accurately." Although these interpretations can be used to refute Dr. Harvey's assertion, the RID Code of Ethics still contains several unrealistic statements concerning the interpreter's "personal involvement": A.A.D. I ¡une 1983 371 Comments, Questions, and Answers He/she shall not become personally involved . . . (one should possess) the ability to prove oneself unbiased . . . the interpreter/transliterator may not become personally involved in the proceedings. These goals are admittedly desirable; however , even the most experienced interpreter cannot devoid him/herself from personal feelings about the interpreting situation, particularly when it involves the emotion-laden content of most therapy sessions. Furthermore, these feelings will influence the dynamics of the therapy situation itself, whether the interpreter is consciously aware of them or not; a viewpoint which is shared by many schools of psychological thought. It is therefore imperative that these important influences be explored and addressed directly, rather than...

The validity of psychotherapy1

How good is psychotherapy as a tool of research into human nature? There is an orthodox defence of it as a research tool, which relies on showing that interpretations are true of the patient when they satisfy certain criteria. This defence is examined and rejected. The reply is considered that an interpretation which ‘keeps things moving’ is true, or an approximation to the truth. This reply is rejected by comparing and contrasting an interpretation in psychotherapy with one from brainwashing sessions. Two suppositions about psychotherapy (which weaken its discovery powers) are deliberately adopted — the suppositions that the material produced is ‘perspective’ and ‘method’ dependent. An unorthodox defence of psychotherapy is then offered — by means of a watery sense of ‘discover’. This enables us to outline a weak sense in which psychotherapy is a valid enterprise, but one which is still strong enough for research purposes.

The tentative interpretation in psychotherapy.

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article ArticlesNo AccessThe Tentative Interpretation in PsychotherapyA. H. Chapman, M.D.A. H. ChapmanForth Worth, TexasSearch for more papers by this author, M.D.Published Online:30 Apr 2018https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.1952.6.4.677AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail PDFThis content is only available as a PDF. Access content To read the fulltext, please use one of the options below to sign in or purchase access. Personal login Institutional Login Sign in via OpenAthens Purchase Save for later Item saved, go to cart PPV Articles - APT - American Journal of Psychotherapy $35.00 Add to cart PPV Articles - APT - American Journal of Psychotherapy Checkout Please login/register if you wish to pair your device and check access availability. Not a subscriber? Subscribe Now / Learn More PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5 library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development. Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.). FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited byThe Psychiatric Quarterly, Vol. 36, No. 1-4Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol. 11, No. 3 Volume 6Issue 4 1952, pp. 673–856Pages 677-682 Metrics PDF download History Published online 30 April 2018 Published in print 1 October 1952