2nd Edition
Working with Interpreters in Mental Health
Section 1 Introduction
Chapter 1: Introduction: Setting the scene
Kate Thompson, Rachel Tribe & Hitesh Raval
Chapter 2: Reflections of an interpreter working in mental health settings and the impact on her practice later as a counselling psychologist working in partnership with interpreters
Farkhondeh Farsimadan
Chapter 3: Service Users’ Perspective on Receiving Talking Therapy with Interpreters: opportunities, challenges, and adjustments to practice
Chapter 4: Working as an interpreter in mental health
Phillipe Muriel
Section 2 Theory
Chapter 5: Applying theoretical frameworks to therapeutic work with bilingual coworkers
Hitesh Raval
Chapter 6: Speaking with the silenced: working with refugee survivors of torture
Nimisha Patel
Chapter 7: The power and agency of the mental health interpreter
Anne Delizée
Chapter 8: Guidance on Working with interpreters in Mental Health
Rachel Tribe & Kate Thompson
Section 3 Practice
Chapter 9: Working with Interpreters – Including their Voices
Phillip Messent
Chapter 10: Clinicians’ experience of working with interpreters in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services and secondary care in England
Chloe Gerskowitch, Hannah Sela & Rachel Tribe
Chapter 11: Interpreter-mediated assessment in secondary mental health services
Jordan Bamford, Seri Abraham, Mustafa Alachkar, & Adeola Akinola
Chapter 12: The Third Wheel? Exploring the challenges of working with sign language interpreters in mental healthcare
Yvonne Waddell
Chapter 13: Working with interpreters in trauma settings
Ann Salter, Huda M. Abubaker Benyounis, and Laura Kemmis
Chapter 14: Working with interpreters, adolescents, and young adults in a non-residential therapeutic community
Bitenge Makula, Sheila Melzak, Kevin Perkins, and Ferelyth Watt
Chapter 15: Children’s, interpreters’, and group members’ voices and positioning in multilingual multi-family groups and family therapy
Natasha Nascimento
Chapter 16: Learning from research into the experiences of interpreters working in a medium-secure forensic mental health unit
Lana Molle and Rachel Tribe
Chapter 17: Working with an interpreter when working with older adults
Maureen McIntosh and Afreen Huq
Chapter 18: Interpreter-mediated neuropsychological assessment
Clara Calia, T. Rune Nielsen, Sanne Franzen, Tamlyn Watermeyer and Naaheed Mukadam
Chapter 19: Interpreting in a humanitarian setting
Christian Harkensee
Chapter 20: Remote working with interpreters – the opportunities and pitfalls of offering language-mediated mental health work online
Kate Thompson
Section 4 Training, supervision, and support
Chapter 21: An interprofessional approach to training clinicians and interpreters
Biyu (Jade) Du and Anna Chaddock
Chapter 22: Training issues for interpreters
Rachel Tribe and Phillipe Muriel
Chapter 23: Supervision and support when clinicians and interpreters work together
Rachel Tribe and Claire Marshall
Chapter 24: Setting up a mental health spoken language interpreting service – principles and implementation
Beverley Costa
Chapter 25: Conclusions
Rachel Tribe, Kate Thompson and Hitesh Raval
Biography
Rachel Tribe is based at the School of Psychology, University of East London, and the Centre for Psychiatry and Mental Health, Queen Mary, University of London.
Kate Thompson is a consultant counselling psychologist with more than two decades of experience providing psychological support to clients and staff in a range of settings.
Hitesh Raval is a clinical psychologist and systemic practitioner with previous clinical work experience in child and family services where interpreting was an essential part of the work.
‘This essential book offers a comprehensive exploration of the collaboration between mental health professionals and interpreters across diverse settings. By bridging theory and practice, it sheds light on critical issues like disempowerment, agency, and the complexities of working in primary care, forensic units, and humanitarian contexts. With insightful chapters on trauma, neuropsychology, and child mental health, as well as guidance on training and supervision, this book is a valuable resource for professionals navigating multilingual mental health care. A must-read for anyone committed to improving accessibility and equity in mental health services.’
Irina Sanders, Chairperson, Association of Interpreters and Translators
‘This book brings together an impressive range of experts in the field of working psychologically through interpreters. Professor Tribe and colleagues have ensured that the contributions cover many clinical specialties across the lifespan where therapists might need to take into account the challenges and opportunities that work in this area presents. The contributors have ensured that there is a helpful combination of practical information for the front line clinician and thoughtful consideration of the theoretical and contextual issues that shape work in this area. This book is an essential and unique resource for any clinician working with people through interpreters.’
Dr Andrew Beck, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, former President and Honorary Fellow of the BABCP
'In many cultures guests are welcomed and revered. Other cultures see workers as temporary arrivals and guest workers. In the past two decades there have been large numbers of people migrating within the same country and also across national boundaries. Various factors may explain higher rates of psychiatric disorders among migrants but it is also true that they are often reluctant to seek help either because of stigma or because services are hard to access and unknown, not culturally aware or insensitive. Lack of fluency in the host language makes it difficult to seek help even if a person is keen to do so. This second edition of a well-regarded volume makes us aware of working with interpreters across cultures. Congratulations to the editors for bringing together a wonderful group of experts. Every mental health professional will benefit from reading this volume and following its advice, which will help improve engagement and outcomes in mental health settings. Good clear communication and mutual understanding are at the core of human interactions and humanity as a whole.'
Dinesh Bhugra, President World Psychiatric Association 2014-2017, British Medical Association 2018 – 2019, Professor Emeritus, Mental Health & Cultural Diversity, IoPPN
'The world has become a global village with multiple languages spoken in different parts of the globe. One of the most significant factors restricting access to mental health services for those newly arrived in a country is limited language proficiency. The services provided by interpreters thus assume a key importance for delivering mental health services in multicultural settings. Interpreters also require information, training and support about how best to work with health and care professionals. Working with Interpreters in Mental Health enhances the prospect of successful service delivery by emphasising the importance of meeting the diverse needs of multicultural populations. It is a meaningful addition to the literature for mental health clinicians including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers psychiatric nurses and GPs, and it is hoped that a wider range of health professionals including health service managers and commissioners of interpreting services will also find this book helpful for their work.'
Dr Afzal Javed, Consultant Psychiatrist, Immediate Past President World Psychiatric Association
'This important book is aimed at wide readership, and is particularly relevant to those working in mental health services, either as an interpreter or as a clinician working with interpreters. The book will be beneficial to interpreters, commissioners and managers with responsibility for policy and service planning, as well as clinicians working in primary and secondary care roles, in forensic settings, family therapy services, with children and adolescents as well as those working internationally. The book summarises current thinking on best practice so that individuals working in the field of interpreting as well as clinical staff may be more inclusive and better meet the diverse needs of service users.'
Roman Raczka, President of the BPS 2024-2025
