Onsite Mental Health Interpreting: A Workshop for Professional Interpreters from MMHA's NT forum

MMHA recently hosted another mental health forum for people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, but this time for people living in the Northern Territory.

MMHA invited the State Liaison & Policy Coordinator from the Queensland Transcultural Mental Health Centre, Greg Turner, to present a special workshop titled: Onsite Mental Health Interpreting: A Workshop for Professional Interpreters, at the forum. Greg's workshop aimed to provide mental health and community workers with a better understanding of how to work with mental health interpreters to try and achieve the best possible clinical outcomes.

This workshop focused on on-site interpreting in situations where major and acute psychiatric presentations require accurate assessment and diagnosis in difficult situations, as well as within the various treatment programs provided by mental health services. Those who attended were very impressed and said they learnt a lot from Greg's presentation.

Many requested MMHA to upload Greg's powerpoint presentation that he used during his workshop. The key objectives from this workshop included obtaining a shared understanding of what constitutes an accurate interpretation, discussing the role of culture in language interpreting, understanding that language is embedded within culture and the need for culturally contextual interpretation and understanding the need for connotative interpretation in mental health settings and how this can be achieved.

Greg presented a collegial model of ‘interpreting within culture’.

If you wish to contact Greg Turner - please email him directly: Greg_Turner@health.qld.gov.au

Workshop: Onsite Mental Health Interpreting: A Workshop for Professional Interpreters

References:

Bot, H. (2005). Dialogue Interpreting in Mental Health. Amsterdam: Rodopi.

Buwalda, H. (2004). Basic Competencies for Mental Health Interpreting. Retrieved in  July, 2006 from www.asylumsupport.info/publications/mlshs/mentalhealth.htm 

Lipton, G., Arends, A., Bastian, K., Wright, B., & O’Hara, P. (2002). The Psychosocial Consequences Experienced by Interpreters in Relation to Working with Torture and trauma Clients: A West Australian Pilot Study. Synergy, Winter.

Miletic, T., Minas, H., Stolk, Y., Gabb, D., Klimidis, S., Piu, M. & Stankovska, M. (2005). Improving the Quality of Mental Health Interpreting in Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian transcultural Psychiatry Unit.

Miller, K., Martell, Z., Pazdirek, L., Caruth, M., & Lopez, D. (2005). The Role of Interpreters in Psychotherapy with refugees: An Exploratory Study. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 75(1), 27-39.

Northern DHB Support Agency Ltd. (2006). Curricula & Guidelines Development for Asian Interpreters & Mental Health Practitioners to work effectively together. Auckland: Northern DHB Support Agency Ltd.

Patel, N. (2003). Chapter 14, in Tribe, R. & Raval, H. (Eds) (2003). Working with Interpreters in Mental Health. Hove: Brunner-Routledge.

Swartz, L. (1998). Culture and Mental Health. A South African View. Cape Town, South Africa: Oxford University Press.

Westermeyer, J. (1989). The Psychiatric Care of Migrants: A Clinical Guide. Washington: American Psychiatry Press Inc.

Westermeyer, J. (1990). Working With An Interpreter in Psychiatric Assessment and Treatment. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 178(12): 745-749.

Westermeyer, J. & Janca, A. (1997). Language, culture and psychopathology: Conceptual and methodological issues. Transcultural Psychiatry, 34(3), 291-311.

Further reading:

Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators Inc. (2000). Code of Ethics. Canberra: AGPS.

Avery, M. (2001). The Role of the Health Care Interpreter: An evolving dialogue. The National Council on Interpretation in Health Care.

Baxter, H. & Cheng, L. (1996). Use of interpreters in individual psychotherapy. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 30(1), 153-156.

Becker, R, and R. Bowles. (2002).  Interpreters’ Experience of Working In a Triadic Psychotherapy Relationship With Survivors of Torture and Trauma: Some Thoughts on the Impact on Psychotherapy. In B. Raphael (ed) Diversity and Mental Health In Challenging Times. Sydney: Transcultural Mental Health Centre.

Blake, C. (2003). Ethical Considerations in Working with Culturally Diverse Populations: The Essential Role of Professional Interpreters. CPA Bulletin de I’APC, June, 21-23.

Bolton, J. (2002). The Third Presence: A psychiatrist’s Experience of Working With Non-English Speaking Patients and Interpreters. Transcultural Psychiatry. 39(1), 97-114.

Community Health Action Group (2004). Lost in Translation: A discussion paper on interpreting issues in health care settings in Queensland. Brisbane: Community Health Action Group

Demetriou, S. (1991). Interpreters and psychiatry. In I.H. Minas (Ed.), Cultural Diversity and Mental Health. Victorian Transcultural Psychiatry Unit: Melbourne.

Drennan, G. and L. Swartz. (2002) The Paradoxical Use of Interpreting in Psychiatry. Social Science and Medicine. 54: 1853-1866.

Eytan, A., Bischoff, A., Rrustemi, I., Durieux, S., Loutan, L., Gilbert, M., & Bovier, P. (2002). Screening of mental disorders in asylum-seekers from Kosovo. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 36(4), 499-503.

Farooq, S. & Fear, C. (2003). Working through interpreters. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 9, 104-109.

Kaufert, J. & Putsch, R. (1997). Communication through Interpreters in Healthcare: Ethical Dilemmas Arising from Differences in Class, Culture, Language, and Power. The Journal of Clinical Ethics, 8(1), 71-87.

Kirmayer, L.J., Young, A  and J.M. Robbins (1994). Symptom Attribution In Cultural Perspective. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 39 (Dec): 584-595.

Minas, H. Stankovska, M. & Ziguras, S. (2001). Working with Interpreters: Guidelines for Mental Health Professionals. Melbourne: The Victorian Transcultural Psychiatry Unit.

Pollard, R.Q. (1998). Mental Health Interpreting: A Mentored Curriculum. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester.

Tribe, R. & Raval, H. (Eds) (2003). Working with Interpreters in Mental Health. Hove: Brunner-Routledge.

Westermeyer, J. (1993). Cross-Cultural Assessment, In Gaw, A. (ed). Culture, Ethnicity and Mental Illness. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Press.