Not getting lost in translation: establishing a working alliance with co-workers and interpreters

TL;DRAbstract

An interpreter is booked with one day’s notice by a practitioner in order to carry out a mental health assessment with a client from an ethnic minority referred by her GP. The interpreter arrives prior to the client’s first appointment and the practitioner meets them both for the first time in the waiting room where they are talking animatedly. Having an interpreter present in a consultation with service user/s changes the boundaries and relational dynamics of the therapeutic work. How this is managed is dependent on the range of views held by the practitioner and the interpreter about the interpreter’s role. Co-working relationships develop over time, as does developing a familiarity with each other’s work. Frequently, mechanisms for booking an interpreter from an outside agency do not allow for this to happen easily. In a co-worker model, establishing trust between the practitioner and interpreter could be seen as an important precursor and contributor to building of trust with the c

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