The other evening I was teaching a class of beginner medical interpreters and, when discussing impartiality in interpreting, I asked students for some examples of potentially contentious topics in medicine. Among the first replies, came mentions of mental health’. “It is a taboo subject in my culture”, shared one of the students. Indeed, it’s a complicated topic in many cultures. As I am writing this post, the 2024 Olympics are happening and Simone Biles just won a gold medal at yet another gymnastics event. But back in 2021, when she withdrew from the gymnastics team finals at the Tokyo Games to focus on her mental health, Simone drew heavy criticism for prioritizing her mental health instead of ‘pushing through’ or ‘toughing it out’. In daily life, I heard people say things like ‘I don’t have time for mental health’ and ‘Depression is a privilege when you don’t have more serious things to worry about”. Fortunately, there is a growing awareness of the connection between mental health, physical health and the quality of our lives, not least because of role models like Simone Biles openly sharing about their struggles – and triumphs – and modelling prioritizing taking care of themselves over sweeping things under the carpet and hoping they go away. In fact, she partially credited her therapy sessions for her historical performance – sharing that she met with her therapist at 7 am during her time in Paris (the early time necessitated by the time difference).
Now, let’s bring this back to medical interpreting! It is important for medical interpreters to learn about mental health because they will likely find themselves interpreting in various encounters where mental health will be discussed – from primary care appointments, to trauma counselling, group therapy and even such settings as dialysis care, transplant medicine and oncology. Understanding common mental health conditions, common diagnostic tools and treatments will help you interpret more accurately and compassionately. Preparing for interpreting assignments involves knowing the specific terminology and cultural nuances related to mental health, which ensures clear and effective communication between the patient and healthcare provider. Additionally, dealing with emotionally intense situations can be challenging for interpreters, so understanding mental health will also help you recognize the importance of your own self-care, preventing burnout and maintaining your well-being (read more about self-care for medical interpreters here). The collection of resources below will help you with all of the above!
👩💻 Mental Health Interpreting Courses & Tutorials
- Mental Health Interpreter Training produced by Kelly (Grzech) Henriquez, a Spanish interpreter and my wonderful interpreter trainer colleague at Americans Against Language Barriers (AALB). There are currently 5 lectures available:
- The Role of a Mental Health Interpreter
- Interpreting in the Mental Health Care System in the USA
- Mental Healthcare Interpreting Techniques
- Mental Health Terminology
- Trauma-Informed Interpreting
🎙️ Podcasts & videos about mental health
Podcasts
- Lost Patients podcast by NPR – “Lost Patients” is a six-part docuseries exploring the challenges of treating serious mental illness through the lenses of one city (Seattle), looking at its past, present, and future. Through real stories from patients, families, and healthcare workers, the series offers a practical look at how we ended up in this situation and what we can do to improve it.
- Latinx Therapy – Latinx Therapy is a weekly podcast that talks about mental health topics affecting Latinx people. It aims to clear up myths and explain real diagnoses. Each episode features discussions with Latinx mental health professionals, doctors, social media influencers, entrepreneurs, and others on cultural and stigmatized themes.
- The Mindful Muslim Podcast – The Mindful Muslim is a podcast that hosts open, and honest conversations on various topics within the sphere of mental health, psychology, Islam and spirituality.
- Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel – Every Monday morning step into the office of iconic psychotherapist Esther Perel and listen in as real people in search of insight bare the raw, intimate, and profound details of their stories. From breakups and open relationships to workplace conflicts and fractures in the family, it’s a place to hear our own stories reflected in the lives of others.
- Subject to Interpretation Podcast: What Is Mental Health Interpreting? This is a single episode about mental health interpreting, rather than a whole podcast devoted to mental health.
- The Art of Self-Care for Interpreters: Exploring Strategies with Gabriela Bocanete – This is another single episode devoted to the interpreter’s well-being
✴️ For more podcast recommendations for medical interpreters, check out this blog post – and this one for Russian interpreters. ✴️
Educational videos from TED and TED-Ed
The struggle of mental health playlist by TED: This playlist contains twelve Ted Talks on the topic of mental health – many of these are riveting first-person accounts of people living with mental health conditions such as schizophrenia and clinical depression. The highlights for me were “The voices in my head” and “How electroshock therapy changed me”
Other videos from TED and TED-Ed:
- What is Depression?
- How do antidepressants work?
- The psychology of post-traumatic stress disorder
- What is bipolar disorder?
- What causes panic attacks, and how can you prevent them?
- What is schizophrenia?
- The truth about electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
- Why you should talk about your anxiety at work.
- How to increase your happiness
- How to practice emotional first aid
📰 Articles , listicles and glossaries
- Everything you need to know about mental health
- Mental health – this article contains many links to learn more about each individual component of mental health
- Guide to Psychiatry and Counseling: article 1 and article 2 and article 3
- Antipsychotic Medications: article 1 and article 2
- Different types of antidepressants
- Types of psychological disorders
- Mental Health Interpreting Guidelines for Interpreters: Guidelines on definitions, protocols, ethics, practices, self-care and content knowledge for interpreters working in mental health settings. Prepared by: Dr Jim Hlavac, Translation and Interpreting Studies, Monash University (2017)
- Rethinking Interpreter Functions in Mental Health Services by
Doris F. Chang, Ph.D. dfchang@nyu.edu, Elaine Hsieh, Ph.D., J
📚 Books about mental health
- The Center Cannot Hold, My Journey through Madness, is written by the amazing Elyn Saks, who is a Professor of Law, Psychology, and Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at the University of Southern California Gould Law School – and is living with schizophrenia. I listened to this as an audiobook, and the portions where Dr. Saks describes her psychotic episodes proved to be excellent practice material for shadowing and consecutive interpreting.
- My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward by Mark Lukach is a memoir about living with someone with a mental illness – and watching his wife both struggle with and manage her bipolar disorder.
- The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk M.D – Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, a leading expert on trauma, has worked with survivors of trauma – from veterans to violent crime victims for over 30 years. In “The Body Keeps the Score,” he explains how trauma changes the body and brain, affecting pleasure, self-control, and trust. He discusses new treatments like neurofeedback, meditation, sports, drama, and yoga that help the brain heal. Based on his and other experts’ research, the book shows the power of relationships to both harm and heal, offering hope for recovery.
- Good Morning, Monster by Catherine Gildiner – In this engaging narrative, therapist Catherine Gildiner presents five of her most memorable patients. These include a Chinese immigrant musician with sexual dysfunction, a young woman abandoned by her father in an isolated cottage, and a workaholic with a neglectful, narcissistic mother who greeted her with “Good morning, Monster.” Each patient’s story unfolds as a mystery, revealing deep-rooted issues over time. Gildiner’s account is moving, insightful, and often funny. “Good Morning, Monster” gives a behind-the-scenes look into therapy, showing how it can heal even the deepest wounds.
- Maybe You Should Talk To Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb – Have you ever wondered what your therapist is really thinking? Now you can find out in this funny and surprising book that takes you behind the scenes of a therapist’s world. Meet Lori Gottlieb, a compassionate therapist with clients facing all kinds of problems. There’s a struggling new parent, an older woman feeling hopeless, a self-destructive young alcoholic, and a terminally ill newlywed. Then there’s John, a narcissistic TV producer who seems like a jerk. Over a year, they all make progress. But Gottlieb is also a patient, seeking therapy for her own life-changing event. Mixing her clients’ stories with her own therapy sessions, “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone” is personal, revealing, funny, and wise, offering a rare look into the private world of therapy.
- What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo – By age thirty, Stephanie Foo seemed successful: she had her dream job at This American Life and a loving boyfriend. But she was struggling with panic attacks and crying at work every day. After years of wondering what was wrong, she was diagnosed with complex PTSD, a condition from continuous trauma over years. Foo’s parents had abandoned her after years of abuse. Her diagnosis showed how her past still affected her health, relationships, and career. Finding few resources, Foo set out to heal herself and explore the limited literature on C-PTSD. In this personal and well-researched book, Foo interviews scientists and psychologists and tries various therapies. She returns to San Jose, California, , to investigate the effects of immigrant trauma on the community, and uncovers family secrets in Malaysia, learning how trauma can be inherited. She discovers that you can’t move on from trauma, but you can learn to live with it.
- Mental Health Interpreting: Unique Challenges, Practical Solutions by Arianna M. Aguilar – Mental health interpreting is an important subset of study, since the issues encountered intersect with both medical and legal interpreting theory, practice and Code of Ethics. It involves complex and intimate interpersonal communication with individuals who may act, speak or think in unusual ways, and there are laws that may require the interpreter to break confidentiality or intervene. The objective of this book is to help interpreters build upon their expertise and prepare themselves to better interpret in the mental health field.
🔖For more book recommendations for medical interpreters, check out this blog post – and this one for Russian interpreters. 🔖
🙌 I would love to hear from you! What are your favorite books/podcasts/resources about mental health? Share in the comments below or by reaching out to me using the Contact tab in the menu at the top of the page.
✨ New! I just launched two self-paced CEU courses, accredited for CEUs by CCHI, NBCMI/IMIA and WA DSHS. Learn more and register here!
✉️ Want to get in touch? Contact me
👉 More from the Medical Interpreter Blog:
- For book recommendations for medical interpreters, click here.
- For podcast recommendations for medical interpreters, see here.
- For recommendations of TV shows for medical interpreters, click here.
- To learn about self-care for medical interpreters, click here.
- To learn about what compassion means for medical interpreters, click here.
- For resources related to idioms for medical idioms click here and here.
- For a collection of practice resources for medical interpreters, click here.
- For resources related to note-taking, click here.
- For practice activities for developing your note-taking skills, click here.
- For ideas on glossary building, click here.
- For recommendations for Russian-language podcasts and books click here and here.
- For emergency room interpreting: essential knowledge and preparedness, click here.
- To learn about interpreting in spiritual care encounters, click here.
- For a collection of resources related to virology, click here.
- For a collection of resources related to respiratory care, click here.
- For resources related to cancer care, click here.
- To learn about interpreting humor and jokes, click here.
- To learn about other interpreter blogs, podcasts etc., click here.
- To learn about pre-session for medical interpreters, click here.
🙋♀️ More about the author: About Yuliya Speroff
The Medical Interpreter Blog is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
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