The role of interpreters in art psychotherapy settings: Understanding the way art therapists deal with their need for language interpreters in therapeutic work with their clients and their experience of that

摘要

This research is an attempt to explore the experience of art therapists’ work with interpreters in their clinical settings with non-English speaking clients. Since only in year 2014, 624,000 people immigrated to the UK (http://www.ons.gov.uk), more extensive use of interpreters for psychotherapy became inevitable. However, the presence of interpreters in all psychotherapeutic settings has been considered and there is a consensus that this phenomenon is a complex and multi-faceted experience.udTo acquire an in-depth understanding of this phenomenon, art therapists’ account about their feelings and viewpoints towards their experience with interpreters has been considered. This resulted in emergence of several theoretical themes; I was able to conclude that despite some difficulties and reluctance that some authors expressed in their studies, (a few of these being confirmed by some of the participant art therapists in this study), no one has declined the need for interpreters at some points when clients have difficulty using English language to communicate with therapists. Further to this, in the literatures and participants’ interviews, the obstacles and difficulties that may face therapists have been highlighted along with suggestions and recommendations to overcome them.