Typology of Attitudes among Mental Health Interpreters: When Neutral Means Proactive

Background: Health care accessibility in “hyper diverse” societies passes through interpretation services. The question of the place interpreters can and must take between the patient and the practitioner during mental health consultations is crucial. The literature on medical interpreting conveys a stereotyped practitioner’s representation, in which interpreters are seen as a linguistic conduit. The objective of our study was to question this stereotype.

Method: Twenty-three mental health practitioners agreed to a semi-structured interview on their perception of interpreters. The mean age was 46.35 years (SD=9.90; range=31-66), and 18 were female. They had been practising for an average of 17.22 years (SD=10.27; range=4-36). Interviews were transcribed and analysed using a Weberian typology. It allows reducing the complexity of participants’ discourse while preserving the nuances in their conceptualization of the interpreter. The aim of this study was not to describe the “ideal” interpreter, but rather to understand which interpreter traits are favourable –or not– for the practitioners.

Results: The typology underlined eight interpreter traits that foster a professional interpreter-practitioner relationship and nine that compromise it. The results gave a concrete portrait that depicts interpreter neutrality as a powerful driver in the practitioner-interpreter relationship. Practitioners also agreed that interpreters must be able to take their place in the consultation process, knowing when to impose themselves and adapt the practitioner or client’s discourse. Navigating through such situations without provoking the practitioner’s distrust requires a special combination of hard and soft skills.

Discussion: The Typology of Attitudes Among Mental Health Interpreters provides a consensual vocabulary that both practitioners and interpreters can use to develop their professional relationship. It also confirms the importance of the ongoing conceptual reorganization in the field—in connection with the notions of interpreter’s neutrality, professionalism and control, for example.