Expression and interpretation of emotions in multilingual psychotherapy: A literature review

Abstract

This review aimed at presenting the findings of 19 original studies that were published in the period from 2000 to 2022 in order to outline the current state of the art in the field of emotion communication (i.e., expressing and interpreting emotions) in multilingual psychotherapy. This analysis involves in particular the studies that investigate multilingual phenomena (e.g., code-switching and language-mixing) that occur during psychotherapeutic sessions when client and therapist can speak more than one language, as well as the articles that research emotion communication in this multilingual setting. With this in mind, the articles selected for this review are divided into two main categories: linguistic phenomena in multilingual psychotherapy and emotion communication in multilingual psychotherapy. Results of the studies in the current analysis reveal that code-switching remains one of the main linguistic phenomena that arises in the area of multilingual psychotherapy. Switching languages in therapy tends to be considered as beneficial for both client and therapist. Besides, findings suggest a connection between speaking L1/LX and one's identity (e.g., feeling different depending on the language). Additionally, studies that investigate emotion communication in multilingual psychotherapy show that an individual's first language (L1) is predominantly viewed as more emotionally charged than their language(s) learned later in life (LX). However, some studies also demonstrate that the relationship between L1 and LX is more fluid and context-dependent than it has traditionally been regarded.Propositions are given for future research in the field of emotion communication in multilingual psychotherapy.

‘My recovery is in English’: Clients' language choices in multilingual psychotherapy

“…In accordance with the findings of these studies, along with a recent review by Verkerk et al. (2023), one of the main subjects in the area of multilingual psychotherapy remains code‐switching, followed by emotional charge of L1/LX, and the influence of L1/LX on a person's sense of self. These subjects, however, are mostly represented in the studies that involve psychotherapists.…”