Spanish–English bilingual psychotherapists: Personal and professional language development and use.

Abstract

The rapid rise of the Spanish-speaking population in the United States has resulted in an increased demand for Spanish language mental health services. Yet little is known about the training needs of practitioners who provide those services. This qualitative study used in-depth telephone interviews to examine the experiences of 13 Spanish-English bilingual therapists, both native Spanish speakers and heritage speakers of Spanish, in their personal and professional language development and use. The phenomenological analysis highlighted the complexities of living in 2 worlds and providing psychological services in 2 languages. Participants reported that they often felt isolated and disconnected as they struggled to learn and use the 2 languages in their personal and professional lives. While the participants took pride in having the skills of speaking 2 languages and serving a community that is in need, all were aware of their limitations when working bilingually, as they had not received training to do so. Translating their own thoughts during the session, using technical vocabulary, and understanding the variations of Spanish were particularly challenging for the participants who were heritage speakers.

Multilingual Clients’ Experience of Psychotherapy

“…This is consistent with the experiences of therapists in Verdinelli and Biever (2009). These therapists did engage in code-switching (CS), but only 2 of the 13 participants had learned formally about CS.…”

“…The therapists also believed that, although there were concerns about possible collusion, the benefits were that they were able to help clients to feel more connected and less isolated. Similar views emerged from Verdinelli and Biever's (2009) research with 13 SpanishEnglish bilingual psychotherapists. The psychotherapists reported that they felt more connected to clients with whom they shared their native language (L1) and that this had a positive effect on the therapy.…”

“…Although Pitta et al (1978) regard CS in therapy to be a useful tool, they caution that the client can choose languages which support their resistance to the therapy. This was a view shared by some therapists in Verdinelli and Biever (2009). Pitta et al (1978) suggest that the dominant language has richer emotional structures which can capture greater richness of experience, while others feel that this language may not access the client's intellectual resources for making sense of experience and that the emotional potency of the L1 can impede cognitive processes.…”

“…The bilingual therapists interviewed in Verdinelli and Biever (2009) refer to their sense of living in two worlds and that each language establishes and maintains separate cultures. Pavlenko (2005), referring to the data on language preferences for emotion among 1569 multilinguals, noticed that for those who were still in the process of second language socialisation, expressing affect in that language felt a bit fake, like the 'emotions of a different person' (p. 134).…”

“…(p. 552) However, the emotional distancing linked to the use of the LX, which he calls the detachment effect, 'may facilitate the verbalization of highly charged material by clients who feel "protected" by the linguistic detachment '. (p. 552) More recently there has been an increase in research into the experiences of multilingual therapists providing therapy in a language in which they have not been trained (Verdinelli & Biever, 2009). However, very little research to date seems to have incorporated the voice and adopted the perspective of the multilingual clients (see however Espin, 2013).…”