Development of a bilingual interpreter program: An alternative model for Spanish-speaking services (original) (raw)

This article traces the development and growth of an innovative program designed to help English-speaking therapists evaluate and treat Spanish-speaking patients. The difficulties and successes encountered in implementing a bilingual interpreter program in a major Hispanic community are described. Specific issues examined in the process of psychotherapy with interpreters include the roles of language proficiency, language recall, and language distortion; the use of untrained interpreters; the role of psychological education; and transference problems in a triadic interaction. It is argued that the training and use of bilingual interpreters is an effective and feasible alternative model for providing Spanishspeaking services.