ABSTRACT
Most therapists are anxious about working with interpreters in therapy. Judith Herman reflects that in therapy with survivors of political violence, whether gender-based abuse or torture and/or conflict, the therapist is called upon to bear witness to a crime and this involves being in solidarity with a survivor. The process of the translation allows the therapist more time to think and reflect on interventions, and it can help pace a session with a traumatized individual. A study by Miller and colleagues on the role of interpreters in psychological therapy with refugees found that it was common for clients to initially form a stronger attachment to the interpreter than the therapist. It was noted that once the relationship between interpreter and client was established, clients were then able to build a therapeutic alliance with their therapist. For refugee clients, the context of therapy has the potential to offer some insight into the new world around them.
