CMMR - The Bilingual Forum for Therapists and Interpreters
The Birkbeck Centre for Multilingual & Multicultural Research (CMMR) and the charity Mothertongue hosted The Bilingual Forum for Therapists and Interpreters which took place at Birkbeck on June 4th 2015
The Birkbeck Centre for Multilingual & Multicultural Research (CMMR) and the charity Mothertongue hosted The Bilingual Forum for Therapists and Interpreters which took place at Birkbeck on June 4th 2015. The event was attended by 36 people who came from different roles, organisations and even countries. One of the speakers Dr Simo K. Määttä had come from Finland to present his talk on Language, Emotions, and the Interpreter's Agency when interpreting sexual violence.
Dr Simo K. Määttä is a Senior Lecturer in French at the University of Helsinki, Finland, where he teaches mostly translation and interpreting courses. His current research interests include public service interpreting, translation of dialect, and hate speech. He is also a public service interpreter and translator.
The second presentation was delivered by Dr Piotr Kuhiwczak –who for over twenty years has researched and taught translation and interpreting with a particular focus on the role of languages in conflict zones and in concentration camps. He joined the British Red Cross Refugee Services in Leicester in 2010 where he works as a caseworker, immigration advisor, advocate and interpreter trainer. His presentation focussed on what interpreters need from therapists when working in emergency situations.
The third presentation was given by Liz Harris who started her career with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as an Urdu interpreter working in Indian Administered Kashmir for three years. She now sources interpreters of over 20 languages for the ICRC's field operations in war and armed conflicts around the world. Her presentation looked at the approach taken by ICRC to utilise neutral interpreters in crisis and war zones.
Through feedback gathered one attendee said he had really enjoyed Simo’s talk which gave him food for thought on ethical stress, burnout and vicarious trauma.
Another attendee said that the forum had helped her understand how valuable the role of an interpreter is for someone unable to speak the language, that it could change people’s lives when in distress or traumatised.
An interpreter said ‘I will feel more confident in asking agencies for support when dealing with distressing cases e.g. victims of trauma/violence’
A therapist said ‘I continue to become more interested and fascinated with research in this area. I’m always inspired to hear other therapists’ and interpreters’ stories of working across languages at these forum meetings.’
The next Forum will be in November 2015