Psychotherapy across Languages: beliefs, attitudes and practices of monolingual and multilingual therapists with their multilingual patients

Abstract

The present study investigates beliefs, attitudes and practices of 101 monolingual and multilingual therapists in their interactions with multilingual patients. We adopted a mixed-method approach, using an on-line questionnaire with 27 closed questions which were analysed quantitatively and informed questions in interviews with one monolingual and two multilingual therapists. A principal component analysis yielded a four-factor solution accounting for 41% of the variance. The first dimension, which explained 17% of variance, reflects therapists' attunement towards their bilingual patients (i.e., attunement versus collusion). Further analysis showed that the 18 monolingual therapists differed significantly from their 83 bi-or multilingual peers on this dimension. The follow up interviews confirmed this result. Recommendations based on these findings are made for psychotherapy training and supervision to attend to a range of issues including: the psychological and therapeutic functions of multi/bilingualism; practice in making formulations in different languages; the creative therapeutic potential of the language gap.

Análisis de las competencias en segundo idioma en los programas de psicología colombianos

“…Como señalan McDaniel, Grus, Cubic, Hunter y Kearney (2014), aún en atención primaria, los psicólogos deben poder consultar fuentes de conocimiento actuales, científicas y globales, como también desarrollar relaciones interprofesionales, para las cuales el dominio de segundo idioma es fundamental. En aquellos casos en los que el psicólogo labora en contextos internacionales, su competencia en el idioma inglés es fundamental, dada su amplia difusión en el mundo y a que se ha encontrado que la correspondencia en el idioma utilizado entre terapeuta y paciente contribuye al resultado positivo de la terapia (Bager-Charleson, Dewaele, Costa & Kasap, 2017;Costa & Dewaele, 2012).…”

Handling Communication Skills: The Holistic Approach

“…Communities become interdependent by the day due to shared histories, global needs and situations (Davenport 2022). Such interdependence requires effective, empathetic and focused communication; it also compels learning institutions and instructors to design language and communication courses which can empower learners for assertive communication to engender social cohesion and professional excellence (Costa & Dewaele 2012;Dynamic Signal n. d). Among others, interdependence has been spurred by Information Communication Technology (ICT), the sophistication of which also impacts learning systems (Prescott 2011;von Konsky 2012).…”

“…Global dynamics necessitate intermingling of the groups; increasingly, communication occurs on NNS-NSS basis, sometimes the notion of correctness not necessarily a priority but rather understanding. A world that possesses colonial histories labels human languages as dominant or minor, though each is a legitimate channel of communication and worldview (Costa & Dewaele 2012;Ngugi 2000). In formal learning contexts, the labelling effectively determines which language is a core subject and which becomes elective.…”