Reflections on working with interpreters in trauma-informed practice

By Rose Okoye and Hannah Davies

Rose Okoye is a Therapeutic Practitioner at The For Baby’s Sake Trust, where she has worked for over nine years. She began her journey as a Programme Officer, a role that provided her with valuable experience working with children affected by domestic abuse. Her academic background includes an undergraduate degree in Law and a Master’s degree in Public International Law. Rose also has experience working in prisons with young offenders, which has further informed her practice in supporting vulnerable individuals and families.

Hannah Davies is a Therapeutic Practitioner and doctoral candidate with a background spanning social care, criminal justice and mental health. She began her career supporting children in residential placements, before moving to work in end-of-life care and prison settings before qualifying as a social worker and later specialising in adolescent mental health. Her work has consistently been shaped by questions of power, access and equity, particularly in how people experience services and institutions. Her doctoral research at Universitat Pompeu Fabra will explore these themes through interpreter-mediated encounters, examining how language, status and power shape access, participation and people’s experiences of support.

For Baby’s Sake supports parents who are experiencing domestic abuse, or who are concerned about their own abusive behaviours, to break cycles of abuse and give their babies the best start in life. The trauma-informed, whole-family programme works with parents from pregnancy until their baby’s second birthday, keeping the baby at the centre of the work.

For some families, taking part in the programme involves working with an interpreter. This can bring additional considerations for practitioners, particularly when exploring emotionally challenging content or using visual approaches such as Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) and guided imagery within the Inner Child module. This article shares practitioner reflections and learning from working with interpreters and parents. It explores what has helped to support meaningful engagement, the importance of adapting the pace of sessions, and the value of working collaboratively with interpreters as partners in the therapeutic process.

 

Learnings from working with interpreters and parents during For Baby’s Sake

In practice, there have been new observations and learning from working with interpreters and parents in the For Baby’s Sake programme. We have been reflecting on what has helped support and broaden understanding of therapeutic sessions whilst using interpreters, and what this means for the families we work with.

Our first observation is that, on pacing of the sessions, there needs to be an acknowledgement that sessions may take more time to cover than usual, as the material is being shared twice over and likewise with responses. This also allows for consideration of the need for additional time for both the interpreter and the parent to process the information, translate it, hear it, and sometimes have space to process more complex feelings.

It is important to acknowledge that interpreter-mediated sessions may require additional time compared with standard sessions. Programme content is effectively communicated twice – first by the practitioner and then by the interpreter – and responses are similarly conveyed through interpretation. This extended process allows both the interpreter and the parent sufficient time to listen, translate, process, and respond to the material. Such additional time is particularly important when sessions involve emotionally challenging or trauma-related content, ensuring that neither understanding nor emotional processing is rushed.

 

Key reflections

The Inner Child module of the programme includes guided imagery sessions. Guided imagery and other visual techniques can present specific challenges in interpreter-mediated work, as certain therapeutic concepts can quite literally become lost in translation. This is especially true given that different images and conversations can carry different meanings across cultures, and individuals will have diverse understandings, beliefs, and traditions regarding memory, imagination, and spirituality.

Remaining curious about these differences is vital to maintaining culturally sensitive, trauma-informed practice and to ensuring the intervention remains safe, meaningful, and culturally relevant. Collaboration with the interpreter can support this process by providing additional cultural insight and by meaningfully including the interpreter as a partner in the work. It is also important to be curious with the parent around what the guided imagery means for them and how they want to be guided through the session.

The consistent use of the same interpreter created a safe, predictable, and therapeutically congruent environment for the parent in this case and allowed her to engage fully with the programme material without having to relive and repeat traumatic and sensitive information.

The pacing of sessions and inclusion of the interpreter in the therapeutic work, as an equal partner, not just an observer, allowed for deeper reflections and connection.

 

Practical takeaways for other professionals

The work completed highlights the importance of adapting therapeutic interventions to meet the needs of families who require interpreter support. Effective interpreter-mediated practice extends beyond accurate translation; it requires thoughtful planning, flexibility in pacing, cultural humility, and recognition of the interpreter as an integral member of the therapeutic process.

Consistency in interpreter provision, collaboration, and sensitivity to cultural differences can help the intervention remain both trauma-informed and culturally responsive, while supporting the parent’s engagement with emotionally challenging material.

In summary, for professionals working with interpreters in their own trauma-informed practice or therapeutic sessions:

• Allow more time. Interpreter-mediated sessions may take longer because information and responses are being communicated twice. Build in time for listening, translation, processing and responding.
• Don’t rush emotional processing. Additional time can be particularly important when exploring complex, sensitive or trauma-related content.
• Consider consistency of interpreters. Where possible, using the same interpreter can help create a safe, predictable and therapeutically congruent environment, reducing the need for a parent to repeatedly share sensitive information.
• Treat the interpreter as a partner. Interpreters can bring valuable cultural insight and should be meaningfully included in the therapeutic work, rather than viewed solely as someone who translates.
• Stay curious about cultural meaning. Images, memories, imagination and spirituality can hold different meanings across cultures.
• Avoid assumptions and explore what programme content means to the individual parent.
• Adapt visual and therapeutic approaches. Guided imagery and other visual techniques may require additional explanation or a different approach when working through an interpreter.
• Be curious with the parent. Ask how they understand and experience an activity, including how they would like to be guided through it, rather than assuming that an exercise will have the same meaning for everyone.
• Maintain trauma-informed practice. Flexibility, pacing, predictability and choice can help parents engage safely with emotionally challenging material.
• Remember that interpretation is more than translation. Effective interpreter-mediated practice requires collaboration, cultural humility and thoughtful consideration of how the intervention is experienced by the parent.

Closing thoughts

These reflections demonstrate that when interpreters are meaningfully included and have an understanding of the programme rather than being viewed solely as translators, they can significantly enhance communication, strengthen the therapeutic alliance, and improve the accessibility and effectiveness of parenting interventions for linguistically diverse families.