Therapy Using Interpreters: Questions on the Use of Interpreters in Therapeutic Settings for Monolingual Therapists

The use of sign language interpreters in mental health is a subject that has not received a great deal of attention in the literature in recent years. It is critical that interpreters be competent, but not much attention has been paid to other critical elements in the therapeutic triad, specifically what is required of clinicians in order to make therapy using interpreters work. This article explores some of those issues and makes specific recommendations regarding how it maximize effectiveness of this approach to bridging the gap between the need for mental health services and the supply of clinicians who are fluent in American Sign Language