Information for Interpreters

• A group of professionals trained in the NHS (accredited by the Health and Care Professions Council, HCPC). We work with people to help them understand and make sense of how they might feel, and experiences they have had. We talk about ways they can learn to cope, coping mechanisms they already have and help them find a way forward.
• We are trained to work with people of all ages and backgrounds but have chosen to specialise in working with people affected by certain medical conditions
• We are not psychiatrists, so we are not medically trained, do not prescribe medication or give a “diagnosis”.

People can be referred for help for many reasons and at any point, from cancer diagnosis to recovery. Their relatives and/or carers can also be referred to the service. Some reasons people might be referred include:

• Feeling worried
• Feeling low in mood
• Struggling to make decisions about treatment.

We are based at:

Department of Clinical Health Psychology

1st Floor Linda McCartney Centre

Royal Liverpool University Hospital

Prescot Street

Liverpool, L7 8XP

Contact details:

0151 706 3126

liverpoolcancerpsychology@nhs.net

• All appointments normally last about an hour
• In the initial appointment we aim to understand a patient’s difficulties and see whether meeting with a clinical psychologist might be useful for them
• Sometimes it takes more than one session to reach a decision about this
• Clients can bring someone with them, for example a spouse or relative.
• The psychologist may ask lots of questions. We do this to try to get to know the person and find out more about what is going well and not so well right now.
• We might ask people to fill out some questionnaires about how they are feeling
• After assessment we may continue working with the client and offer therapeutic intervention
• We will use therapeutic approaches to better understand the client’s problems, what they would like help with and work with them towards their goal.

• We hope to have a short chat with you before we see the patient to discuss the plan for the session and how you can be of the greatest assistance in interpreting for the person
• We will not share any patient information before they arrive.

We will discuss practicalities of our collaborative work which may cover:

• How much experience we have in working with interpreters
• The usefulness of verbatim interpreting
• Your previous experience of working within a mental health setting
• Planning together how interpreting will work best during the appointment
• Confidentiality
• It can be really helpful for us if you share advice and information on cultural norms for the person we may be working with, or let us know if you don’t know what these are
• How you could help make our questions clearer, as some of our questions might only make sense in ‘Western’ cultures.

We hope we can maintain professional working boundaries and relationships between our two professions and the person we are working with to help them as much as possible or in the best way possible.

Below are some other things to consider when working with us as an interpreter:

• Would you like us to introduce you, or would you like to introduce yourself? Do you prefer to use your full name, first name?
• Have you seen this person before?
• If you have worked with the person before, or know the client from your personal life, please let us know before the appointment (or as soon as possible).

Sometimes the information shared in psychology appointments can be upsetting. Occasionally it might be triggering or provide reminders of your own personal life. It is important that you look after your own emotional wellbeing. We will do our best to offer you a short de-brief following the appointment. This may be a useful space to discuss anything that was triggering for you. We aim to provide advice and could direct you to further support like some of the useful links below:

If you're feeling stressed, worried, low or upset, or just want to feel happier, click  HERE  for the NHS wellbeing webpage with lots of easy to follow links and tips for self-help & support.

Why not try this Mood self-assessment quiz on the NHS website? They also have links on support and self-help for stress, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, loneliness, and these mental wellbeing audio guides (which aim to help boost your mood).

If you want more help and support take a look at the NHS page for these recommended Mental Health Helplines. Whether you're concerned about yourself or a loved one, these helplines and support groups can offer expert advice.

5 steps to mental wellbeing. 

Other useful sources of information:

Samaritans
08457 909 090 (24 hours)
www.samaritans.org

Samaritans provide confidential, non-judgmental, emotional support, 24 hours a day for people who are experiencing feelings of distress of despair.

We welcome any feedback about your experience of working with us at the Linda McCartney Centre with our Psychology team. This will give us the opportunity to read your feedback and help us improve the service we provide. Thank you.