Mental health interpreter training program

Each week begins on Sunday at midnight and ends the following Saturday at p. Assignment deadlines are at p. Assignments must be completed by weekly deadlines. Hamerdinger has an M. He has been an adjunct faculty member of several college programs and a visiting lecturer at the University of Missouri and the University of Kansas, was a frequent presenter at Psychiatric Grand Rounds at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, School of Psychiatry, and is currently a clinical instructor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry.

He is a Past-President of the American Deafness and Rehabilitation Association and his more than 14 years of work on the board led to the organization presenting him with their Fredrick Schreiber Service award in His more than 30 years of work in the field has led to being awarded the Alice Cogswell award for service to deaf people by the Gallaudet Alumni Association. In this capacity, Ms. Her work in Mental Health Interpreter training has received national recognition from many organizations including the National Alliance of Mentally Ill NAMI , has been internationally cited for excellence by the Charter of Linguists and described by internationally reowned researcher, author, mental health program administrator and psychologist, Dr.

Charlene is a frequent presenter and consultant at various national and state venues, presenting on mental health interpreting. Skip To Content.

Grading Criteria Register! To successfully complete the program , participants must:. The ultimate result being sought is to increase the self-confidence of interpreters in the performance of their duties in a health context, so that - together with clinicians and staff - interpreters can help facilitate the best health outcomes for the Queensland Health patients they assist. The training program will address the following issues to lesser or greater extents, depending on the training module:.

All interpreters who provide services to Queensland Health should participate. Queensland Health's preference is to work with interpreters who have participated in this training. Click here for more information on working with Queensland Health as an interpreter. Training programs are offered each quarter at no cost to participants.

Interpreters interested in participating in these programs should contact Queensland Health Multicultural Services on Report on client perceptions of the quality of the Queensland Health Interpreter Service A new report on the perceptions on clients on the quality of the Queensland Health Interpreter Service is now available. Click here for more information about this symbol.

Do you have concerns about a government or non-government health service or are you unhappy with the way an issue has been handled? Maintaining confidentiality becomes even more crucial. Confidentiality in mental health interpreting requires a level of discernment and critical thinking unique to this setting.

As such, providers are encouraged to engage in regular supervision and peer consultation. In order to achieve higher standards of supervision in mental health interpreting, the NAD recommends building a pool of experienced interpreters who are qualified to perform supervision and are available to work with new mental health interpreters on a national level.

Qualified Mental Health Interpreters The NAD recommends the following qualifications for interpreters working in mental health settings:.

Attending a comprehensive training curriculum for mental health interpreting. Mentoring with experienced mental health interpreters at least 50 hours ;. Knowledge of relevant ethical literature or decision-making models in interpreting. The NAD recommends that a certification process for specialization in mental health interpreting be set up through nationally recognized means.

It is also recommended that interpreters maintain their skills with continuing education in the area of mental health with every certification cycle 15 hours annually or 60 hours per four year RID certification maintenance program cycle. To achieve this, developing more options for seminars to meet the required 60 hours of continuing education in a four year period in the area of mental health is critical.

In order to recruit more interpreters specializing in mental health interpreting, the interpreter training programs are encouraged to provide students at least one class focusing solely on mental health interpreting for a full quarter or semester to capture their interest in this specialization.

In summary, mental health interpreters are an important component in the mental health delivery system for deaf individuals with mental health needs, as they provide auxiliary services when a service provider is unable to deliver direct mental health services or when a deaf consumer requests it.

While the field of mental health interpreting has aimed to set higher standards over the past decade, this position paper hopes to raise the standards by defining qualifications, expanding the credentials and requirements for mental health interpreters, as well as addressing the professional boundaries, ethics, supervision, and peer consultation in this profession.

Alabama Department of Mental Health. Chapter , Mental health interpreter standards. Anderson, A. Journal of Interpretation, 21 1 , pp.

Atwood, A. Clinical supervision as a method of providing behavioral feedback to sign language interpreters and students of interpreting. McIntire Ed. New dimensions in interpreter education: Curriculum and instruction pp. Proceedings of the 6th national Convention of the Conference of Interpreter Trainers.

Chevy Chase MD. Malcolm and L. Swabey Eds. Gallaudet University Press. Washington, D. Crump, C. Dean, R. The importance, challenges, and outcomes of teaching context-based ethics in interpreting: A demand control schema perspective.

Interpreter and Translator Trainer, 5 1 , pp.