Interpreting is an emotional effort: Public service interpreters’ coping strategies in emotionally charged situations

Public service interpreters are at risk of burnout and vicarious trauma, as are all practitioners in the helping professions. A few rare studies on this subject show the almost systematic absence of support offered to interpreters to face these challenges. Furthermore, training and theories describing the practice of interpreting ignore the emotional aspect of this type of work. The main objective of this study is to highlight the strategies used by interpreters to cope with emotionally charged interventions. Following an exploratory and qualitative design, 21 sign and speech language interpreters agreed to recount a significant event in their careers. These narratives were subjected to a deductive thematic analysis according to three theoretical frameworks, thus allowing to highlight the relational dynamics during an interpreted intervention (stances and positionings) and the necessary cognitive efforts. Four coping strategies emerged from the analysis. Two are collaborative and seem to lead to a satisfactory resolution of the event, even if the emotional load is strong and poses significant challenges during the intervention. The other two have an obstructive impact on the communication. Taken together, the results of this study show that public service interpretation is an emotional as well as a cognitive and relational effort.