Last Saturday the 19th January, the Sign Language Interpreters Munster (SLIM) group got together for a session on mental health interpreting. Using both real-life experiences and the most comprehensive recent theories and models, we discussed issues around dealing with mental health interpreting scenarios and had a very productive and fun day.

Veronica White and Suzanne Carey were our presenters. We looked at the work of Neil Glickman and Charlene Crump in the USA in relation to exploring options in mental health scenarios, the role of the interpreter and how to interact with Deaf service user and mental health practitioner during these settings.

We used role-play and group discussion to tease out the issues. It was a fantastic session for those of us new to the area as well as those with more experience.

We had a fantastic venue in The Arches, Mallow, which was spacious, friendly and kept us liberally supplied with coffee, tea and does a great lunch!