Are you looking for an interpreter for English, Spanish and Italian specializing in psychology? Do you need an oral translation for a conference, congress, lecture or interview in this field? Look no further! I am Eleonora Monoscalco, an interpreter for English, Spanish and Italian with several years’ experience in psychology and psychiatry. Contact me with no commitment for a free quote at eleonora.monoscalco@gmail.com or at the number +39 320-2663422. Would you like to find out how I specialized in psychology and psychiatry? Would you like to know my detailed experience as an interpreter for English, Spanish and Italian specializing in psychology? If you answered yes to either question, you just have to read this post!
For interpreters and translators, specializing in a field is never an easy process. The first way to do so is to attend a comprehensive and well-structured course that lets you to build a solid foundation and teaches you the most recurring terminology. This is the path I took to specialize in medical and pharmacological translation. Unfortunately, there are no specific courses for all disciplines.
While for medicine, economics, and law, there is a wide variety of educational, as of today (December 2023) there is no specialization course for interpreters in psychology and psychiatry. Ruling out the most linear path, the other possible way is on-the-job training. This requires carrying out many interpreting assignments in your field of interest and continually updating existing glossaries. In addition to reading and studying everything you have at hand (books, articles, essays, videos, webinars, etc.), it is essential to regularly check in with experts in the field for clarifications of terminology and theory.
But how did I get my first assignments as an interpreter for English, Spanish and Italian specializing in psychology without prior experience? The answer is simple: thanks to good old word of mouth! But first things first. It all started somewhat by accident. After earning my Master’s Degree in Conference Interpreting at Forlì/Bologna University, I was feeling very stressed. As a result, I decided to do a few sessions with a psychologist to learn how to better handle stress. Since my Spanish is at a native level, I turned to a psychologist working in Spain (Dr. Karemi, the founder of the Psico-K center).
Her approach involves the use of different evidence-based, process-oriented techniques from a contextual behavioral approach. Among many, we applied acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). My psychologist explained to me many concepts underlying third-generation therapies and recommended reading some books. As a result of our therapy journey, I laid the foundation for my process of specializing in psychology and improved my mental and physical wellbeing and coping with negativity.
A few months after my therapy process was over, Dr. Karemi contacted me to ask me to work as an interpreter for English and Spanish for a specialization school for psychologists. Since I loved the subject and Spanish is my favorite working language, I just couldn’t refuse! Since 2021 I have been working on a regular basis with the specialization school for psychologists Ítaca Formación, both as a simultaneous interpreter for English and Spanish for courses and master’s degrees (the most prestigious being those in Third Generation Therapies and Psychosis, both recognized by the Madrid Distance University UDIMA), and as a consecutive interpreter for interviews. It was quite a challenge in the beginning, but I read a lot of books and studied hard to be able to provide quality services.
I’ve now retained this customer and they often give my contact information to other Spanish and Latin American colleagues who need an interpreter for English and Spanish specializing in psychology. Thanks to such high profile clients, I have had the immense privilege of interpreting from English to Spanish for important people such as Noam Chomsky, Steven Hayes (founder of ACT therapy), Emily Sandoz, Mavis Tsai (co-founder of FAP, functional analytic psychotherapy), Russ Harris, Linda Hayes, Adam Zeman, Robert Whitaker, Eric Morris, Maria Karekla, Daniel Everett, Peter Gøtzsche, Bernard Guerin, Glenn Callaghan (founder of IBT, interpersonal behavioral therapy), Lucy Johnstone, Maggie Mullen, Kirk Strosahl and Patti Robinson (founders of FACT, focused acceptance and commitment therapy), Linda P. Hayes, Michael Domjan and Tara Deliberto.
Among the various psychology events where I have worked as an interpreter for English and Spanish specializing in psychology, the First Ibero-American Congress of Contextual Behavioral Science (2022) and second (2023) stand out. This is my absolute favorite event because of its broad reach (the first session was attended by more than 400 Spanish-speaking students and professionals) and the very interesting topics addressed. Thanks to the organizers’ trust in me, this assignment has become a regular annual event for me and it has already been confirmed that I will attend it as an interpreter for English and Spanish for the third congress (2024). For next year (2024), I already have other confirmed psychology and psychiatry assignments, such as the course on eating disorders given by lecturer Tara Deliberto for Ítaca.
In addition to third-generation therapies, a number of other issues have been addressed in the speeches I have interpreted so far, ranging from the open dialogue model for psychosis to how to rethink psychology. The latter concept involves moving away from the biomedical model and the DSM and striving to better understand patients’ life contexts and difficulties.
I believe that specializing in psychology has allowed me not only to grow as an interpreter, but also to become a better person. Among other things, it has increased my empathy towards others and made me realize the urgency of uprooting prejudices against people with mental health problems. To paraphrase Bernard Guerin, there are no mentally ill people, only adverse life contexts. So, the psychologist’s task is to help the patient out of such negative contexts and make them focus on their own goals and values. Far from forgetting the painful experiences, the patient learns to live with them peacefully, with acceptance and a willingness to live a meaningful life.
Despite my experience and the positive feedback from clients, who jokingly call me “one of the top experts in the world of contextual therapies”, I continue to constantly learn more. I always prepare thoroughly before each assignment and, whenever possible, devote part of my free time to reading and attending training courses. To give a few examples, in 2023 I attended a 70-hour training course at a congress organized by the CITESAM Center, a course in couples therapy held by ITEMA, and earned the CIAC international certificate after passing the examination of Engrama’s course “Fundamentals of Behaviorism.” If my values include dedication and commitment, my goals include a commitment to never stopping learning and to improving myself as an interpreter.
As I said at the beginning of the post, if you need an interpreter for English, Spanish and Italian specializing in psychology, psychotherapy, or psychiatry, count me in. Contact me now for a free, no-obligation quote. I will gladly help you find the best solution for your event. Or, if you just want to learn more or have a chat about these topics, contact me anyway. It will be my pleasure to answer you and share our knowledge!
