Foundation House - Partnering with Interpreters

Learn how to deliver culturally safe and trauma-informed practice while working with interpreters.

Effective communication is fundamental to providing safe, ethical, and trauma-informed support to people from refugee backgrounds. Working with interpreters can enhance engagement, trust and understanding, but it also presents unique challenges that can impact both client outcomes and practitioner confidence.

This online half-day workshop will equip you with the knowledge and skills to work collaboratively with interpreters in ways that enhance communication, strengthen engagement and support positive outcomes for clients, consumers, and patients.

We’ll explore best-practice approaches for working with interpreters before, during and after interpreted interactions, deepening your understanding of the interpreter's role, responsibilities and professional boundaries. The workshop examines common challenges that can arise in interpreted conversations and provides practical strategies to prevent misunderstandings, improve communication and promote culturally safe practice.

A key focus is better understanding the role of interpreters in trauma-informed, cross-cultural environments. You’ll learn how exposure to trauma-related material can affect interpreters and explore approaches that support interpreter wellbeing while maintaining safety and trust for clients, consumers and patients. The workshop also highlights the importance of effective briefing and debriefing with interpreters, helping them prepare for complex conversations and manage challenging situations more confidently, ultimately leading to a better service and improved client/consumer/patient experience.  

By the end of the workshop, you’ll be better equipped to build effective partnerships with interpreters and create safer, more responsive and culturally inclusive experiences for everyone involved.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify best-practice principles for working collaboratively with interpreters before, during and after client interactions
• Understand the role and responsibilities of interpreters in trauma-informed practice.
• Recognise common challenges and pitfalls that can affect communication, engagement and client/consumer/patient outcomes.
• How to effectively brief and debriefing interpreters to help mitigate common challenges and pitfalls
• Apply practical strategies to support accurate, culturally safe and person-centred communication.
• Navigate ethical considerations, professional boundaries and confidentiality requirements.
• Understand the potential impact of interpreting trauma-material on interpreters and identify strategies for safe and effective practice to safeguard interpreters and provide safety for clients/consumer/patients
   

Workshop Style - Learn through presentations, exercises that bring theory into practical application, and discussions in large and small groups.

Certificates and handouts - A PDF of the slides and a certificate of completion will be emailed to you after the event.

CPD points -This workshop adheres to the continuing professional development standards of most professional bodies. Please check the CPD policy of your professional body.

Who should attend?

Anyone using interpreters in their work, including:

• Caseworkers, social workers, community workers, youth workers
• Health workers
• Educators and school wellbeing staff
• Counsellors, psychologists, therapists
• Bicultural works, peer workers and volunteers

Those working as interpreters with people from refugee backgrounds

Facilitators

Cecilia Lopez, Foundation House Practice Leader

Cecilia has dedicated much of her career to supporting individuals from migrant, refugee, and asylum seeker backgrounds in recovering from trauma. With extensive experience as both a counsellor and a tertiary education trainer, she holds a bachelor’s degree in social work and a Postgraduate qualification in Family Mediation and Dispute Resolution. Cecilia has also pursued additional studies in training and assessment, as well as various evidence-based psychotherapies. She is a member of the AASW and EMDRAA.

In her clinical practice, Cecilia integrates a wide range of therapeutic modalities, adopting a holistic mind-body approach to treatment. Since 1993, she has worked with survivors of torture and trauma in a variety of roles, and in 2006, she joined Foundation House as a Counsellor Advocate, Regional Coordinator, and Senior Practitioner. By the end of 2020, Cecilia transitioned to the Practice Excellence Team as a Practice Leader.

Throughout her career, Cecilia has collaborated with organisations such as the Australian Red Cross in both national and international programs, the Southern Migrant and Refugee Centre (formerly MRC Dandenong), the Department of Health and Human Services, Dandenong Hospital Mental Health, and has held tertiary academic roles at both TAFE and University.

Cecilia is deeply passionate about empowering individuals and communities to make informed choices regarding their mental health and improving lives through a strong focus on psychoeducation.