Psychological Therapy: Experiences, Roles & Relationships in the Triad

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Psychological Therapy with South Asian Clients: Experiences, Roles and Relationships within the Client, Therapist and Interpreter Triad.

  • IRAS ID

    165759

  • Contact name

    Shabana Bashir

  • Contact email

    skb41@le.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Leicestershire Partnership NHS Turst

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 4 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    Historically mental health service uptake by ethnic minority groups has been low. With only a few mental health professionals who can speak and understand more than one language, the use of interpreters will be needed for the foreseeable future especially as the need for mental health care of non-English speakers becomes greater. However it is evident from the existing research that the experiences of psychological therapy with the use of an interpreter is limited. In addition much of the existing research looking at the therapeutic relationship has focused on the experiences of the therapist, client or interpreter in isolation, rather than a group or ‘triad’ of people who form a set of relationships that are said to occur during therapy.

    The current study aims to look at how South Asian clients, their therapists and interpreters talk about their experiences of psychological therapy when working together as a triad. It also aims to understand the roles that different members of the “triad” take and how these affect the therapeutic relationship within the group.

    South Asian Clients receiving psychological therapy through Improved Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) services, their therapist and the interpreter will be invited to participate in a one-to-one interview. Overall it is hoped that a total of nine participants will take part in the study, encompassing three ‘triads’, each made up of a client, therapist and interpreter working together. Interviews will explore their experiences of therapy, what they feel there role is, what the relationship between the therapist and interpreter is and how this relationship impacts on the client.

    We hope that if we have a better understanding of the experiences, roles and relationships of different individuals, it will help to inform and improve clinical practice when working therapeutically with clients who speak a foreign language.

  • REC name

    East Midlands - Leicester Central Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    15/EM/0007

  • Date of REC Opinion

    4 Feb 2015

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion