Psychotherapy in a Foreign Language

[Tangerine123]

First year psych resident in Germany. Moved to Germany and started learning German last year.

Parallel to my medical duties i'm going to a psychotherapist every two weeks. While it seems that I can communicate quite smoothly, I feel that there's always this barrier and I can't get specific messages and ideas across..

In a medical setting I can handle myself just fine, talking to other physicians/patients and handling the "medical" part of psychiatry.

However, when it comes to psychotherapy (usually done in the 5th year of residency. We have to pick between CBT and Psychoanalysis) i feel that the language barrier is stronger. Things become more abstract and less tangible. Vocabulary and expressions change and you have to understand the underlying tone and context more deeply.

How hindered can Psychotherapy be if either the Psychiatrist is the one practicing in a foreign language or if the patient is the non-native speaker?

Does anybody have experience with these situations?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Central_SOULcus]

I don't have experience in your particular situation (as a PGY3 starting to see psychotherapy patients, I do the sessions in both English and Spanish since I'm fluent in both). However, I will say that living in Germany, you're immersed in the language and will keep getting better and better at it. Since youre' not starting to provide psychotherapy for another 4 years, you have plenty of time. I bet that even in just a couple years you will be conversing so fluently that it likely won't even be an issue.