Other Tongues

Multilingual clients are different from monolingual clients. So writes Beverley Costa at the start of this groundbreaking book. Other Tongues challenges counsellors and psychotherapists to consider more deeply the tool that is central to their work - namely, language. Costa argues that a profession that practises 'talking therapy' should consider more carefully the challenges and opportunities working multilingually presents. She argues that multilingualism should be a core part of the training curriculum for all counsellors and psychotherapists, and a subject for sensitive exploration with clients. She also explores the important role of interpreters in giving a voice to clients who do not speak English as a first language, and offers guidance on good practice to counsellors working with them. The book is a powerful plea to the counselling profession to acknowledge the riches clients' other languages can bring to the therapeutic relationship. To ignore multilingualism risks not only overlooking important meanings in the nuances of emotional expression but also perpetuating inequalities in access to therapy.