The effects of interpreting traumatic speaker content for the interpreter

This session will be presented by Conference Interpreter Dylan O’Reilly and is aimed at all colleagues who may be interested in the topic, especially those interpreting in settings where they may encounter traumatic speaker content.
Dylan O’Reilly has a BA in Applied Language and Intercultural Studies (Dublin City University) and an MA in Conference Interpreting (NUI Galway). As part of his MA research in 2020, he looked at how interpreting content related to the traumatic experiences of a speaker impacts interpreters across the profession, whether that be public service interpreters, court interpreters or conference interpreters. Dylan’s research was recently published in Translation Ireland, a publication of the Irish Translators’ and Interpreters’ Association. Dylan is now based in Brussels, working as an EU-accredited freelance Conference Interpreter with English, French and Spanish as his working languages. He has also done voluntary work interpreting for asylum seekers in France.
With growing discussion on the impacts of vicarious trauma on interpreters who are exposed to traumatic speaker content, Dylan chose to look at how these assignments can affect us in other ways also. Drawing on the results of his mixed methods study and existing literature on the topic, he will discuss the following:
- Vicarious trauma, how it manifests in interpreters and what puts us at risk of experiencing it
- Secondary traumatic stress in interpreters
- Burnout in interpreters
- What can we do to protect ourselves from the negative effects of interpreting speaker trauma?

Host or Publisher Association of Interpreters and Translators (AIT)