To Cry or to Scream? Managing Impartiality in Emotional Situations

Just like note taking, memory retention, or any other aptitude necessary for quality interpreting, managing impartiality in emotional situations is a skill that must be practiced. In this webinar we will first examine our own emotional triggers and signs of emotional distress and then share with one another for more perspective on the potential causes of internal conflict. We will examine methods for acknowledging and letting go of negative emotions and ways in which we can incorporate these tools into our curriculum when training interpreters. Finally, we will carry out several interpreting activities meant to provoke emotion and discuss how we can use such material for constructive emotional development in the interpreting classroom

Learning objectives:

With this webinar, the trainer of interpreters will:

• Gain greater insight into the emotional triggers and signs leading to emotional distress that interpreting trainees may experience.

• Learn to guide interpreting trainees toward a plan for managing emotions

• Experience and analyze how emotional exercises and tools can be carried out in a learning setting for constructive learning. 

About the presenter:

Michelle Pinzl is the Coordinator of the Community Interpreting Certificate and instructor at Viterbo University where she teaches Spanish, French and Interpreting Studies. She lived abroad for seven years between Chile, Spain and France where she taught foreign languages and earned her Master’s degree in Foreign Languages and Intercultural Management from the Université de Limoges. Interpreting in the medical field since 2005, she became a Spanish-English Certified Healthcare Interpreter™ through the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI) in 2014. She currently works as a medical interpreter at Mayo Health System and other social service agencies, farms, schools and businesses.