About the workshop

This advanced workshop is designed for all those in mental health settings who work with interpreters.

Using a variety of facilitation modes, and grounded in a reflective practice approach, the workshop provides learners with the opportunity to explore the challenges and realities in the interpreting environment, and to understand these within broader cultural responsiveness frameworks, including an intersectional lens. The workshop also invites and promotes strategies for adapting practice for working with interpreters in a variety of mental health settings.

The workshop is informed by, and uses materials created as part of the VTMH Approaching work with interpreters in mental health settings resource Project (VTMH, 2019). The resources developed through the Project used a co-design process, involving a variety of stakeholders including consumers, carers, interpreters, clinicians and academics, across the lifespan of the project. To find out more about this project click here.

Participants will receive hard copies of resources developed in the project including a Practice Tips Poster, Resource Booklet and Full Report.

Learning outcomes

In this workshop, participants will

• Consider the applicability of cultural safety, cultural humility and intersectionality in the interpreted encounter
• Explore meaning making and language  
• Reflect on the challenges and realities in the interpreting environment          
• Explore the role of the interpreter, and the practitioner, in the interpreted encounter
• Discuss engagement strategies prior to, during and after the interpreted encounter
• Explore institutional responsibilities in relation to supporting the implementation of systems that support the provision of interpreting services

Prerequisite learning

This workshop is designed to build on key concepts, principles and practices explored in VTMH’s Foundations of Culturally Responsive Practice for Mental Health Practitioners Workshop and/or the VTMH online module, Orientation to Cultural Responsiveness. We believe you will have a deeper learning experience if you have had the opportunity to work with concepts, principles and practices explored in the above prior to attending this workshop, as knowledge of these concepts and practices will be assumed.

If you have not completed the prerequisite learning, you are strongly encouraged to attend a VTMH Foundations of Culturally Responsive Practice for Mental Health Practitioners Workshop (click here) or complete the VTMH online module Orientation to Cultural Responsiveness (click here) prior to registering.

Date, duration and delivery style

Date: Wednesday, 14 May 2025
Time: Doors open 9:15am, for a 9:30am sharp start. The workshop will conclude by 4pm.
Venue: St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, 41 Victoria Parade, Fitzroy, VIC 3065: Building C, Level 2, Education & Learning (Conference Room)
Delivery style: The workshop is supplemented with a self-paced e-learning module, Working with Interpreters, which is to be completed prior to attending the workshop. The e-learning module takes around 90 minutes to complete and details of how to access the module will be emailed on completion of your registration. For more information about this e-module, click here. This is a face to face (in person) workshop. Online attendance is unavailable

Morning tea and lunch provided. Dietary requirements can be advised during the registration process.
Please bring a water bottle to help reduce our waste.

More Information about venue details will be provided to registrants closer to the workshop.

Target audience & eligibility

VTMH workshops are open to and provided free to staff working in Victoria’s state-funded mental health workforce. This includes public clinical and community mental health services, as well as state-funded mental health programs within community health and social services.

This workshop will interest staff working in a range of roles within these workforces, including but not limited to community rehabilitation and recovery workers, lived experience workers, mental health nursing, social work, case management, occupational therapy, psychiatry, program leaders/project workers and administration roles, are invited to register.

Please note: This workshop is targeted at mental health workers rather than interpreters, and as such, is not intended for those solely working as interpreters.

Due to funding arrangements, workshops are currently unavailable to those working solely in private practice/NDIS providers. If you register and it is not clear you are part of the intended audience, we may contact you to confirm your eligibility. We thank you for your understanding.

If you are unsure if this workshop might be relevant to your role please feel free to contact us via vtmh.learning@svha.org.au.

Registrations

Registrations are essential, and close Friday, 2 May 2025.

Spaces in our workshops are limited to 25 and are provided free through state funding. Please use your work email address, and provide your manager’s email details, as part of the registration process.

If you are registering as part of a team, we ask that you please limit registrations to 2-3 attendees per team, given the limited number of spaces available. Each individual attendee must register themselves.

Cancellation policy

We know circumstances change, however if you register for a workshop and are unable to attend, please contact us as soon as possible at vtmh.learning@svha.org.au to allow us to offer your space to those on our waiting lists. Whilst we do our very best to deliver our workshops as scheduled, unforeseen circumstances may require us to cancel, change or postpone events at short notice. 

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