Language is a powerful carrier of culture, identity, and emotion. In therapy, language barriers can create significant misunderstandings, and relying solely on interpreters or translations can diminish nuance.
Cultural humility requires therapists to recognize these limitations and work collaboratively with clients to bridge gaps. This might involve learning key cultural idioms or understanding that some expressions don’t have a direct English equivalent.
Rather than seeing language as a barrier, humble therapists treat it as a doorway into the client’s world. Even asking, “What words do you use to describe your feelings in your language?” can offer profound insights.
In multilingual therapy, humility is not about perfect fluency—it’s about curiosity, effort, and honoring the client’s voice as it naturally emerges.
Kanishka