In my clinical psychology training, I spent hours learning how to listen and how to show others I am listening. My classmates and I role played, we were videotaped with clients, we received detailed feedback on tone of voice, posture, and word choice.
In our READY intervention, we teach listening and communication, largely through our facilitators modeling reflective listening when instructing families together and when facilitating the youth and caregiver support group components. So our first week of facilitator training looks a bit like my first year of graduate school – listening instruction, practice, feedback…repeat.
This is a video of two facilitators practicing restatement, reflection of feelings, and validation of feelings.
There’s only one catch. I train them in English – but the intervention occurs in Luo (the local language). How easy is it to apply newly learned clinical skills in another language? Do direct translations work? What are the best Luo phrases for letting someone know you understand and empathize? What is it like to discuss sex and HIV risk in Luo? I typically ask the team to practice first in English and then in Luo. Afterwards, I asked them some of these questions.
These are a few of their comments about aspects that are easier in their own language, but words related to sex and HIV that are sometimes a bit too strong in their native tongue.
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