12. Bilingualism and Emotion: Implications for Mental Health
- Tej K. Bhatia,
- William C. Ritchie
Published Online: 3 OCT 2012
DOI: 10.1002/9781118332382.ch12
Copyright © 2013 Blackwell Publishing, Ltd
Book Title
The Handbook of Bilingualism and Multilingualism, Second Edition
Additional Information
How to Cite
Martinovic, I. and Altarriba, J. (2012) Bilingualism and Emotion: Implications for Mental Health, in The Handbook of Bilingualism and Multilingualism, Second Edition (eds T. K. Bhatia and W. C. Ritchie), John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK. doi: 10.1002/9781118332382.ch12
Editor Information
Syracuse University, USA
Publication History
- Published Online: 3 OCT 2012
- Published Print: 7 NOV 2012
Book Series:
ISBN Information
Print ISBN: 9781444334906
Online ISBN: 9781118332382
- Summary
- Chapter
- References
Keywords:
- bilingual therapy;
- code-switching;
- emotional expression;
- interpreters in therapy;
- language-specific techniques;
- mental health
Summary
The chapter describes how bilinguals use language to express their emotions, how language is used to code past experiences, and how language-specific and culture-specific techniques can be used to enhance the therapeutic process for bilinguals. It discusses some of the problems and benefits of using interpreters in therapy, and offers suggestions for their training and education. The chapter also discusses how emotions are expressed in an individual's languages and reviews data relevant to emotional expression across languages. Cultural differences, utilization of mental health services by minorities, some barriers in treatment with bilinguals, and culturally specific techniques for therapy are also discussed in this chapter. Code-switching may be used as a tool to gain a clearer understanding of what an individual is attempting to convey, and can also be used as a distancing mechanism to probe into issues that may be too emotional in one of the bilingual's languages.