Three’s a Crowd? Language Assistance in Mental Healthcare Settings in Slovenia

The article addresses the inclusion of non-Slovenian speakers into mental healthcare services in Slovenia by looking at how language assistance is perceived and received during psychotherapy and psychosocial support sessions. Clients of mental healthcare services in Slovenia are increasingly more linguistically diverse, which may add to the existing challenges that the mental healthcare system faces. At the same time, it offers the opportunity to conceive more inclusive mental care for non-Slovenian speakers. The article highlights the main characteristics of language assistance in psychotherapy and psychosocial support sessions. It presents the findings of a study that point to the difficulties regarding implementing language assistance in mental health care in Slovenia, which are consistent with findings in other European settings and beyond.

Keywords: language assistance, mental healthcare, psychotherapy, psychosocial support, Slovenia, intercultural mediation, interpreting