TerpHealth: Prevention and Management of Interpreting Related Injury

02/26/2026

"What could I do next time to take care of myself better?" can be an important question for an interpreter. There may be times when you find yourself in a situation that results in post-interpreting pain. This is due, in part, to the fact that interpreters can be presented with so many different kinds of situations. Learning to navigate those situations in a healthy manner can be a learning process.

While you may never encounter the exact same situation in the future, gleaning principles from your experience to apply to other situations with similar aspects can be helpful. Deciding what your approach will be before you go into an interpreting assignment is an important key to working healthily. Learning from your experiences and making decisions ahead of time regarding future occurrences is an important way to continually move toward working more safely.

Some helpful considerations might be:

- Next time could you ask for help?

- Next time could you ask for adjustments in the physical environment (temperature, where you were asked to stand/sit, etc.?

- Might you arrive earlier next time so that you can set-up better?

- Could you advocate for your own needs more assertively next time?

- Might it be beneficial to prepare for the assignment better in the future?

- Is it possible you need to use more professional discretion in accepting assignments in the future?

- Next time might you choose to "yes" instead of "no", or "no" instead of "yes"?

- What lesson could you learn from the situation that you could take forward with you and into future situations?

02/24/2026

Did you know that your brain detoxifies while you are sleeping? Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) Center for Translational Neuromedicine recently published a report in the journal "Science", revealing that your brain removes toxic waste while you are asleep through what’s been dubbed the ‘glymphatic’ system. The brain, due to the blood-brain barrier, is not cleansed by the lymphatic system like the rest of the body. The glymphatic system is the mechanism through which your brain is detoxified.

The glymphatic system is 10 times more active during sleep, allowing your brain to clear out toxins. Your brain cells also shrink about 60 percent when you are asleep. This allows your glymphatic system to clear out excessive waste in the brain. Reduction in these brain toxins can significantly reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and other neurological and brain disorders. It also is vital for mental clarity.

Why is this important for an interpreter specifically? Just one night of impaired sleep negatively affects memory function, reduces your ability to process information and reduces clarity of thinking. This can result in increased feelings of stress and increased risk of injury.
If you aren't sleeping enough, your brain becomes more and more toxic. This can affect mood, hormonal balance and the entire central nervous system.

Bottom line? Sleep matters. You can't continually function in a deficit without consequences. Regular, healing sleep is part of a comprehensive approach to taking care of yourself as an interpreter and as a person. If you struggle with sleep I suggest googling and practicing 'sleep hygiene'.

02/20/2026

The psychological aspect, along with ergonomic, biomechanical and physiological risk factors, is one of the possible predispositions to injury for an interpreter. Years ago I assumed that ergonomic and biomechanical factors were the most significant for sign language interpreters. However, after almost 30 years of teaching workshops and performing diagnostics, I now see that the psychological actually is the most impactful.

The psychological factor determines how you take care of yourself physically, how the interpreting task is approached, how you manage your predisposing factors, whether you advocate for yourself or accept unhealthy work terms and conditions, and how you respond if you experience discomfort from interpreting. All of these can impact risk of injury. Some examples of high risk psychological predispositions to injury include:


- External locus of control: An external locus of control means to approach life as if it happens to you. An internal locus of control acknowledges that your personal choices determine how you experience life. An external locus of control increases risk of injury because an interpreter is unlikely to take needed action to take care of themselves and to address issues of concern if they view themselves as powerless.


- “Savior” mentality: Sometimes interpreters find themselves constructing their lives and schedules around what they believe their consumers need – to their own detriment. It is not healthy or helpful to work from a martyr stance, Doing so may result in personal injury.


- Stressful thinking: When you engage in chronic stressful thinking it affects every bodily system. In addition to inhibiting blood circulation, upsetting your body’s hormonal balance, and causing physical muscle tension, chronic stress can also affect the ability of your cells to receive nutrition from the food you eat! The cell receptors can actually get “hijacked” by the stress hormones. Obviously this impacts the ability of your body to repair and nourish itself.


- Perfectionism: I think an “Achilles heel” of many sign language interpreters is demanding perfectionism in their work. This is not to imply that your goal should be anything less than producing work of the highest quality. However, perfectionism is an unfair and unrealistic demand. Approaching the task of interpreting with a need for perfection increases stressful feelings and increases risk of injury.

02/19/2026

Learning to deal with criticism is part of an Interpreter’s life. When it is valid, it can help us grow as professionals and as people. When it isn’t valid, it can cause us to become discouraged and frustrated - *if* we accept it as true.

Below is a part of a substack I wrote for a general audience, however, I believe these excerpts are relevant for Interpreters.

EXCERPT: “It’s been said that we shouldn’t take someone’s criticism too seriously who we would never go to for advice. There is great wisdom in that counsel. Though truth can come to us from the strangest places, we needn’t just accept the opinions of others without the benefit of objective scrutiny.”

NOTE: That paragraph is important for Interpreters because there are times when we are unfairly blamed for an assignment that went wrong - or when we were a convenient outlet for a consumer who was angry and frustrated. These are different scenarios than when a consumer gives mindful and respectful criticism. That *doesn’t* mean that angry criticism is always without merit, it just means we need to assess it a little closer to determine if it contains truth.

EXCERPT: “Yet, criticism can really sting - even if it is unfair. Why? Sometimes it is because we may fear they are right. Because it’s not as much about what they say, but more about what *we* believe … If someone tells us something about ourselves that we know for a fact isn’t true, it doesn’t tend to cause us distress. It’s when we fear they might be right that we feel discomfort; when our own insecurities are triggered.”

NOTE: The fear that we are not ‘good enough’ is one that most of us have in some area of our life. It often shows up in the interpreting arena.

EXCERPT: “But not everyone - nor every thought we have - has earned the right to a place in our brain.”

NOTE: That’s why we have to honestly and courageously assess criticism to determine it’s validity.

EXCERPT: “Some of the thoughts and insecurities we have are simply a replay of negative voices and messages we heard growing up. That doesn’t mean they are true or worthy of being believed.”

NOTE: If a criticism is valid, we can humbly accept it with humility, take the lesson with us and move forward. If it isn’t, it’s an opportunity to practice validating that which is true about ourselves.

EXCERPT: “Unfounded, unexamined criticism has the capacity to create shame and hinder our growth. However, valid criticism can help us grow and become more mature and capable humans.”

NOTE: And become more balanced interpreters…

EXCERPT: “It’s up to us to assess the validity of a criticism before accepting it as accurate.”

NOTE: We might also benefit from reaching out to an esteemed colleague for perspective during these times as well. An objective perspective can be helpful.

(Note: You can subscribe (free or paid - your choice) to my substack. I don’t share all of my substack articles here…

https://personalalchemy.substack.com/p/evaluating-criticism?r=7ggs7e&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&fbclid=IwZnRzaAQD5TFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEei8kw5E2Ofs5HMLDT7hW_XeQFY4WKp4fCh08c6HmVKEwjh1xOT5U2WutLJrY_aem_sLl-NjDjgjFVBavTvbcFxQ&triedRedirect=true

02/16/2026

Perfection is a harsh taskmaster. It can leave you feeling stressed, inadequate and frustrated. These feelings contribute significantly to an increased risk of injury. Interpreters often feel the pressure to produce work that is perfect - but no interpretation will ever be flawless. Any single interpretation will never fully reflect every nuance, subtlety and cultural implication imbedded in the source message.

When perfectionism is the standard, stressful emotions that can arise from feeling consistently inadequate. This increases the risk of injury because it can negatively affect bio-mechanics and ergonomics. It can also increase stress hormones in the body, which interferes with the body's ability to heal and recover for interpreting.

There is a difference between demanding perfection from oneself and professional integrity. Perfectionism is unhealthy and dysfunctional. It creates discouragement, increases feelings of stress as well as the likelihood of injury. Professional integrity keeps us constantly growing, learning and improving. It also allows us to be happy and healthy along the way.

02/12/2026

“If you think of a muscle as an object that is tight, you might conclude that you have nothing to do with its behavior, as if it had a mind of its own. This faulty impression often gives rise to the feeling that you are a victim of circumstances beyond your control. On contrast, if you think of a muscle as something being tightened, the implication is that someone is tightening it. That someone is you, even if you are not aware of it and do not wish to do so. Muscles do not have minds of their own - they have your mind. Even though you have unconsciously trained your muscles to be tight, you can consciously retrain them to relax. " Muscular Retraining For Pain-Free Living, by Craig Williamson

02/12/2026

Insufficient sleep is one of the physiological predispositions to injury. Most of healing occurs during sleep. If you are not sleeping well, you are not healing well. In addition, research has shown it is not just how much sleep you get, but also WHEN you sleep. For example, 10-6 is more restorative than is 12-8, even though they are both 8 hour stretches.

It is vital to address the cause of sleep issues rather than simply mask symptoms. A good start is healthy sleep hygiene. Check out this link to get started.

Looking for ways to sleep better? Improving sleep hygiene can make your habits, routines, & environment more conducive to consistent and restorative sleep.

02/10/2026

Interpreters may be emotionally triggered while interpreting sometimes - because they are human, not interpreting robots. They will inevitably encounter situations when their own personal issues and emotional vulnerabilities will be triggered. Additionally, some assignments may involve interpreting emotionally intense and/or traumatic situations, which can trigger vicarious trauma following interpreting a traumatic situation.

Interpreters who are emotionally triggered while interpreting must make time to decompress, otherwise each situation can begin to ‘layer’ - and the negative fallout from unprocessed emotions begins to accumulate. Interpreters may start to experience free floating anxiety, depression and/or more feelings of irritation and frustration - without realizing the unprocessed emotions from their work is at the root of their discomfort. They may even begin to experience more frequent physical pain or illness, because whatever you don't process emotionally goes to your body.

Making decompression and processing painful emotional experiences and stressful feelings triggered by interpreting is non-negotiable if an interpreter wants to remain in their chosen field AND remain emotionally and physically healthy. It may not be able to happen immediately after an assignment, however it time should be allotted later to unpack the experience and process the attending emotions.

02/08/2026

Interpreters can sometimes be their own worst critic, especially in the aftermath of a perceived ‘bad interpreting day’. There are a number of ways in which to navigate those times, but I wanted to mention one that came to mind.

It can sometimes be helpful to go back to the times when your interpreting came together like clockwork - when it felt organic, natural and easy. Remind yourself of the times when the Deaf and Hearing consumers raved about how well you did. Consider keeping a notebook (without specific identifying names, times, places, etc.) of positive experiences and comments from consumers that you can go back to and read during times when you need reminding that whatever gave rise to your momentary discouragement doesn’t represent the totality of your work. Going back to the times when we experienced success can help us see our ‘bad’ day with a wider, more balanced perspective.

We all get discouraged from time to time and, of course, it is important to learn and grow from mistakes. But we may still be left with lingering feelings of discouragement and self-doubt. Those are the times we may need to remind ourselves of where we last experienced success.

There are certainly other ways to encourage ourselves as well as this one, but this one has helped me in those moments of discouragement over the years - both as an interpreter and in my practice treating patients.

02/08/2026

I will not generally share my Substack on this page since it is not directly related to interpreting, however, I’m going to share the entirety of my first one out of my own excitement. And, I do think it might be of interest to some of my fellow older interpreters.

As I write my first Substack post, I find myself in unfamiliar territory. I am in the process of sending book proposals to publishers in hopes of generating interest in my new book, Aging Bravely. A best-selling author advised me to start posting on Substack, if I wasn’t already doing so, because book publishers will be interested in my social media presence. I haven’t published anything on Substack, although I do have two professional pages on Facebook, one of which I have consistently posted for years, and one where I do so sporadically. I have an Instagram account, however, I have rarely used it. My LinkedIn account has lain dormant for years. My author contact also hinted that I might consider using ‘Medium’ and ‘Patreon.’ I must sheepishly confess that I’ve never even heard of either one. I feel a bit like technology has sped past me when I was meandering along and slowly taking in the scenery. It all feels a bit intimidating - so, I get the opportunity to practice what I teach - aging bravely.

Becoming overly comfortable with what is familiar can be a pitfall as we age if we aren’t careful. A famous quote pronounces that ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.’ That notion is balderdash (how’s that phrase for sounding like an ‘old dog? lol). Age doesn’t make us incapable of expanding our knowledge or learning new skills. We needn’t limit ourselves to only that which is comfortable and easy. Growth demands we step outside of our comfort zone.

We all have the capacity to learn and grow, no matter what our age - it just takes a humble form of bravery. Exploring unfamiliar situations and ideas can feel scary and even overwhelming. We may feel afraid we’ll look stupid if we admit a lack of knowledge, especially when others seem so proficient, but growth requires that we take risks - which isn’t always comfortable.

Trying new things means we risk looking foolish and opens the door to the possibility of failure. But there is also risk that comes with not expanding and engaging with new ideas and experiences. If we limit ourselves to only the familiar, we cease to grow and become bored and disengaged from life. It’s essential to try new things and explore novel ideas. These things help to keep us alive and dynamic.

Being open-minded and willing to adapt and learn new things takes courage. We may not know where to start or how to proceed when faced with some new challenge. The truth is that sometimes we just have to start and allow the path to unfold before us with each tentative step we take.

As we age, we can all play a part in the dismantling of the old, dismissive paradigm that asserts ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.’ This old dog, for one, is leaping into some unfamiliar landscapes of social media. I hope you’ll join me by subscribing to my Substack.

Dipping my toes in Substack waters

02/08/2026

I often describe a balanced approach to health by using the analogy of a car engine. You can’t take out the transmission and expect the car to work. It needs a transmission - even if it has a top of the line battery, brand new spark plugs and spiffy racing tires! Or, you can’t have a great transmission and other essential parts, but disconnect the battery! The other parts do not and cannot make up for the essential missing parts the car needs in order to function.

This makes sense to people when we talk about it in reference to a car, yet many people approach their self-care and health in this way. But you can’t take out an essential piece off the puzzle and expect that it won’t make a difference in your health either! Your body needs a balance of healthful food, sleep, recovery time, exercise, movement, challenge, decompression, etc.

In other words, you can’t take out a vital aspect of the essential elements of health and expect it won’t make a difference. Each aspect of health care plays an important part in your overall health.

02/07/2026

My first Substack post. Not interpreting-related, but about aging bravely. Check it out…

Gotta figure out how to change/personalize the image. 😆

One tentative step at a time…

Dipping my toes in Substack waters