TerpHealth: Prevention and Management of Interpreting Related Injury

08/05/2026

I haven’t posted for a few days because I have been decompressing from a traumatic incident.

A few days ago I found myself, along with others, hiding from a sho0ter in a small restaurant employee meeting room at the mall near where I live.

I called my husband from inside the room because I wasn’t totally sure we would all make it out. We weren’t sure whether this was a targeted shooting directed at one person or a mass shooting spree.

The whole incident was terrifying, confusing and surreal.

I have had some decompressing to do. I found myself leaning into strategies I have taught my students and patients for years. They have been extremely helpful. Though there are many others, these were the ones that made a real difference for me in the last few days:

- I allowed myself to cry; to shake; to feel the fear. I know then when we try to stifle those emotions that they tend to get stuck in our bodies.

- I shared my feelings about my experience initially only with people I trusted. I didn’t edit.

- I journaled without editing. These unfiltered vents helped me ‘get it outside of myself’ so that bi could see it with greater clarity.

- After these initial vents, I remembered there is a difference between reliving/re-traumatizing myself and actually processing the trauma. So I endeavored to make my self-talk include helpful planned action rather than just ruminating about what happened. Instead of just replaying it over and over in my mind, I’m saying, “Ok, this *did* happen and it *was* terrifying, so what can I do right now to help myself and calm my nervous system?”

- I’m seeking to make sure my conversation is geared toward supporting my healing. Though we can’t talk our way out of a trauma response, (or vicarious trauma) because it’s not just in our mind but also in our body, how we talk about it to ourselves and others can help worsen or mitigate those responses.

- I splashed very cold water on my face, while holding my breath for 15 to 30 seconds at a time (not recommended if you have heart rhythm issues). This kicked in the ‘diver’s reflex’, which calms the nervous system.

- I meditated, focusing on my body being grounded, here now and safe.

- Along with meditation, I did some alternate nasal breathing, which can significantly reduce stress because it helps to balance the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

- I got out in nature and walked.

- I supported myself nutritionally to help my emotional health, including extra B vitamins.

- I was having trouble sleeping, so I tried to nap when I could.

- I focused on my out-breath when memories would flood in. This helped calm the flight, fight and freeze response.

- I massaged Heart 7, CV 17, PC 6, and’s KI 1 acupuncture points (you can look these up online). I also put acupressure pellets in my ear NADA trauma points to help calm my body and mind.

- I did some EFT ‘tapping’ along with a little EMDR for emotional release. Again, these techniques can be found online.

I’m sure I did some other things that are habit for me after so many years, but I thought I’d share these since Interpreters sometimes have to process really difficult things. I hope you find them helpful. I also hope you never need them for something really acute.

Interestingly, one of the things that helped me the most was helping my one and a half month old granddaughter. She had spit up a significant amount – enough that it was scary for her. I went to lay her down to clean her up and her ‘fall reflex’ triggered. The look of terror that came across her face and her entire body reaction was enough for me to scoop her back into my arms, (throw-up and all) to comfort her. I heard myself saying to her, “It’s all right baby. You’re safe. It’s over. It’s over baby. You’re safe. You’re safe.” and suddenly my brain and my entire body heard that all the way to my bones.

07/30/2026

The idea that the customer (consumer) is always right undermines the importance of healthy boundaries. Every consumer deserves to be treated with respect - and so does every service provider, including interpreters.

Consumers have a right to have their concerns taken seriously, but interpreters have a right to expect those concerns be communicated respectfully. Nobody is under the obligation to tolerate abusive behavior directed at them. ‘Good customer service’ doesn’t require us to simply remain silent while being emotionally thrashed.

Where should the line/boundary be drawn? At personal attacks and disrespect aimed directly at the interpreter; When it becomes personal.

07/23/2026

How can you foster a positive approach to work, life, and health challenges without sublimating or repressing authentic emotions? This is a very real issue for interpreters because we often find ourselves in emotionally triggering situations.

Here are a few proven approaches:

- Develop a daily meditation practice. Experts in both Eastern and Western medicine have endorsed meditation as an effective strategy for reducing and managing stressful emotions. There are many different types and approaches to meditation. Don't worry if at first you can't 'turn off' your thoughts. This is pretty common in the beginning. Just notice them and release them.

- Observe your emotional response as if you were an objective 3rd person. Studies have demonstrated that this helps to weaken the neuro-pathways on which disturbing emotions and thoughts are carried in the brain. It allows some space between you and the response, which allows you to more clearly see and respond appropriately to what you are experiencing. It is the difference between jumping into the rapids or standing on the bank and watching the torrent race by.

- Notice where your body is reacting to your feelings of stress. Connect with, and then relax and release this area.

- Tell yourself 'helpful stories'. Most of the time what people are actually emotionally reacting to is a story they have actually made up in their own minds about what occurred. For example, if someone cuts them off in traffic the story they make up might be the person is on the way to the birth of their first child, or that they are a jerk. The story will dictate the response.

- Learn from your emotional response. If someone does something that feels upsetting to you, ask yourself 'why?’ What got triggered inside of you that needs to be addressed and possibly healed?

- Focus on learning greater levels of self-compassion. Remember, you don't have to be perfect. A bonsai tree isn't perfect either, but its imperfection is what actually makes it so beautiful.

There are other ways as well. This is by no means a comprehensive list - but it is a good start!

07/21/2026

Many people perpetuate their pain by attempting to stretch and strengthen their chronically painful muscles. While stretching and strengthening is a great idea, it can create pain if it is not done at the right time and in the right way. I frequently have patients whose attempts to stretch and strengthen a tight muscle just makes things worse. Why?

- The stretch reflex. The stretch reflex involves shortening and contracting a muscle to protect it when the brain and nervous system thinks a muscle is in danger of being overly stretched and possibly torn. It's a self-protection mechanism.

- Contraction multiplied. If you try to strengthen a muscle (which involves 'tightening' it) that is already chronically contracted, it can exacerbated the problem.

What is the answer? Balancing muscle strength and flexibility with kinesthetic awareness. If you have a compromised kinesthetic sense, you may be unaware than you are chronically tightening certain muscles, compensating with other muscles, and moving in ways that are essentially dysfunctional. That must be corrected in order to ensure that you aren't adding to chronic muscle tightness when you do strengthening exercises, or causing the muscle to contract as a defensive response when stretching.

"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

07/16/2026

A few simple things to make your day healthier:

- Stay hydrated.

- Take the stairs.

- Eat something green.

- Express heartfelt gratitude for 3 things.

- Stop at least once during the day to take 3 deep, cleansing breaths.

- Hug someone.

- Stand barefoot on the ground for a few minutes.

07/16/2026

The tendency in our society (and field) to magnify problems and weaknesses and minimize assets and strengths can have a significant impact on health and overall satisfaction in life and work.

What you focus on is what dictates your experience in life. Here are some questions that can help keep your focus on health building and gratitude-inducing things today:

- What are my strongest interpreting assets?

- What do I love about my job?

- What is really working in my life?

- What is going right with my health and body?

- What is there to appreciate in my life and work that I have overlooked?

- What positive choices am I making in my life and work?

- What can I do today that will lift someone up today?

Add your own...

07/12/2026

A lack of sleep impacts which emotional memories the brain ‘lays down.’ When sleep deprived, there is typically a decrease in the ability to remember positive events and emotions and an increased capacity for remembering negative emotions and events. People often form twice as many negative memories as positive ones when sleep deprived. This affects their overall experience and interpretation of life. Sleep issues can even lead to or contribute to significant depression.

Sleep deprived Interpreters may remember more of their frustrating and difficult encounters while interpreting when they don’t get enough sleep. Cumulatively, they may even start to resent their job because they are predominately remembering the more negative aspects.

Sleep matters. Consider googling and following the recommendations of ‘sleep hygiene.’ These are guidelines given by sleep clinics to help normalize and regulate sleep patterns. If, after a month of regularly practicing sleep hygiene, your sleep doesn’t substantially improve, consider getting a physical to rule out hormonal or dietary issues that may be at the root.

07/11/2026

Self-massage technique to help relax your neck.

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07/08/2026

Rest

Getting enough quality sleep is a huge issue for many sign language interpreters. The importance of sleep in order to reduce the risk of interpreting-related injury, to enhance healing and to support balanced emotions cannot be overstated. Below are some of the reasons why sleep is so important for interpreters:

- Much of the healing process occurs during sleep.

- Sleep deficit interferes with normal hormone functions. This can have far reaching health consequences, including affecting the body's ability to heal and recover from interpreting.

- Protection from infections and viruses drops substantially with lack of sleep. This increases the risk of catching flus and colds, which is not only uncomfortable, but can affect an interpreter's wage earning potential.

- Studies show lack of sleep impacts the emotional memories that people laid down. There is a decrease in ability to remember positive events and emotions, and an increased capacity for remembering negative emotions and events with sleep impairment. People formed twice as many negative memories as positive ones when sleep deprived. This affected their overall experience, expectations and interpretation of life. Sleep deprivation was found to, under the right circumstances, even precipitate depression severe enough to be diagnosed as major depression.

- Lack of sleep increases ghrelin (an appetite stimulating hormone) and decreases leptin (which inhibits hunger). It also increases the risk of diabetes since it affects insulin resistance. I mention this here because lack of sleep and cravings for non-nourishing foods often go hand-in-hand. Eating a balanced diet is an important part of an interpreter's ability to heal from the work of interpreting.

- Lack of sleep negatively affects cognitive function and memory - two things that are integral to the work of interpreting.

- Your brain literally detoxes while you sleep. 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'. If after a month of practicing sleep hygiene you still have sleep issues, consider seeing a doctor to get a check-up and some blood work done. Sometimes sleep problems have their roots in hormonal and nutritional imbalances.

07/07/2026

This can help interpreters with neck pain too.

Getting the kinks out.

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