Abstract
The theme of the polyglot therapist working in a few languages has been the focus of some researches in recent years. It was shown, that working as a therapist in a language other than one own's mother tongue brings about technical implications, but also has an effect on psychotherapists' work and the dialogue between therapist and patient on many other levels.
The present research explored aspect of psychodynamic psychotherapy being performed in a foreign tongue, from the perspective of the therapist. The research is unique in its sample of participants: polyglot psychotherapists who started working in a foreign tongue in different circumstances and stages of their professional lives, some in the context of immigration and some not.
The languages practiced as foreign tongues by participants of the current study were diverse: Italian, Hebrew, Czech, German, French, and Spanish. English was also used by some of the participants.
Three themes appeared in participants' interviews: 1. Polyglot therapists' relationship with their different languages. 2.
Identity. 3. The polyglot therapist's work, with two subthemes: 3.1.
Technical issues. 3.2. Nonverbal elements.
Different qualities of polyglot therapists are presented and explored, and the issue of the stranger and its relevance to the polyglot therapist's work, as well as to the work of psychodynamic therapists in general are discussed.