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Cracking the Psychenglish Enigma

Article in The Psychologist · February 2021

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Nicolò Zarotti
Manchester Centre for Clinical Neurosciences
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Cracking the Psychenglish Enigma
Psychology shares a deep connection with
language. It starts with etymology – that logos
(‘word’, ‘discourse’) in its name, which allows us to
distinguish it from psychiatry – and goes all the way
down to the use of talking therapies, which again
sets it apart from its medical cousin. And yet, during
the seven years I have lived in this country, I have
been under the constant impression that language
currently represents one of the biggest barriers to the
profession. In a way, I am no longer surprised that
language, which plays such a pivotal role in the field,
also shapes access to it.
However, when I first moved to the UK to start
my PhD, it was a bit of a shock. Being fairly fluent in
English and having already spent five years studying
and working in psychology in Italy, I believed I could
navigate the field with confidence. It only took me
a few days to realise how wrong I was – specifically,
when I first met the DClinPsy trainees. Based in
the Medical School, I often had the opportunity to
meet and chat with various cohorts of trainees in the
corridors or communal kitchen. While the small talk
didn’t present a problem, things changed dramatically
as soon as the topic shifted to psychology: one moment
I was there – excited to share opinions on brain
injury, PTSD, or cognitive assessments – and the
next I was holding my breath while floating in a
verbal sea of ‘clients’, ‘formulations’, ‘self-reflections’,
or ‘interventions’.
I had no idea what they were talking about. To my
Italian psychologist ear, an ‘intervention’ was a surgical
operation (intervento chirurgico), while a client was
always called a ‘patient’ (paziente). Following those
brief conversations, I wondered if my whole life was
a lie and whether I had to curse my school English
teacher. In time, however, it became clear that this only
happened when I spoke with trainees: I had no issues
talking with physicians or nurses.
Eventually, I realised that psychology in the
UK doesn’t speak English. It speaks Psychenglish.
Everything in it, from the lexicon to the syntax and the
semantics, seems to be built around a specific set of
rules shared within the profession. You have to sound
scientific, but not too medical. Empathic, but not too
emotional. And if you want to access the profession,
you must abide.
During my PhD, that didn’t represent a major issue
for me. Academia – more international and diverse
than many clinical fields – almost acted like a filter for
the language barrier. However, Psychenglish became
a much bigger problem when, after graduating and
working as a researcher for a while, I decided to apply
for clinical training. It felt like those chats with the
trainees: there I was, staring puzzled at the Clearing
House application form, feeling as if I was in Bletchley
Park and had to crack the Enigma – the encryption
machine adopted by the Germans during WWII. One
wrong word, one misinterpreted sentence could have
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the psychologist february 2021 voices in psychology
meant seeing my application
getting blitzkrieged. I had no
alternative: I needed help from
a trainee or clinical psychologist
– I needed a codebreaker, a
Psychenglish interpreter.
Luckily, by that time I had
the opportunity to turn to
my former PhD supervisor (a
brilliant clinical academic),
as well as a number of great
practitioners I had met during
research. It is thanks to their
advice, following multiple
reviews and rehearsals of the
correct attitudes and terminology
to use in my application, that I
eventually managed crack the
code and get on a DClinPsy course. The experience Dr Nicolò Zarotti,
eventually left me with a bitter question: was all that trainee clinical
necessary? Why were applicants expected to speak like psychologist,
a psychologist before starting training? University of East
I am writing these words on the last week of Year Anglia
1 of my DClinPsy. I believe I am finally beginning to
understand. While I initially thought Psychenglish
was an issue specifically related to me and the way
I had been taught in Italy, the recent drive towards
increasing diversity in the profession – including the
generous mobilisation of over a hundred trainees and
practitioners to review the applications of people from
marginalised backgrounds – has revealed the systemic
game of intersectionality.
If you are British, white, middle class, with no
disability, you probably had the chance to pick up
Psychenglish as you grew up, through your studies
or work. Maybe you even had a psychologist in your
family. But if you are BAME, LGBTQ+, working class,
or disabled, then that language was unlikely part of
your environment in your early years. And, by the time
you tried to access the profession, Psychenglish was
probably already an Enigma.
Reflecting has made me realise I am privileged too.
While I may not be British, I am white, middle class,
with no disability – and I had the chance to obtain a
PhD before applying. Most people from marginalised
backgrounds don’t have that type of advantage.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I know Psychenglish is here
to stay. After all, that is the language of the profession.
However, it’s the use of Psychenglish as a barrier –
the Enigma machine during the application process –
that we have target and dismantle.
Ultimately, if we continue to select candidates
based on how well they can speak like psychologists
before even starting their training journey, with no
effort to see the potential behind the language of those
who had fewer opportunities, then we will continue
to systemically prevent psychology from becoming the
diverse and inclusive profession it should be.