What Part of You Comes to Work?

Reflecting on Kate Shearer’s opening keynote at The Together Conference 2026

When we prepare for interpreting or translation work, we usually think about the subject, the language, the people involved and the practical arrangements.

We might research terminology, review background information, check the technology, consider possible challenges and make sure we understand what is expected of us.

But how often do we prepare for the person we ourselves will be when the work begins?

Which part of us will respond if someone challenges a decision? What happens internally when we do not understand something immediately? What makes us step in, hold back, over-explain, avoid asking a question or try to make everything perfect?

These were some of the questions raised by Kate Shearer in the opening keynote of The Together Conference 2026, From Sub-Personalities to Sign Production: The Inner Landscape of Interpreting.

It was a fitting way to begin a conference built around the theme Pick It Up, Pass It On. Before considering what we have learned from others and what we may pass on through our work, Kate asked us to look at what is already happening within us.

Looking inwards before looking outwards

Kate is a BSL interpreter and psychosynthesis coach. Her session introduced psychosynthesis, an approach associated with Italian psychiatrist Roberto Assagioli, and considered how it might help interpreters become more aware of the internal patterns that influence their work.

At the centre of the session was the idea of sub-personalities.

These are different aspects of ourselves that develop throughout our lives. They may be connected to our age, relationships, family roles, professional identity, previous experiences or the expectations we have absorbed from other people.

They are not separate people living within us. They are recognisable patterns of thoughts, feelings, behaviours and responses that can become more active in particular situations.

Within professional practice, these might include:

• the perfectionist who believes nothing less than a flawless interpretation is acceptable

• the helper who feels responsible for solving every difficulty in the room

• the advocate who wants to challenge unfairness immediately

• the teacher who feels drawn to explain something for the participants

• the critic who replays every decision after an assignment

• the part that avoids conflict and wants everyone to remain comfortable

• the skilled professional who can remain calm, focused and precise

Kate’s point was not that these parts are automatically good or bad. Each one has developed for a reason and may be trying to serve or protect us. Difficulties can arise, however, when one part takes control without us being fully aware of it.

When the perfectionist takes over

To make the theory more practical, Kate introduced Maya, an experienced interpreter working across medical, educational and corporate settings.

During a medical appointment, Maya asked a surgeon for clarification. The surgeon responded abruptly, leaving her tense and flustered.

Maya then began to overcompensate. She tried to become the perfect interpreter, paid too much attention to avoiding mistakes and became increasingly tense.

Later, she replayed the incident and criticised herself for not handling it better.

On the surface, this may appear to be a single uncomfortable interaction. Through the lens of psychosynthesis, however, several internal processes were taking place.

A previous experience of being harshly corrected as a trainee had contributed to Maya’s fear of making mistakes. Her perfectionist appeared during the appointment, followed later by the inner critic. Both were trying to protect her from failure, embarrassment or rejection, but their actions also increased her anxiety and reduced her confidence.

At other times, Maya could draw on very different parts of herself. She could be skilled, neutral, focused and able to manage complex communication. She could also feel connected to the purpose of her work and interested in how access might be improved.

The important question was not simply, “Which Maya is the real one?”

All of these responses were part of her. The question was whether she could recognise which part was present and decide whether it was helping her make an appropriate professional decision.

The inner noise of interpreting

Interpreting already places considerable demands on attention, working memory, anticipation, language production and decision-making.

Alongside the external demands of the situation, interpreters may also be managing what Dr Robyn Dean and Dr Robert Pollard describe within Demand Control Schema as intrapersonal demands, sometimes referred to as the interpreter’s internal or inner noise.

Kate’s session gave us another way of thinking about that internal activity.

The inner voice saying, “You must not make a mistake” uses processing capacity.

So does the urge to prove yourself, keep everyone happy, fix a difficult interaction or worry about how a colleague is judging you.

An interpreter might appear calm while internally managing several competing responses. A translator may experience something similar while repeatedly revisiting a decision, doubting their work, reacting strongly to feedback or struggling to finish because the translation never feels good enough.

Kate’s session was rooted in interpreting practice, but the wider questions can also apply to translators, educators, assessors and other professionals. The setting may be different, but our professional choices are still made by people with histories, habits, fears, values and expectations.

Becoming the observer

One of the central ideas in Kate’s session was learning to observe our thoughts, emotions and physical responses without becoming completely identified with them.

She described this as developing the position of the observer.

Instead of thinking:

“I am not good enough for this assignment,”

we might begin to notice:

“A part of me is worried that I am not good enough for this assignment.”

That small change creates some distance. It does not deny the feeling or force it away. It simply recognises that the feeling is present without allowing it to define the whole person.

Kate used several guided exercises to help participants experience this. These included focusing on breathing, noticing physical sensations, observing thoughts and reflecting on situations in which a particular part had become active.

She encouraged participants to consider what that sub-personality was trying to achieve. Was it trying to prevent embarrassment? Avoid conflict? Protect professional reputation? Keep someone safe? Gain approval?

The aim was not to silence the internal response, but to understand it.

With practice, the observer may be able to recognise the perfectionist, critic or fixer before that part automatically drives the next decision.

A more compassionate form of reflection

Professional reflection can easily become another opportunity for self-criticism.

We may review an assignment and focus only on errors, missed opportunities or decisions we would now make differently. Reflection then becomes a list of things we believe we did wrong.

Kate offered a different approach.

In one exercise, participants were asked to recall a situation in which they had felt anxious or restricted. They were then invited to step back, observe themselves with compassion and consider which sub-personality had appeared.

They could ask what that part had been trying to do, recognise its effort and consider how it might also be limiting them.

Kate described these parts as “loyal soldiers”. They may have worked hard to protect us, sometimes for many years. However, strategies that were helpful at one point in our lives may not always be suitable for our current professional role.

The conflict-avoiding part might have helped us remain safe in a difficult environment, but it may now prevent us from asking an essential question.

The helper may reflect genuine care for others, but it could also lead us to take responsibility that does not belong to us.

The perfectionist may have driven us to practise, study and reach a high professional standard, while also making it difficult to accept that interpreting and translation involve uncertainty, judgement and human limitation.

Recognising this allows reflection to become less about blame and more about choice.

What might this mean in practice?

The value of Kate’s keynote was not in providing a new label for every response we have. It was in helping us notice patterns that may otherwise remain hidden.

Before an assignment or translation, we might ask:

What am I bringing into this work today?

During the work:

What part of me is responding right now?

Afterwards:

Did that response help, or did it make the work more difficult?

These questions could become part of preparation, supervision, mentoring, co-working conversations or individual CPD reflection.

They may help us recognise why similar situations repeatedly produce the same response. They could also help us discuss professional decisions with greater honesty.

Rather than saying, “That doctor was difficult, so I lost confidence,” we might be able to say, “Their response activated my fear of being seen as incompetent, and I began over-monitoring my interpretation.”

Rather than saying, “I always step in when communication breaks down,” we might ask whether the helper or fixer is taking control and whether stepping in is the most appropriate response in that particular situation.

This does not remove professional responsibility. Awareness does not excuse a poor decision. It gives us more information about why the decision happened and what we might do differently next time.

What are we passing on?

Kate’s session also connected closely with the 2026 conference theme.

Many professional habits are passed on directly through teaching, assessment and mentoring. Others are picked up less visibly through observation, workplace culture and repeated comments.

A trainee may learn that good professionals should never appear uncertain.

A new interpreter may observe experienced colleagues avoiding clarification and assume that asking questions shows weakness.

A translator may repeatedly receive the message that every piece of work must be perfect before it can be shared.

A mentor who speaks harshly about their own mistakes may unintentionally pass that same critical voice to the person they are supporting.

When we become more aware of our own internal patterns, we can begin to make more deliberate choices about what we pass on.

We might pass on the value of preparation without passing on perfectionism.

We can encourage confidence without pretending that uncertainty disappears.

We can model reflection without making reflection punitive.

We can acknowledge limits, ask for support and show that professional growth does not require us to attack ourselves each time something feels difficult.

As we reflected at the end of Kate’s session, some habits are taught to us clearly, while others are absorbed quietly through experience, observation and pressure. Professional development includes noticing those patterns, deciding whether they still serve us and considering what others may learn from watching us.

New insights begin with honest questions

The theme for The Together Conference 2027 is New Insights, Shared Purpose.

New insights do not always begin with a completed research project or a definite answer. Sometimes they begin when someone notices a recurring pattern and asks a better question.

• Why do interpreters respond differently to the same professional pressure?

• How does perfectionism influence language choices?

• What happens internally when we receive feedback?

• How do professional cultures pass on fear, confidence or self-doubt?

• What role could supervision, coaching or reflective practice play in helping interpreters and translators understand their internal responses?

These questions could form the basis of research, professional discussion, a workplace project, a teaching approach, a reflective account or a conference presentation.

The Call for Papers for The Together Conference 2027 opens on Monday 5 October 2026. We welcome proposals from interpreters, translators, Deaf professionals, trainees, educators, researchers, supervisors, service providers and others with knowledge or experience to contribute.

You do not need to decide whether your idea belongs in the main programme or the extended conference. Submit the proposal and our review panel will consider where accepted contributions fit best within the programme.

We will also welcome poster submissions from people who want to share developing research, early findings, resources, projects or practice-based reflections.

Kate Shearer opened the 2026 conference by asking us to look inwards. As we begin thinking about the conversations we want to share in 2027, perhaps that remains a useful place to start.

What have you noticed in your own work that deserves closer attention?

Using this article for unstructured CPD

You may wish to reflect on one or more of the following questions:

1. Which internal role or sub-personality do you recognise most strongly in your professional practice?

2. In which situations does that part usually appear?

3. What might it be trying to protect you from?

4. When is that response useful?

5. When might it restrict your professional choices?

6. What have you picked up from others about confidence, uncertainty or making mistakes?

7. What do you want to pass on differently to colleagues, trainees or students?

A short written reflection on these questions could be recorded as part of your unstructured CPD.