In 2008, Arlyn Anderson launched the first Peer Support and Consultation Project for Interpreters, with early collaboration and support from Marty Barnum. Affectionately known by members as “Pah! Skippy,” PSCPI was created in response to a growing concern: interpreters were carrying more than anyone could see.

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At the time, Arlyn was working as a mental health interpreting consultant and coach at a Deaf services agency with a large interpreting department. There had been a sharp increase in assignments that many interpreters found personally and emotionally challenging. The Director of Interpreting Services noticed the toll the work was taking and reached out for support in developing something sustainable.

Arlyn designed PSCPI to intentionally incorporate protective factors known to counter professional stress conditions such as vicarious trauma. From the beginning, the vision was clear: interpreters needed more than coping strategies. They needed connection, reflection, and a professional community that strengthened rather than depleted them.

Marty later transitioned into a supervisory role within the department, while Arlyn continued refining and facilitating the model as it evolved into the structure that remains in place today.

For the next decade, Arlyn offered PSCPI groups through her private coaching practice. Groups formed, trust deepened, and the model quietly strengthened over time. One long-standing group member with a background in social work, eventually posed a question that would change the trajectory of the project: What if you trained others to offer this?

That question led to the creation of the PSCPI Facilitator Training.

Since then, 21 facilitators have completed the training, expanding PSCPI into new communities while preserving its core principles. A sixth cohort is forming in 2026, continuing the steady, relational growth of this work.

Today, PSCPI includes multiple independent groups led by trained facilitators who share a commitment to psychological safety, awareness-centered dialogue, and sustaining interpreters in meaningful work without losing their voice, vitality, or sense of self.