Is the counselling & therapy room wheelchair accessible?
- Amy Mills
- 22 hours ago
- 3 min read
Recently I have been very busy finding, moving in and setting up my new counselling and therapy room. I've been meaning to write this blog post for a while so it feels good to finally get to it!
When I started looking for a suitable room, I didn't quite realise how fussy I was and therefore what a time consuming job it was going to be. I wanted somewhere that felt spacious but not cavernous, with lots of daylight while still private, and obviously a space that's quiet, calm and confidential almost goes without saying.
Oh and I wanted it to be accessible to everyone who wants to come and see me, in a central location. With a waiting area and toilets.
No wonder it took me a while - and quite a few false starts - to find the right space!
Parking and dropped curb routes
At the beginning of March I moved into my now counselling and therapy room on the third floor of Brougham House, which is 50 Devon Street West (New Plymouth). So now, as well as continuing to offer online sessions, I am able to offer in-person counselling and therapy as well as clinical supervision to other counsellors and consultation support to other professionals.
There is paid-for on street parking right outside while the City Centre is probably the cheapest paid-for parking nearby. It's about 5 minutes walk to streets which have free on-street parking. The bus station is round the corner on Ariki street and there are plenty of places to lock up a bike on Devon Street and round the corner in front of Puke Ariki library.
The parking directly outside doesn't have dropped curbs but there are dropped curb routes from the library, City Centre carpark and along Devon Street.
Step-free access from street level
Despite being on the third floor, thankfully there is step-free access from street level. There are automatic sliding doors coming into the building and then you can take a lift up to the third floor.
The lift door is approximately 88cm wide.
Coming out of the lift you can look out for the Paper Plane Counselling signs and follow these to find the room.
Turning left, there are double fire doors which open out towards you. These are quite heavy. If you think these are going to be an issue for you then you can let me know in advance and I’ll be very happy to meet you by the lift and hold the door open for you.
The counselling and therapy room is along the corridor, about midway down. There is a low pile carpet. The corridor measures 146cm across.
The doorway to the counselling and therapy room (when opened as fully as possible) is 75cm wide. The carpet inside is a low pile. There is a low pile rug about 1cm high, which can be moved out of the way if it’s an issue.
Toilets and waiting area
While there are step-free access toilets further along the corridor, unfortunately they are not suitable for people who use wheelchairs (there are too many doors and not enough room to turn). The nearest suitable toilets are round the corner in the Puke Ariki library.
There are chairs at either end of the corridor to wait but not enough space to comfortably wait in a larger wheelchair without perhaps feeling "in the way". Therefore, if your chair is on the larger side, it’s better to arrive as close as possible to your session time so that you can come straight in.
Walk through video and next steps
You might notice that my counselling room is very green - sometimes I even consider starting a side line garden centre business! The link between the natural world and positive mental health is something I'm becoming increasingly interested in, so this is intentional. I wanted the room to be a nurturing environment for me as well as everyone who comes to work with me in person. I could talk about this at length so something for another post perhaps....
In the meantime, if you want to get a sense of what coming to meet with me at the counselling and therapy room is like then check out the walk through video below and feel free to message me if there's anything specific you want to know. If you're thinking of setting up possible counselling and therapy sessions then it's easy to book a free call to talk about this. If access is an issue for you then I'm very happy to talk through questions and think about how the space might work for you.
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