Rethinking ‘The Therapy Room’: Flexible Spaces for Mental Health Work

Synopsis

Over the past 50 or so years we have seen the proliferation of ‘the therapy room’ as the primary environment for individuals to work through their mental distress with the professional other. At the same time there is a large issue across mental health services in relation to certain groups of people not accessing services and if they do there is an issue with service drop out. Therefore, in this presentation we consider if ‘the therapy room’ and mental health support needs a rethink in relation to the spaces, places, environments, and activities which constitute it. Drawing on theory and research, this paper will discuss the ways in which physical environments afford particular ways of seeing and being. We will highlight how prominent understandings of mental health work and the ‘the therapy room’ are understood by people who are traditionally characterized as ‘hard to reach’. This enables us to challenge the notion that particular groups are ‘hard to reach’ and suggest that it is the spaces, environments, and mental health practices are not appropriate for the mental health understandings and support needs of a variety of people. We conclude with the suggestion that if we are to provide mental health support to a broader population and address issues of equality, we need to start by thinking about the type of spaces and places we are building for mental health work to occur and how these spaces and places afford particular ways of ‘doing’ mental health work.