For too many people, the space meant for healing can quietly become another space of exclusion — a ramp that’s too steep, a chair that’s too high, a therapist who assumes eye contact means connection. Sometimes it isn’t cruelty. It’s invisibility.
Living with a physical disability adds extra challenges to nearly every part of life — and access to mental health care is no exception. This is the story of one search for a therapist’s office that was actually possible to get into.
I know first-hand how difficult it can be to live with a disability in a world mostly created by and for people with able bodies. Here’s what the social model of disability taught me — and how it changes what a psychotherapist can offer.
A wonderful poem by Mary Casserly, on seeing the person and not the disability.
“I suppose some days you forget that you have Parkinson’s?” A friend once said that to me. Unfortunately, there is rarely an hour that goes by that I’m not reminded.
Medical PTSD can be a huge part of the therapeutic healing of someone with a disability — the psychological distress of surgeries, invasive procedures, and chronic illness, often overshadowed by more widely known forms of PTSD.
Normalisation strives for inclusivity — but from the inside, it can sometimes mean minimising real difference rather than making room for it. On ignorance, stigma, and Maya, whose wheelchair is an extension of her spirit rather than a limitation.
When we interact as people, it’s near impossible to plan exactly what we’ll say. Too often, something called ‘projection’ enters the conversation without anyone noticing — and it can become a powerful tool for marginalisation.
A lot of people living with long-term disabilities already possess a superpower — super-adaptability. On navigating a world built for able bodies, and what it costs to keep adapting to it every single day.
In a world that thrives on definitions, the fluidity of disability intrigues us all. On neurodiversity, ever-changing capability, and what it really means to embrace diversity.
About this website
Disability in Psychotherapy provides educational information and reflective resources. Reading or using this material does not establish a therapist–client relationship.
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Casey Donaghey also offers therapy through a separate professional practice. Visit the practice website for current service information and enquiries.