Frequently Asked Questions

Margaret Goillon MA, MBACPCounsellor and UKCP Registered Psychotherapist
Haslemere, Surrey

Frequently Asked Questions
29th March 2024 
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Frequently asked questions

It can often be difficult for clients to know which therapist to choose. There is a confusing array of different therapeutic approaches and therapists with widely ranging qualifications which may mean little to the average person. If you don't find the answers to your questions below and you are unsure if I would be able to help with your particular difficulty you are welcome to telephone me on 01428 645292 for a short discussion. However the best way to decide whether or not I may be a suitable therapist for you is to arrange an initial session in which we can discuss your particular needs in detail.


What are the aims of counselling and psychotherapy?

The aims of counselling and psychotherapy are to help clients to be more of their true selves, to be appropriately self-reliant, and to take greater control of their own destiny. The sessions should give people the opportunity to talk things through with someone who will not give them advice, but who will try to help them find their own ways of coping, understanding or changing. Whatever the specific reason clients enter therapy, the movement is towards improved relationships, increased energy and enjoyment of life.

Although nowadays either psychotherapy or counselling can be called 'short term' many people think of counselling as providing shorter term help with a specific problem whereas psychotherapy tends to be more wide-ranging in helping clients to address more general issues of personal development.

What is special about Gestalt Therapy?

Here are some of the fundamental ideas of Gestalt Therapy:

  • Everything that we have experienced has shaped us and our way of being in the present.

  • We have adapted to, and learnt from, our experiences in the past in order to get our essential needs met. We are not to blame for this. However these patterns of behaving sometimes continue even when they are no longer appropriate or in our best interests.

  • We cannot change anything until we are aware of it.

    The work of the gestalt therapist is therefore to facilitate our client's awareness of their thoughts, feelings and patterns of behaviour so that they can decide what changes they wish to make to enrich their lives.