Addiction counselling & therapy in London
Addiction counselling in London is available at Philippe Jacquet & Associates, with practices at Harley Street W1, Central London, and Bermondsey SE1. Dr Philippe Jacquet works as an addiction counsellor in Central London (Fitzrovia, W1), as well as at Harley Street and Bermondsey. The approach here is not primarily about stopping a behaviour. It is about understanding what the behaviour has been doing. Addiction is rarely a failure of character or willpower. It is, in most cases, a solution to something: a way of managing pain, anxiety, disconnection, or an inner life that has become unmanageable by other means. Effective treatment starts there.
Philippe Jacquet is a Hazelden-trained addiction specialist with 25 years of clinical experience. Hazelden is one of the most respected addiction treatment institutions in the world, and its model (which treats addiction as a relational and psychological problem, not merely a physical one) informs the depth of work offered at this practice. You can read more about the history of Hazelden and the Minnesota Model. You can also read about the history of the Twelve Steps, from AA to Narcotics Anonymous and Overeaters Anonymous.
What addiction counselling addresses
This practice works with the full range of addiction presentations, alcohol dependency, drug addiction including cocaine, heroin, cannabis and prescription drugs, gambling addiction, sex addiction and compulsive sexual behaviour, and behavioural addictions including technology, work and exercise. Many people who come here are not certain whether what they are experiencing constitutes an addiction in a clinical sense. That uncertainty is itself worth exploring. The question of whether the behaviour has become compulsive (whether it persists despite harm, despite genuine desire to stop) is what matters clinically, not the label.
Co-occurring presentations are common and are taken seriously here. Depression and anxiety frequently underlie addiction, and addressing the addiction without addressing what it is managing is rarely sufficient. This practice has the clinical depth to work across all of it, not sequentially, but as an integrated whole.
A private, confidential alternative to residential rehab
For many people, particularly executives, professionals and those in public-facing roles, the obstacle is not motivation but exposure: rehab means weeks away from work and family, and can feel like an admission that everything has collapsed. Specialist addiction therapy you can attend privately, without stepping out of your life, is often the step a person can actually take early, before things reach that point. It is confidential, consultant-led, and works within the life you actually live rather than a protected bubble, which is where recovery ultimately has to hold. It also comes at a fraction of the cost of a residential stay. Where residential care is genuinely the right step, Dr Jacquet will say so plainly and help you prepare for it, and for those returning from a clinic he provides confidential aftercare and continuity. Read more about this confidential, executive-level approach to addiction, or about when rehab helps and how to choose one.
Alcohol counselling in London
Alcohol dependency is one of the most common reasons people seek help here. Alcohol counselling in London at this practice treats drinking not as a failure of willpower but as a solution to something that has become unmanageable, addressing the underlying causes alongside the drinking itself, rather than the drinking in isolation. Where alcohol use is bound up with trauma, EMDR is available within the wider therapeutic work.
The approach
The work is integrative and depth-oriented, drawing on Jungian analysis, psychodynamic frameworks, and addiction-specialist training. This is not a 12-step model, though the practice does not dismiss what 12-step approaches offer. It is a model that takes seriously the question of what the addiction has been doing for the person, what needs it has been meeting, and what needs to change at a psychological level (not just a behavioural one) for recovery to be durable.
EMDR is available for people whose addiction is bound up with trauma, which is frequently the case. Philippe Jacquet is an EMDR practitioner with over 20 years of experience, and uses it within the broader therapeutic relationship rather than as a standalone protocol.
Addiction therapist in London
Philippe Jacquet is a Hazelden-trained addiction therapist working across Harley Street, Central London and Bermondsey, as well as online. As an addiction therapist, his focus is not only on stopping a behaviour but on understanding what it has been managing (the anxiety, pain or disconnection beneath it) so that recovery holds at depth rather than relapses once the immediate crisis has passed.
Codependency and addiction
Partners, family members and close friends of people with addiction often find themselves caught in a pattern of their own, managing, rescuing, enabling. That has come to organise their lives as much as the addiction organises the addicted person’s. This practice offers individual therapeutic work for codependency alongside or independently of work with the addicted person. Both patterns require attention in their own right.
Confidentiality and discretion
All sessions are conducted under strict confidentiality. Nothing shared in sessions is disclosed to any employer, insurer, GP or family member without explicit written consent. This applies without exception. For many people seeking addiction counselling in London, particularly those in professional or public-facing roles, this level of discretion is not incidental. It is essential. The practices at Harley Street, Central London and Bermondsey are all designed with privacy in mind.
London locations
Sessions are available in person at Harley Street W1, Central London, and Bermondsey SE1, as well as online via secure video link. For clients who travel, sessions can continue at any location or online, maintaining therapeutic continuity. An initial consultation is the first step, a private conversation about what has brought you here, with no obligation to continue beyond it.
Clinical supervision at an established private residential addiction clinic
For over five years, Philippe Jacquet has supervised the clinical team of an established private residential addiction clinic. It is one of the UK’s oldest and most respected kinds of private addiction treatment setting, recognised for nearly four decades of specialist residential treatment for alcohol and drug dependency and co-occurring mental health conditions.
Philippe Jacquet also supervises the clinical team of a private psychiatric hospital. Clinical supervision at institutions of this standing (providing professional oversight to specialist addiction and psychiatric teams) is a level of institutional involvement that very few private practitioners hold.
“I can help someone stop. That is the easy part. The hard part is helping them build something worth staying sober for.”
Philippe Jacquet
The addictions treated here
Treatment is tailored to the particular addiction: alcohol addiction, cocaine addiction, gambling addiction, and sex and pornography addiction. For senior professionals who need a discreet alternative to residential care, see confidential executive addiction support.
In person at Harley Street W1, Central London and Bermondsey, with help also available in Colchester and online across the UK. Dr Jacquet also works with international clients online, in Zurich, Geneva, Dubai, Tokyo, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda.
For an independent view of residential treatment, when it helps and how to choose one, read Rehab, Honestly.
Addiction rarely travels alone. Where an untreated eating disorder is quietly driving relapse, see why an eating disorder can undermine recovery on Men Who Heal, Dr Jacquet’s specialist site for men.
Arrange a consultation with Dr Philippe Jacquet, addiction specialist and psychotherapist, London.
Further reading: What is addiction?.
Specialist pages: gambling addiction counselling in London and sex addiction therapy.
Addiction and eating disorders often travel together. For the eating-disorder side of that work, see eating disorder treatment in London.
Dr Jacquet worked inside residential treatment for close to a decade and supervises clinicians in residential centres today, so he knows what that setting does well and where it falls short. Where residential care is the right answer, he will say so at assessment. Where it is not, or where a person cannot step away from their life without cost, this is the same clinical depth delivered privately.
Common questions
Where can I find addiction counselling in London?
Dr Philippe Jacquet provides private addiction counselling in central London at Harley Street W1 and at 45 Fitzroy Street, Fitzrovia (W1T 6EB), in Bermondsey SE1, and online. He is a Hazelden-trained addiction specialist who spent nine years working inside residential treatment and now supervises clinical teams in private residential addiction treatment and in a private psychiatric hospital. Alcohol, cocaine, gambling, sex and behavioural addictions are treated, in English or French.
What is the difference between addiction counselling and addiction therapy?
In practice the terms overlap, and both are offered here. Counselling tends to describe structured, practical work on the behaviour itself: the drinking, the using, the betting. Therapy usually goes further into what sits underneath it, including trauma, depression and the family history that shaped it. Most people need both, and the balance shifts as the work progresses.
How much does private addiction counselling in London cost?
Fees depend on the format and frequency of the work, and are discussed directly at the initial consultation rather than published. What is worth knowing is that intensive one-to-one addiction counselling costs a fraction of a residential stay, which at clinics serving this market can run to tens of thousands a week.
Where can I find addiction therapy in London?
Addiction therapy in London with Dr Philippe Jacquet, a Hazelden-trained addiction specialist who worked inside residential treatment for close to a decade and supervises clinicians in residential centres today. Alcohol, cocaine, gambling, sex and behavioural addictions are treated at 45 Fitzroy Street in Fitzrovia (W1T 6EB), at Harley Street W1, and online.
Is private addiction counselling in London confidential?
Yes. Addiction counselling in London with Dr Jacquet is private and discreet, with no record on an insurance file unless you choose to claim, and nothing reported to an employer. Confidentiality is strict, subject only to the legal and safeguarding limits explained at the start of the work.
Where can I find private addiction therapy in central London?
Dr Philippe Jacquet, Hazelden-trained addiction specialist with 25 years of practice, sees clients at 45 Fitzroy Street in Fitzrovia (W1T), at Harley Street W1, and online. Alcohol, cocaine, gambling, sex and behavioural addictions are treated. First appointments are usually available within the week, beginning with a confidential initial consultation, and sessions can be held in English or French.
How can I find an addiction therapist in Fitzrovia, Central London?
Dr Philippe Jacquet, a Hazelden-trained addiction specialist with over 25 years' experience, sees clients at 45 Fitzroy Street in Fitzrovia (W1T) and online. First appointments are usually available within the week, in English or French, and begin with a confidential initial consultation.
Is there a private, discreet alternative to residential rehab in London?
Yes. Dr Jacquet provides one-to-one private addiction therapy in Central London and online, designed for professionals who need discretion and cannot step away for residential treatment. Alcohol, cocaine, gambling and behavioural addictions are all treated.
Is my treatment completely confidential and anonymous?
Yes, confidentiality here is strict and absolute. Nothing shared in sessions is disclosed to any employer, insurer, GP or family member without your explicit written consent, and the practices are arranged with discretion in mind. For clients in professional or public-facing roles, this anonymity is not incidental. It is essential to the work.
What is your approach to treating addiction?
The work is integrative and depth-oriented, drawing on Jungian analysis, psychodynamic psychotherapy and addiction-specialist training. It is not a 12-step model. Addiction is understood not as a failure of character but as something that has been managing pain, anxiety or disconnection, so the work is conducted with respect for the person and close attention to the underlying causes, not only the behaviour. EMDR is available where the addiction is bound up with trauma.
How many sessions will I need?
There is no set number, and it would be wrong to claim to know it in advance. It depends on the severity of the difficulty and on how each person responds to therapy. Some people come for focused, shorter-term work; others stay longer to address what sits beneath the addiction. The work is reviewed together as it develops.
Do you treat alcohol addiction as well as drug addiction?
Yes. The practice works with the full range of presentations, alcohol dependency, drug addiction including cocaine, cannabis and prescription drugs, gambling, sex addiction and behavioural addictions, as well as the depression or anxiety that often sits underneath them.
Are sessions available online or in person?
Both. Sessions are available in person at Harley Street W1, Central London and Bermondsey SE1, and online via secure video link. Many clients move between in-person and online depending on the week, and online work is equally effective for most presentations.
Can this work as an alternative to residential rehab?
For many people, yes. Specialist, confidential therapy you attend privately, without stepping out of your life, is often a very good alternative to a residential stay, and the step people can actually bring themselves to take early, before things reach crisis. It also costs a fraction of a residential programme. Where residential care is genuinely the right step, Dr Jacquet will say so plainly and help you prepare for it; and for those returning from a clinic, he provides confidential aftercare and continuity.
Do you offer discreet support for executives and professionals?
Yes. Much of the work here is with high-functioning professionals, executives and people in public-facing roles for whom discretion is essential. Sessions are confidential and consultant-led, in person at Harley Street or Central London or online with no local footprint, and can be arranged around demanding schedules.