Eating disorder counselling in central London
Eating disorder counselling in central London with Dr Philippe Jacquet, at Harley Street (W1), at 45 Fitzroy Street in Fitzrovia (W1T 6EB), and online.
Most people who arrive here are not at the point a programme would admit them. They are working, eating in front of other people, and running a private arrangement with food and the body that occupies a great deal of the day. The question is not whether it is bad enough. The question is whether it is running your life.
Most people are choosing between this and nothing
Eating disorder services in this country are built around a programme: an admission, a timetable, a discharge. That model saves lives, and where someone is medically compromised it is not optional.
But it is also the reason a great many people are never treated at all. If you are functioning, if your weight does not alarm a GP, if nobody has said anything, then a programme is not merely inconvenient — it is a public statement about yourself you are not prepared to make, and one you may not qualify for anyway. So the decision becomes: not yet. And not yet becomes years.
Worth saying plainly, because the programme is usually presented as the serious option and everything else as a compromise: NICE guideline NG69 recommends psychological treatment as first-line for the eating disorders it covers, reserving day-patient and inpatient care for cases where physical health is severely compromised. For most adults, individual therapy is not the lesser version of treatment. It is the recommended one. I have set out what the guidance actually says in full.
What a counsellor offers that a programme does not
A programme provides containment, supervision and structure. Where those are what is needed, nothing else will do, and I will tell you so.
What it does not provide is one clinician who knows you, at a fixed hour, for as long as the work takes. Programmes are delivered by rotating teams, they end on a date set by protocol or funding, and they are conducted inside a protected environment rather than the life you have to go back to. Relapse after discharge is common for that reason: the eating disorder was interrupted somewhere it could not operate, then met the conditions where it does.
This is the opposite arrangement. Weekly, same time, same person, inside your actual life — the meals you have to eat, the family you eat them with, the work that shapes your week. Slower at the start, and it holds better.
Who this is for
- People who do not meet the threshold for a programme, and are told to come back if it gets worse
- People who will not go residential, and would rather have nothing than be seen to go
- Professionals and people in public-facing roles for whom exposure, not motivation, is the obstacle
- People discharged from a programme with nothing afterwards
- Men, who are routinely missed
- Parents and partners who need to understand what they are living with
What is treated
Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, ARFID, orthorexia, compulsive exercise and body dysmorphia, along with the difficulties that usually travel with them: trauma, addiction, depression and anxiety. Where an eating disorder and a dependence are running together, they are treated as one problem rather than two — see cross-addiction.
Eating disorders in men
This is the specialism. Dr Jacquet’s Doctorate of Professional Practice at the University of Essex examined male eating disorders from the perspective of analytical psychology, and as far as is known it is the only doctoral-level research in Europe on that subject.
Men are under-diagnosed because the clinical picture was drawn from women, and because the presentation differs: the pursuit is often muscularity rather than thinness, the behaviour reads as dedication, and the gym is applauded rather than questioned. Many men spend years being congratulated for the symptom. Further reading: male eating disorders, why men don’t seek help, and the statistics.
The approach
Integrative and depth-oriented, drawing on Jungian analysis, psychodynamic work and eating disorder specialist training. The focus is not only on the eating but on what the eating has been doing — what it manages, what it says that has not been said, and what would have to change for it to become unnecessary. Where trauma sits underneath, EMDR is available within the therapeutic relationship rather than as a standalone protocol.
On the internal commentary that so many people describe but rarely name, see food noise. On what the pursuit of a body can stand in for, body number 2 and the jail of discipline.
Credentials
Dr Philippe Jacquet is a UKCP registered psychotherapist, a Jungian analyst and an HCPC registered art psychotherapist, with twenty-five years of clinical practice. He holds a Doctorate of Professional Practice from the University of Essex on male eating disorders, and supervises clinical teams in a private residential clinic and a private psychiatric hospital. He is himself in long-term recovery from an eating disorder. Registrations can be checked on either public register.
Where, and in which language
In person at Harley Street, London W1 and at 45 Fitzroy Street, Fitzrovia W1T 6EB, and by secure video anywhere. Sessions in English or French. Also available in Colchester.
For the treatment approach in more depth, see eating disorder treatment.
Arrange an initial consultation with Dr Philippe Jacquet. A first conversation is a discussion about what is actually happening, not an assessment against criteria.
How the work is delivered from here
All international sessions are by secure video, in English or French. Online therapy is not a reduced version of consulting room work: it is the format that lets weekly work survive living abroad, travelling, or relocating. Sessions run in United Kingdom hours, which suits most regions, and if your time zone makes none of it workable, say so when you enquire rather than assuming it rules you out.
For clinicians and treatment services
Dr Jacquet supervises clinical teams in private residential addiction treatment and in a private psychiatric hospital. For treatment centres, psychiatric units and group practices looking for external clinical supervision, including in places where no supervisor of this seniority is available locally, team supervision is also delivered by video. For individual practitioners, see clinical supervision.
Common questions
Where can I find an eating disorder counsellor in central London?
Dr Philippe Jacquet works as an eating disorder counsellor at Harley Street (London W1) and at 45 Fitzroy Street in Fitzrovia (W1T 6EB), and online. He holds a Doctorate of Professional Practice from the University of Essex on male eating disorders in analytical psychology, and is registered with both the UKCP and the HCPC. Anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, ARFID and compulsive exercise are treated, in English or French.
Do I need a diagnosis before seeking eating disorder counselling?
No. A great many people who come here do not meet full diagnostic criteria and would not be accepted by a programme, yet their relationship with food and the body governs their week. Whether eating has become secretive, rigid, compulsive or frightening matters clinically. Weight is not the threshold, and you do not have to be unwell enough to deserve help.
Is one-to-one counselling enough, or do I need a clinic?
NICE guideline NG69 recommends psychological treatment as the first-line intervention for the eating disorders it covers, with day-patient or inpatient care where physical health is severely compromised. For most adults, individual therapy is the recommended treatment rather than a lesser alternative to one. Where a programme or medical monitoring is genuinely needed, Dr Jacquet will say so at assessment and help you get there.
Do you work with men with eating disorders?
Yes, and it is the specialism. The doctorate behind this practice examined male eating disorders specifically, and as far as is known it is the only doctoral-level research in Europe on that subject. Men are routinely under-diagnosed because the standard clinical picture was drawn from women, and many spend years being told that what they have is discipline, dedication or a phase.
I have just been discharged from a programme. Can you help?
Yes, and this is one of the commonest reasons people arrive. Most people are discharged into nothing, which is where the ground is usually lost: the eating disorder was interrupted in a place where it could not operate, and then met the conditions where it does. Continuity with one clinician afterwards is what makes the gains hold.
How often would I be seen, and for how long?
Weekly, at a fixed time, with the same clinician. There is no set number of sessions and it would be dishonest to claim to know one in advance. The work is reviewed together as it develops. Sessions are in person at Harley Street or Fitzrovia, or by secure video.