Eating Disorder

Eating disorder treatment in London

Eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, ARFID, and the range of less formally categorised difficult relationships with food and the body) are among the most complex presentations in clinical practice. They sit at the intersection of psychology and physiology, of early development and present circumstance, of private suffering and public performance. Effective treatment requires a clinician who can work across all of these dimensions, not just the most visible ones.

Philippe Jacquet & Associates offers specialist eating disorder treatment in London at Harley Street W1, Central London, and Bermondsey SE1. Philippe Jacquet holds Europe’s only doctoral research specifically on male eating disorders, a specialism that reflects both the depth of his engagement with this population and the extent to which eating disorders in men remain underserved by mainstream provision.

Types of eating disorder treated

This practice works with all eating disorder presentations, including anorexia nervosa (both restrictive and atypical; bulimia nervosa; binge eating disorder; ARFID (avoidant restrictive food intake disorder); orthorexia) the preoccupation with dietary purity that is particularly common in men; and dysmorphic muscle preoccupation, also more prevalent in male presentations. Many people who seek eating disorder treatment in London are not certain whether their experience qualifies, whether it is serious enough, or whether it fits a recognisable pattern. That uncertainty is itself part of what brings people to treatment, and it is not a barrier to starting.

Eating disorders in men

Men represent approximately a quarter of people with eating disorders, but are significantly underrepresented in treatment. The reasons are well-documented: the cultural framing of eating disorders as a female problem, the way male presentations differ from the clinical pictures that dominate public awareness, and the shortage of clinicians with genuine expertise in this area. Philippe Jacquet is the only clinician in Europe to have conducted doctoral-level research specifically on male eating disorders. That specialism is not incidental. It is the result of sustained clinical and academic engagement with a population that has been poorly served.

In men in particular, an eating disorder frequently sits beneath an alcohol problem, alcohol being, in effect, liquid sugar. Repeated alcohol relapse often resolves only once that underlying eating disorder is recognised and treated.

The approach to treatment

Eating disorder treatment at this practice is depth-oriented and integrative, drawing on Jungian analysis, psychodynamic frameworks, and a clinical understanding of the body as a site of meaning, not just behaviour. The work does not focus primarily on food, weight or eating behaviours. It focuses on what those behaviours are doing: what they are managing, protecting against, or expressing. Understanding that is what makes change possible at depth, rather than at the level of symptom management alone.

For presentations where trauma is implicated (which is frequently the case) EMDR is available. Philippe Jacquet is an EMDR practitioner with over 20 years of experience and uses it within the therapeutic relationship as part of a broader treatment approach rather than as a standalone protocol.

What to expect

Treatment begins with an initial consultation, a private conversation about what has brought you here, your history, and what you are looking for. There is no obligation to continue beyond it. The first session is not an assessment in a clinical or bureaucratic sense. It is a conversation between two people, in which you can speak as much or as little as feels right, and in which nothing is assumed from your presence.

Sessions are available in person at Harley Street W1, Central London, and Bermondsey SE1. Online sessions via secure video link offer the same depth of clinical work and are preferred by some clients for reasons of privacy or convenience. No GP referral or formal diagnosis is required to begin.

Confidentiality

All sessions are conducted under strict and absolute confidentiality. Nothing shared in sessions is disclosed to any third party (GP, insurer, employer or family member) without explicit written consent. The only exceptions are narrow legal obligations which are explained clearly at the outset and which almost never arise in ordinary therapeutic practice.

Eating disorder treatment across our locations

In person at Harley Street W1, Central London and Colchester, and internationally in Brussels, Paris, Monaco, Marbella, Dubai and Nairobi, with online sessions worldwide.

In Philippe’s words

When men come to see me with an eating disorder (and they do, more than people think) what strikes me first is the shame. Not the eating disorder itself, not the behaviour, but the shame of having something that they believe belongs to someone else. Something female. Something they have no right to. That shame is often the first thing that needs to be addressed, because it is the thing that has prevented them from seeking help for years, sometimes decades.

What they tell me when they arrive is usually some version of: I know it sounds strange. I know this isn’t something men get. And underneath that is the deeper thing: I feel out of control. I feel not at home in my body. I feel disgusted with myself and I do not know why. The eating disorder is the answer to something, a way of managing feelings that have no other outlet, a way of asserting control when control has been lost, a way of punishing or numbing or disappearing. Understanding what the eating disorder is doing is what makes it possible to find another way.

The work is not primarily about food. It never is. It is about what food and the body have come to carry, and why. That is what the doctoral research made clear, and what twenty-five years of clinical work has confirmed.

Eating disorders in men require a different clinical approach. Dr Philippe Jacquet holds Europe’s only DProf specifically on male eating disorders. Read the full specialist page on male eating disorder treatment.

For specialist treatment of eating disorders in men, including doctoral-level expertise, male eating disorder specialist →

Further reading: What is an eating disorder?, a Jungian view of eating disorders and the history of the Twelve Steps and Overeaters Anonymous.