Psychotherapy Concepts
A clinical reference library explaining the approaches, conditions, and ideas at the heart of our practice — in English and French.
Addiction and freedom — watching the same film every night
People with addiction invoke freedom — their right to drink, their right to use. But addiction is watching the same film …
Anxiety and Excitement — The Same Soup
Anxiety and excitement are not opposites. They are made from the same two ingredients — fear and faith — in different …
Art therapy — when the image says what words cannot
Philippe Jacquet holds a master's degree in art psychotherapy. He explains why art therapy works particularly well for …
Attachment styles — the relational template formed in childhood
Attachment style is the relational template formed in early childhood. Learn the four styles — secure, avoidant, …
Boundaries — the private garden
Boundaries define and protect the self — physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Learn why people who struggle …
Burnout — the pasta that keeps cooking
Burnout does not stop when you leave the office. Philippe Jacquet explains the pasta metaphor, who actually burns out, …
CBT — what it can and cannot do
CBT has real clinical value — but it has limitations. Philippe Jacquet explains symptom displacement through a striking …
Codependency — losing the self in relation to another
Codependency is a relational structure where one person loses themselves in relation to another. Learn the clinical …
Control and letting go — the difference between wants and needs
Much of life's stress comes from trying to control outcomes. Learn the difference between wants and needs — and why …
Couples therapy — when the problem is that you can't agree on the problem
Philippe Jacquet explains the circular argument at the heart of most couples' difficulties, why conflict is inevitable, …
Depth and frequency in analysis — why time is not a technicality
The depth reached in Jungian analysis depends on time and frequency — not intention. Learn why coming more often changes …
Dream analysis — the video your ego didn't make
Dreams are productions of the unconscious in which the ego plays no role. Philippe Jacquet explains the compensatory …
Feeling Has a Function
Many people come to therapy because they feel too much and want to feel less. But feeling is not the problem — it is the …
Getting Out of the Coffin
The coffin is the enclosure built when life became too much. Safe, but airless. The invitation — offered gently — is to …
HALT — Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired
HALT is a foundational recovery tool: four basic states that make relapse most likely. Recognising them is the first …
Intensity — the best enemy of intimacy
The more intense a feeling, the less likely you are actually seeing the person in front of you. Philippe Jacquet …
Know Yourself — The Purpose of Analysis
Psychotherapy is an opportunity to meet yourself — perhaps for the first time. The alternative is arriving at the end of …
Life is not fair — and what to do with that
It is not fair. Philippe Jacquet agrees. But grief has a direction — and at some point the question has to change from …
Men, eating disorders and the language of emotion
Men with eating disorders often say what's expected in therapy without being connected to it. Philippe Jacquet explains …
Muscle Dysmorphia (Bigorexia)
Muscle dysmorphia, informally called bigorexia, is the male equivalent of anorexia — the same obsessive relationship …
Passion as Protection Against Addiction
Where there is passion — genuine engagement with life and meaning — there is less addiction. This is not a theory. It is …
Sex addiction and pornography — intimacy without the risk
Sex addiction and pornography addiction are not primarily about sex. Philippe Jacquet explains the neurochemical links, …
Symptoms as Anaesthetic — Why Therapy Makes You Feel More
Many people use symptoms — restriction, substances, avoidance — as an anaesthetic against pain. Therapy removes the …
The collective unconscious — the dark web of the psyche
The collective unconscious is Jung's term for the deepest layer of the psyche — the repository of archetypes shared …
The cost of therapy — and what your cancellation fee is actually for
Therapy is not cheap — but how do you price your mental health? Philippe Jacquet explains cancellation fees, the mental …
The Demon — Being in the Grip of the Split
The word demon comes from a Greek root meaning to divide. To be in the grip of the demon is to be divided within …
The desire to grow up — the primary role of a parent
The most important role of a parent is giving their child the desire to grow up. Drawing on his doctoral research, …
The gym — the church of self-hatred
For many people with body image difficulties, the gym functions not as a place of health but as an arena of comparison …
The myth of insight — why understanding is not enough
Insight — understanding why something is the way it is — is valuable but insufficient. Learn why knowing is not enough, …
The Persona
In Jungian psychology, the Persona is the adaptive face we present to the world. Understanding yours is the first step …
The Shadow
The Shadow in Jungian psychology is not simply the darkest part of who you are. It is everything pushed out of the self …
The Tribe — Why Belonging is a Clinical Need
Human beings are wired for belonging. Without a tribe — without people among whom you feel known — psychological risk …
The twelve step programme — when you don't like the colour of the lifeboat
The twelve step programme is not perfect. But millions of people worldwide are clean because of it. Philippe Jacquet …
The younger self — what therapy can and cannot change
The wounds formed in childhood do not disappear in therapy. Philippe Jacquet explains why the younger self is not a …
Tolerating the unknown — what exploring the unconscious actually requires
Exploring the unconscious requires the capacity to bear uncertainty and move without a map. The anxiety of not knowing …
Training as a Jungian analyst — a journey, not a qualification
Becoming a Jungian analyst is not a course that ends with a certificate. Philippe Jacquet explains what the training …
Transference — when the past arrives in the room
Transference is the unconscious process by which patients redirect past relational patterns onto the analyst. In Jungian …
Two people in the room — countertransference, supervision, and the patient as teacher
Jung observed that when an analyst sits with a patient, two people are in therapy. Philippe Jacquet explains …
What Happens in a First Session?
The first session is not a test. It is a conversation — the beginning of a relationship in which you will not be judged. …
What is Addiction?
Addiction is not a moral failure. It is a cycle of acting in and acting out — a mechanism for avoiding pain that …
What is an Eating Disorder?
Eating disorders are not about food. They are about feeling — and the need to control or avoid it.
What is ARFID?
ARFID — Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder — is an eating disorder with no link to body image. It is driven by …
What is Countertransference?
Countertransference is the therapist's emotional response to the client. In skilled hands, it is not a problem to be …
What is EMDR Therapy?
EMDR — Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing — is a clinically proven approach to trauma. It processes what the …
What is Euphoric Recall?
Euphoric recall is the memory that lies. The brain replays the pleasure of the substance and edits out the consequences. …
What is Individuation?
Individuation is Jung's term for the lifelong process of becoming who you actually are — not who you were told to be, …
What is Jungian Analysis?
Jungian analysis is a depth psychotherapy that asks where your psyche is trying to go next — not just where it has been.
What is Mindfulness — Really
Mindfulness is not about stopping thought. It is the practice of bringing the mind to where the body already is — the …
What is Orthorexia?
Orthorexia is an obsessive preoccupation with eating only pure or healthy food. It is often praised rather than …
What is Psychotherapy — and How Does it Work?
Psychotherapy is not the medical model. The therapist is not the doctor and you are not the patient waiting to be cured. …
What is Recovery?
Recovery is not the disappearance of the urge. It is the ability to live freely in its presence — to feel what is there …
What is Relapse?
Relapse is not the moment of picking up a drink or drug. By then the relapse has already been underway for weeks. …
What is Shadow Work?
Shadow work is the process of meeting the parts of yourself you have rejected or never allowed to develop. It is about …
What is Shame — and How Does Therapy Help?
Shame says I am wrong — not I did something wrong. It is carried silently for decades. Its remedy is the very thing it …
What to expect from a first session
A first therapy session is not a revelation — it is an assessment. On both sides. Philippe Jacquet explains what …
Why your therapist should be accredited — and how to check
Psychotherapy is not a protected profession in the UK. Anyone can call themselves a therapist. Philippe Jacquet explains …
You Will Suffer Better
The goal of therapy is not to stop suffering. It is to suffer better — to have a different relationship with pain, one …