Eating Disorders in Men — Specialist Therapy at Harley Street
If you are a man struggling with your relationship with food, eating, or your body, you may already know how difficult it is to find a therapist who truly understands. Eating disorder services in the UK were largely built around female presentations. The language, the assessment tools, even the waiting room posters — they often don’t reflect your experience.
Eating Disorders in Men: What the Research Says
Men account for approximately one in four people with an eating disorder in the UK — yet they represent only a small fraction of those receiving treatment. The reasons are multiple: men are less likely to be referred by GPs, more likely to be misdiagnosed, and often reluctant to seek help for a condition they may perceive (wrongly) as a female problem.
The clinical presentations in men also differ meaningfully from those seen in women. Muscle dysmorphia — sometimes called ‘reverse anorexia’ — is predominantly a male presentation. Disordered eating in men is more often associated with gym culture, body composition, and performance than with weight loss per se. Shame and identity concerns are often central, and frequently go unaddressed in standard treatment protocols.
“A man with an eating disorder often doesn’t look like what the culture expects. That invisibility is part of the illness.”
The UK's Only Doctoral Specialist in Male Eating Disorders
Philippe Jacquet DProf is, to our knowledge, the only clinician in the UK who holds a professional doctorate with a specific research focus on eating disorders in male clinical populations. His doctoral work — completed at the University of Essex in 2025 — investigated the psychological, relational, and cultural factors that shape disordered eating in men, and the therapeutic approaches most likely to support recovery.
This research directly informs clinical practice at Philippe Jacquet & Associates. It means that when you work with us, your experience will be understood — not translated, not approximated from a female template, but genuinely seen.
How Disordered Eating Presents in Men
- Restrictive eating and calorie control in the context of fitness or bodybuilding
- Muscle dysmorphia — compulsive exercise, supplement use, and distorted body perception
- Binge eating disorder — often hidden, shame-laden, and co-occurring with alcohol use
- Orthorexia — rigid, rule-based eating framed as ‘healthy’ or ‘clean’
- Purging behaviours — less visible in men but present and serious
- ARFID — highly selective eating, often with sensory or anxiety dimensions
- Eating disorders co-occurring with depression, addiction, or trauma
A Jungian Analytical Framework for Male Recovery
Our treatment draws primarily on Jungian analytical psychology — a depth-psychological approach that engages with the unconscious drivers of behaviour, the symbolic meaning of the body, and the questions of identity and individuation that lie beneath most eating disorders in men.
This is combined, where clinically indicated, with CBT-E, interpersonal therapy (IPT), and somatic approaches. For men who have experienced complex or developmental trauma, trauma-informed methods are integrated throughout.
We do not offer a fixed protocol. We offer a genuine clinical relationship, grounded in robust theoretical frameworks, and adapted to the person in front of us.
Confidential. Discreet. Flexible.
We understand that seeking help for an eating disorder — particularly as a man — involves significant courage and often significant practical concerns about confidentiality. Our Harley Street and Mayfair practices offer entirely discreet access. Evening and early-morning appointments are available. Online therapy is available for clients who prefer to work from home or who are based outside London.
We are recognised by Bupa, AXA Health, Vitality, and Cigna. Many clients’ sessions are covered, in part or in full, by their private health insurance.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Am I unusual as a man with an eating disorder?
No — though it may feel that way. An estimated 1.25 million people in the UK have an eating disorder, and approximately 25% are male. The stigma and underrepresentation in services can make it feel isolating, but eating disorders are not a female condition. They are a human condition, and they are very treatable.
2. How do I know if what I'm experiencing is an eating disorder?
Eating disorders don’t always look like dramatic restriction or purging. If food, eating, your body, or exercise occupies a significant and distressing amount of your mental space — if you feel out of control around food, or rigidly in control in ways that affect your quality of life — it is worth speaking to someone. Our initial consultation is a no-pressure space to explore what is happening and whether therapy would help.
3. Will I be working with a male therapist?
Philippe Jacquet himself works with male eating disorder clients. We can also match you with another male practitioner in the team if that is your preference. Please mention this when you enquire.
4. I lift weights and eat high-protein — is that an eating disorder?
Not necessarily. The distinction between disciplined eating and disordered eating lies primarily in flexibility, distress, and impairment. If your food rules are rigid, if deviating from them causes significant anxiety, if your relationship with your body is dominated by dissatisfaction regardless of how much you train — these are signals worth paying attention to.
5. What is muscle dysmorphia and do you treat it?
Muscle dysmorphia is a condition in which a person — usually a man — perceives their body as insufficiently muscular despite objective evidence to the contrary. It involves compulsive exercise, rigid eating patterns, supplement use, and significant body image distress. It sits within the spectrum of eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorder. Yes, we treat it — and we do so with a theoretical framework that takes the psychological underpinnings seriously rather than simply targeting the behavioural symptoms.