Addiction counselling for Bermuda, private and confidential
Dr Philippe Jacquet is a private addiction counsellor for Bermuda, offering specialist, confidential addiction counselling to people across the island online by secure video. He trained as an addiction specialist at the Hazelden Foundation in the United States, and supervises the clinical teams at PROMIS Recovery Centre and at Cardinal Clinic, a private psychiatric hospital rated Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission. This is consultant-level work, delivered with the same depth as at his Harley Street practice.
Why a local centre is not an option for many
Bermuda has an unusually visible local addiction-and-recovery scene, and for a senior reinsurance or asset-management professional that visibility is the barrier to getting help. The Rock is 21 square miles. Being seen walking into a local centre, or recognised at a local meeting, is almost impossible to keep private, and the fear of that exposure keeps a great many people from seeking help at all. Some fly abroad discreetly; most simply carry on. Dr Jacquet exists precisely as the confidential alternative: consultant-level addiction work delivered online, with no waiting room, no local record and no one on the island who need ever know.
The drinking behind the performance
Bermuda’s professional life is intense and its social life runs on alcohol, from client entertaining to the tight, overlapping circles of expatriate Hamilton. The isolation of island life and the relentless renewal calendar add their own pressure, and the drinking that has quietly stopped being social is easy to normalise when everyone around you is doing the same and a career keeps flourishing. The work here is intensive, consistent, one-to-one, and it avoids the unavoidable absence of a residential clinic that a demanding role cannot accommodate. It covers alcohol dependency including high-functioning presentations, cocaine and stimulants, prescription dependency, gambling, and sex and pornography addiction. Read more about addiction counselling.
What working with a Bermuda addiction counsellor online involves
Online does not mean lighter. The work is intensive, consistent and one-to-one, and it begins with a confidential assessment of what is really going on beneath the drinking or using. From there Dr Jacquet builds a structured plan around your life, rather than asking you to disappear into a residential clinic your role cannot spare. Sessions are weekly, or more often at the start, held by secure video, with focused work to do in between. Because everything happens online there is no waiting room, no travel off the island and nothing on any local record, so the discretion a small community makes essential is built into the format from the first session.
For many people in Bermuda the hardest step is simply admitting the question is worth asking. A first conversation carries no obligation and no assumption: it is a chance to describe what is happening and hear, honestly, whether this kind of work would help. If it would, you can begin straight away; if something more intensive is needed, Dr Jacquet will say so and help you find it.
An alternative to flying off to rehab
On the island, getting help is often assumed to mean flying abroad to a residential clinic. Sometimes that is necessary: where there is a physical dependency that needs supervised medical detox, or a level of risk that needs round-the-clock care, residential treatment is essential, and Dr Jacquet will say so plainly. But for many it is the most drastic option, reached before a proportionate one has been tried, and it carries a hidden flaw. It is easy to be clean in a clinic, where the substance is absent and ordinary life is suspended. The real test is here, back on the Rock, at the same dinners and in the same tight circles that were there all along. Rehab, at its best, is where the problem is discovered; recovery, the longer work of staying well in the life you actually live, happens back home. Confidential, consultant-level support online builds that recovery here, where it has to hold, whether as an alternative to a residential stay or as aftercare when you return.
Insurance and confidentiality
Dr Jacquet works with major private health insurers, including the international plans common among Bermuda’s expatriate professionals. Nothing is disclosed to any employer, firm or third party without your explicit consent, and online sessions leave no local footprint.
Common questions
Can I get addiction help in Bermuda without being seen locally?
Yes. This is the whole point of the online model. On an island of 21 square miles, being seen at a local centre is almost impossible to keep private. Dr Jacquet works entirely by secure video, with no local footprint.
Do you work with international health insurance?
Yes. Dr Jacquet works with major insurers including Bupa, Cigna, AXA and Aviva. The international private health plans common among Bermuda professionals often cover this kind of specialist care, so ask about your cover.
Is there a private addiction counsellor for Bermuda?
Yes. Dr Philippe Jacquet is a private addiction counsellor for Bermuda, working with clients across the island online by secure video. He is Hazelden-trained with more than 25 years of experience and supervises the clinical teams at two UK recovery clinics, so Bermuda clients receive consultant-level care with complete discretion.
What types of addiction do you treat?
Alcohol dependency, including high-functioning drinking, cocaine and stimulants, prescription dependency, gambling, and sex and pornography addiction. If you are unsure whether what you are dealing with counts as addiction, a first confidential conversation will help you get clear.
How do online addiction sessions work?
Sessions are one-to-one by secure video, weekly or more often at the start, at times that fit a demanding schedule, with focused work between sessions. There is no waiting room, no travel off the island and no local record.