Compulsive & Unhealthy Behaviours
Alcohol, emotional eating, gambling, and digital compulsions are often coping for underlying emotional voids. Therapy works at the level of the pattern, not just the behaviour.
About this service
Compulsive and unhealthy behaviours — alcohol, emotional eating, gambling, digital compulsions, and others — are rarely just about the behaviour itself. They are most often coping strategies for underlying emotional voids: unmet needs, unprocessed experiences, or schemas that have never been addressed.
Working only at the level of the behaviour often produces short-lived change. Schema Therapy helps identify the emotional needs the behaviour is attempting to meet, and builds healthier ways of meeting them — so the change lasts because the underlying driver has been addressed.
This is not about willpower or judgement. It is about understanding the pattern, what it is protecting you from, and building a stronger Healthy Adult mode that can meet your needs without the cost of the behaviour.
The approach
- Identifying the schemas and emotional needs the behaviour is serving
- Working with the coping modes — avoidance, surrender, and overcompensation — that maintain the behaviour
- CBT strategies for interrupting behavioural cycles in the moment
- Building healthier ways of meeting the underlying emotional needs
Benefits
- Addresses the root cause, not just the surface behaviour
- Reduces reliance on willpower alone, which is rarely sustainable
- Builds lasting emotional regulation and self-understanding
- Develops healthier coping that meets the same underlying need
Who it's for
- People whose drinking, eating, gambling, or digital use has become a coping pattern
- Those who have tried to change the behaviour alone and found it keeps returning
- Individuals who sense the behaviour is connected to something deeper
- Anyone wanting to understand the pattern, not just suppress it
What to expect
- A non-judgemental assessment of the behaviour and what it is protecting you from
- Work that connects the behaviour to its underlying schemas and emotional needs
- Practical strategies for the present alongside deeper pattern work
- A collaborative approach that builds your capacity to meet needs more healthily
Questions about Compulsive & Unhealthy Behaviours
Is this an addiction treatment programme?
No. Franco provides psychological therapy that addresses the patterns underlying compulsive and unhealthy behaviours. For severe or physical-dependence-level addiction, a specialist addiction service may be more appropriate, and Franco can help you think through the right path. For many people, the compulsive behaviour is part of a broader emotional pattern that therapy is well placed to address.
Will I have to stop the behaviour immediately?
Not necessarily. The focus is on understanding what the behaviour is doing for you emotionally, and building healthier alternatives. As the underlying needs are met in other ways, the behaviour typically loses its grip. The pace is collaborative and based on what is right for you.
How long does this work take?
Because the behaviour is usually a coping strategy for deeper patterns, lasting change typically requires medium-term work. Many people notice shifts in their relationship to the behaviour within the first few months, with deeper change continuing as the underlying schemas are addressed.
Ready to explore compulsive & unhealthy behaviours?
A free 15-minute call is the simplest way to find out whether this approach fits your needs. Every intake is personally triaged by Franco.
Other services
Explore the other therapeutic services Franco offers.
Schema Therapy
Schema Therapy explains how early experiences shape core beliefs, emotional responses, coping mechanisms, and relationships — and how therapy helps people recognise and change these lifelong patterns.
Learn moreCBT
CBT helps people identify and change unhelpful thinking patterns and behaviours. It is structured, goal-oriented, and strongly supported by research for anxiety, depression, and a range of emotional difficulties.
Learn moreEMDR Trauma Therapy
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an important approach to trauma treatment. It helps people process distressing experiences and traumatic memories that continue to affect emotional wellbeing and daily functioning.
Learn more