Skip to content
CLAIREN
A sheet of deckle-edged paper, close up.

Frequently asked questions

The questions people ask before they call.

On confidentiality, who CLAIREN is designed for, how treatment works in practice, and what happens as treatment progresses. If your question is not here, you can ask it confidentially.

Confidentiality

The questions that matter most, answered first.

<p>Yes. From first contact onwards your enquiry is handled directly by Sander Tubbergen. There is no call centre, admissions team or intake coordinator.</p><p>Your enquiry, your information and any subsequent treatment are handled in strict confidence, within clearly defined professional, safeguarding and legal boundaries.</p>

<p>CLAIREN is privately funded by design. No insurance claims are submitted, and your treatment is not routinely disclosed through insurer billing or authorisation processes.</p><p>Confidential clinical records are maintained in accordance with applicable professional, legal and data-protection requirements. If another healthcare professional becomes involved in your care, any information sharing is normally discussed and agreed with you in advance.</p>

<p>CLAIREN does not disclose that you are a client to your employer, insurer, family, colleagues or any other third party.</p><p>Where involving another professional or someone close to you could support treatment, that is discussed and agreed with you first. The number of people involved in your care is kept deliberately limited.</p>

<p>Clinical confidentiality has defined exceptions. Information may need to be disclosed where there are serious safeguarding or risk concerns, where disclosure is required by law, or where professional obligations require action.</p><p>These limits are explained clearly and in writing at the beginning of every engagement. Outside them, nothing is shared without your knowledge and consent.</p>

Is CLAIREN right for me

Deliberately focused. Where we are not the right clinical fit, we will say so directly.

<p>Executives, founders, business owners and senior professionals whose circumstances require both specialist clinical care and a high degree of discretion.</p><p>Many clients come while managing leadership roles, demanding schedules, public visibility and family commitments, while privately experiencing difficulties with alcohol, drugs, gambling or another compulsive behaviour.</p>

<p>You do not need to be certain, and you do not need to wait for a crisis. If you are concerned about your relationship with alcohol, drugs, gambling or another behaviour, a confidential conversation can help you understand what is happening.</p><p>Many people make contact because something no longer feels manageable; drinking has gradually increased, a behaviour is creating consequences, or pressure is beginning to affect judgement, health or relationships.</p>

<p>Potentially, yes. CLAIREN works with clients in the UK and, where clinically appropriate, internationally, subject to professional, regulatory and practical requirements.</p><p>Remote sessions are provided through secure video. For clients who prefer face-to-face work, sessions and more intensive periods of treatment can be arranged in the UK. International suitability is considered individually before treatment begins.</p>

<p>We will say so directly. Where your needs fall outside CLAIREN's clinical scope, for example where medically managed withdrawal, inpatient stabilisation or urgent psychiatric care is required, you will get a clear recommendation and, where possible, help identifying a suitable specialist.</p><p>An enquiry that does not proceed to treatment is handled with the same care and confidentiality as one that does.</p>

If your concern is about someone else: When your partner is drinking too much → · Is residential rehab the only option? →

The model

How CLAIREN is structured, and why it matters.

<p>Three things working together. <strong>One clinician throughout.</strong> Sander leads every engagement from first conversation through to continuing care, with no rotating team and no unnecessary handover.</p><p><strong>A private, founder-led model</strong>, with no generic programmes, predetermined pathways or administrative layers between you and your treatment.</p><p><strong>A deliberately limited caseload.</strong> No more than five active clients at any one time, so each engagement gets the attention and continuity it needs.</p>

<p>Both, integrated within one model of care. Addressing the behaviour matters, but it is rarely the whole clinical picture. Addiction becomes connected with trauma, chronic stress, anxiety, grief, shame, perfectionism and long-standing ways of coping with distress.</p><p>The aim is not simply to stop a destructive pattern, but to understand the function it has come to serve and develop more adaptive ways of responding to pressure.</p>

<p>Sander Tubbergen, founder, psychotherapist and addiction specialist, personally leads every course of treatment, from consultation through to continuing care.</p><p>Where medical, psychiatric or other specialist input is clinically indicated, he coordinates it as part of the wider plan, with appropriate consent and clear professional roles. The core therapeutic relationship stays consistent throughout.</p>

Treatment in practice

What actually happens once treatment begins.

<p>A private conversation directly with Sander about what has been happening and what has led you to consider support. Together you explore how it is affecting different areas of your life and whether anything requires immediate attention.</p><p>It is also a chance to ask about confidentiality, assessment and treatment, and to consider whether the practice is the right clinical fit. There is no obligation to proceed.</p>

<p>Yes, where clinically appropriate. CLAIREN was designed for people whose responsibilities cannot simply be put on hold. Treatment can be structured around leadership demands, business commitments, travel and family. Evening and Saturday appointments are available.</p><p>Sessions can be delivered remotely or in person at a suitable private location. Format and frequency follow clinical need rather than a standard timetable. Flexibility is built around treatment, not at the expense of it.</p>

<p>In many cases, no. Most clients continue to meet their professional responsibilities while receiving treatment.</p><p>There are circumstances, including health concerns, clinical risk, severity of addiction and withdrawal risk, where reducing commitments or accessing a more intensive level of care is advisable. Any recommendation of that kind is made on clinical grounds and discussed openly with you.</p>

<p>Yes, where clinically appropriate and with your agreement. Addiction rarely affects the individual alone.</p><p>Where beneficial, partner or family sessions can form part of treatment, to improve communication, address impact and rebuild trust. The nature, timing and extent of any involvement is agreed with you in advance, and never assumed.</p>

<p>Frequently. Many clients come having previously engaged in psychotherapy, addiction treatment or residential rehabilitation, or after a period of recovery that has begun to feel less secure.</p><p>Previous treatment is valuable clinical information. It shows what worked, what did not, and what may need to be approached differently now. A return to active addiction does not negate the progress already made.</p>

<p>CLAIREN is a privately funded practice and does not submit claims to health insurers. Fees and the anticipated structure of treatment are explained before any commitment and confirmed in writing before treatment begins.</p><p>The privately funded model also supports discretion and clinical independence: there is no insurer authorisation process and no routine disclosure through insurance billing pathways.</p>

Recovery & continuing care

The intensity of treatment may reduce. The continuity of care can remain.

<p>Yes. Together you identify the triggers, high-risk situations, thinking patterns and emotional vulnerabilities that increase the likelihood of returning to previous patterns.</p><p>From there you develop practical, personalised strategies to strengthen recovery and respond to warning signs. Relapse prevention is not only about avoiding risk, it is about being better prepared when risk arises.</p>

<p>Yes. You do not need to be in crisis or actively using to benefit from treatment. CLAIREN can provide continuing care focused on strengthening recovery, understanding relapse risk and developing strategies for periods of increased pressure or change.</p><p>Many clients come with an established period of sobriety because they want to strengthen recovery during a demanding transition or address issues placing it under strain.</p>

<p>A relapse does not mean previous treatment failed or that the progress you made is lost. It does provide important clinical information about what changed and where further attention is needed.</p><p>CLAIREN works with you to understand what contributed, address any immediate risk, and develop a more robust and individualised plan. Treatment begins where you are now, not where you think you should be.</p>

<p>These are treated as part of the work, not as something separate from it. Leadership responsibility, frequent travel, client entertainment and sustained pressure create particular challenges for someone maintaining recovery.</p><p>Rather than treating those realities as outside therapy, CLAIREN brings them into treatment and relapse-prevention planning, identifying the situations most relevant to your professional life and developing strategies for navigating them.</p>

<p>Yes. Continuing care is an integral part of the model. As recovery becomes established, therapy can move beyond immediate relapse risk towards the deeper patterns that contributed to, or became intertwined with, the addiction.</p><p>Frequency and focus are reviewed according to individual need, with the aim of supporting sustained recovery rather than maintaining treatment unnecessarily.</p>

Some questions are better answered in confidence.

A private conversation with Sander is a chance to discuss your circumstances, ask what matters to you, and consider whether CLAIREN is the right clinical fit. There is no obligation to proceed.

Speak directly with SanderHow engagement works →

Direct · Confidential · No intermediaries