REAL THERAPY
with Gijs Van Breugel
WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE?
You may not be able to name what is wrong.
Or you can, and it still does not really change anything.
You understand yourself.
You reflect.
You try.
And still, you find yourself back in the same place once your life starts moving again.
Something in you keeps taking over.
Not in the session.
But outside, where your real life happens.
That is where our work begins.
(This is really not exhaustive but illustrates some labels that you may have found for yourself..)
I don't work from Labels ...
Not because they are wrong.
But because they rarely change what actually keeps happening in your life.
You may already have a name for it.
Or several.
Anxiety. Burnout. Trauma. Patterns. Diagnosis...
You may understand your history, your coping, your triggers.
And still find yourself living inside the same thing.
Because the problem is not only what you call it.
The problem is what keeps taking over once your life starts moving again.
That is where I work.
Still with me?
Then you probably do not need another thin version of help.
You do not need another polite hour of talking that leaves the rest of your week untouched. You do not need a kinder label for something that is already costing you too much.
You need serious psychotherapy, taken seriously, inside a structure strong enough to work with what keeps taking over.
And because of the intensity and continuity of this work, I only work with a small number of clients at a time.
If you are looking for a vague talking space, a quick fix, or a therapist who will help you stay comfortably undecided, this is not for you and that is not me.
If you are looking for real work, real contact, and a form of therapy built to carry much more than a weekly session, then keep reading.
MythBuster
Why the usual therapy route often stays too thin
You may already have had therapy. Or you may have done the reading, the reflecting, the analysing, the self-help, the coping.
You may know your patterns, your history, your diagnosis, your family system, your triggers. And still find yourself back in the same place once the session is over and your week starts moving again.
That is the problem.
Not that nothing happened in the session. Not that the therapist said nothing useful.
But that insight alone is often weaker than the system that has been organising your life for years.
You may leave a session clearer and still shut down in the same conversation that evening. You may understand your pattern and still disappear inside it on Tuesday morning. You may have brilliant insight and still lose the week that follows to the same fear, the same over-adapting, the same collapse, the same old way of surviving.
That is why one weekly session is often too thin.
Because the real problem is not only what you can understand in the room.
The real problem is what keeps taking over when you are back in your life.
- Well, that is why I work differently.
- Not to be original.
- But because for a lot of what you may bring me, thinner help leaves your real structure untouched.
- And if your structure stays untouched, your life stays where it was.
- So the real question is not whether you can understand more.
- The real question is whether you want the work to reach the part of your life where the old system keeps taking over.
REAL THERAPY
I have built my Real Therapy practice so that what is taking over your life does not just get named in a session, but starts to lose its grip where it actually matters:
- in your day-to-day,
- in your relationships,
- and in your real life.
What Real Therapy actually is
If you have had enough of one good hour of therapy that disappears once your week starts moving again, then this is your next step.
Real Therapy is not a weekly session with a bit of support around it.
It is a fixed therapeutic structure built to keep the work alive while your actual life is still happening.
We meet once a week for 75 minutes.
Between sessions, the work continues.
Through my online platform, written follow-up, reflections, and direct contact between us, the process does not stop the moment the session ends.
You are not left alone with it.
You have me in your back-pocket.
That is not an extra.
That is the work.
The work does not stop at the exit.
It is not built around one diagnosis, one theme, one label, or one kind of suffering.
It is the structure through which I work with you across a broad psychotherapeutic range.
You are not coming here for one hour of insight and six days of carrying the rest alone.
You are coming into a therapeutic working relationship strong enough to hold the process while your life is moving, while your patterns are active, and while the old structure is trying to take over again.
That is why Real Therapy works differently.
Again ..
That is why my Real Therapy works differently.
If you are looking for psychotherapy that actually reaches beyond the session, then this is what you have been missing.
Not because it is louder.
Not because it is more dramatic.
But because it is built to stay with the work where the work actually happens.
In your life.
What this work asks of you
This is not passive therapy.
You are not coming to me to talk for 75 minutes, feel a bit clearer, and then leave the rest of the week to chance.
You are coming into a structure with me that asks something back from you.
That matters, because a lot of people want serious change while still hoping they can stay mainly in passive reflection. But you cannot build this kind of work on one hour a week and good intentions. Not if what is organising your life is already stronger than insight on its own.
So yes, this asks work.
From you and from me.
You will have me in your
back-pocket.
We meet weekly for 75 minutes. Between sessions, the work continues.
You will be asked to stay engaged with it. That can mean writing, reflecting, noticing patterns as they happen, working on my online platform, reading what I send you, responding, and using the space between sessions as part of the therapy instead of treating it as dead time.
When it gets rough between our sessions, we do not pretend nothing is happening until the next appointment. A quick talk, chat, or direction can help you stay with the work instead of disappearing inside the old pattern again.
This is not homework for the sake of homework. It is there because your life does not pause between our sessions, and neither does the thing we are working on.
The frame is fixed. The work inside it is tailored. I adjust to the person, the problem, and what can realistically be carried at that moment. But I do not turn the structure vague in order to make saying yes easier.
So if you come to me, you are not saying yes to a weekly session only. You are saying yes to real engagement, real continuity, and a form of psychotherapy that expects you to enter the work with me.
So is My Real Therapy for You?
Who this is for..
This is for you if you want much more than a weekly talking hour.
This is for you if you are ready for a fixed frame, real work between sessions, and change that has to reach your actual life, not only your understanding.
This is for you if you can tolerate directness and pragmatism, if you are willing to work, and if you already know that thinner help has not been enough.
This is for you if you want broad psychotherapy held inside a clear structure.
This is for you if you want me in your back-pocket when it really matters.
Who this is not for..
This is not for you if you want to stay in a “maybe”.
This is not for you if you want vague flexibility before commitment, passive therapy, reassurance without challenge, or a weekly hour with as little demand as possible around it.
This is not for you if you are looking for a quick fix, a method to apply, or a softer structure that lets you delay the real work.
This is not for you if you cannot or will not make room for what this asks: time, attention, continuity, and engagement between sessions.
I am not asking for hours of your day, but continuity and regular work.
If you want something easier to say yes to, this is not it.
SO WHo do I think I am
Pragmatic, human and to the point,
and always with a smile..
I work from my home in Normandy — quietly, with clients around the world.
I work with English, French and Dutch-speaking clients.
I’m Gijs Van Breugel — psychotherapist and coach.
I’m not here to fix you. I’m here to make sure you stop fixing yourself.
My work isn’t soft, cold, or clinical. It’s human, direct, and pragmatic.
I don’t care much for labels, diagnoses, or the performance of progress.
I care about the moments when you finally stop performing — and something real slips through.
Between sessions, I stay connected. Not to manage you, but to make sure what we touch does not fade back into noise or worse, into oblivion.
When we work together, you won’t be polished.
You’ll be present.
And that changes everything.
Price and payment
Our work starts with a fixed 8-week frame.
That first 8-week phase is €1000. You can pay that in one payment, or in two payments of €500 every four weeks.
When we continue after those first 8 weeks, our work continues in 4-week blocks at €500, until notice.
The notice period is 2 weeks.
Payment is preferably done by card through Stripe. Bank transfer is also possible.
My Pragmatism and transparency matter here too
I do not offer pay-per-session options.
Not because I like rigidity.
But because this work needs a real frame.
I do not offer loose sessions around a vague "maybe".
I offer you a structured therapeutic process, and the financial side is part of that structure.
Because of the intensity and continuity of this work, I only work with a small number of clients at a time.
So now you know..
Before we speak, you now know clearly what the frame is,
what it costs,
and what you will be saying YES to.
Let’s Talk -
What our first conversation is and is not
You have read this page.
You know enough.
You do not need to think any longer.
You already know whether this is for you.
So this is where you stop reading.
And where you contact me.
Message me, and we will begin our first real conversation.
Your yes is already here.
Our First Talk is not where a “maybe” becomes a yes.
It is not there to explain the offer, negotiate the structure, or work out the price.
It is our first real conversation after your decision.
We look together at any small tailoring needed inside the frame.
We see whether there is enough trust, clarity, and contact between us to begin our work properly.
And then we decide when we start.
So contact me
You have read this page.
You know what this is.
You know what it asks.
You know what it costs.
You know who I am and how I work with you.
You already know whether this is for you.
So do not leave this page and take it back into doubt.
Message me and we will set up our First Talk.
And then we start the real work.
Your Real Therapy.