In this, essentially head's torment (8)
I believe the answer is:
nutshell
'in this essentially' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'head's torment' is the wordplay.
'head's' becomes 'nuts' (informal term for somebody's head).
'torment' becomes 'hell'.
'nuts'+'hell'='NUTSHELL'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for nutshell that I've seen before include "Ten hulls (anag)" , "'In a ..., in essence (8)'" , "Brief facts" , "succinct" , "Kernel holder" .)