Pivotal Foundations

Session 1 – When porn becomes a problem

We start by exploring what makes porn use problematic or addictive, and why it’s a topic often surrounded by confusion and controversy. Addiction isn’t defined by what you do, but by how it makes you feel and how much control you have over it. In this session, we introduce the CHOICE recovery model that underpins the course. It’s your choice how you change your behaviours and do your recovery, but whatever that looks like, your journey has begun.

Session 2 – Your brain and porn

This session dives into the neuroscience of addiction and how porn affects the brain. Using the Road to Brighton video as a visual metaphor, we look at why compulsive behaviours take hold and why fantasy can be just as damaging as the behaviours themselves. You’ll learn how long-term use can numb your natural reward system and how porn addiction is more about emotional coping than sexual desire.

Session 3 – The emotional impact

Here we look at the emotional drivers of porn addiction. Often, porn is used as an escape from difficult feelings like anxiety, anger, loneliness or low self-esteem. But the cruel irony is that the behaviours often make those feelings worse. This session focuses on why managing emotions in healthy ways is key to long-term recovery.

Session 4 – Impact on, and of, relationships

Today we focus on how compulsive sexual behaviours impact relationships – how they interfere with building connection, maintaining trust and deepening intimacy. We explore how we learn about relationships from our parents, from what we saw, and from what was missing, and how this affects the expectations we develop in adulthood. We acknowledge the massive pain and trauma discovering compulsive sexual behaviours can have on partners and the fact that the most important thing you can do to help your partner recover is get into recovery yourself.

Session 5 – Understanding recovery

Recovery isn’t about gritting your teeth through a life of restriction, it’s about creating a life where those behaviours no longer belong. In this session, we reframe recovery as a process of growth, not deprivation, by focusing on what you want to do and who you want to be, not on what you’re giving up. We also explore how relapse fits into that process and why true recovery is about changing your life, not just your habits.

Session 6 – Identifying unwanted behaviours

With a deeper understanding of addiction, we now move into practical work. Recovery is about leaving behind the compulsive behaviours – not sex itself. In this session we work on identifying the positive as well as the problematic aspects of your sexuality. What these are will be completely unique to you.

Session 7 – The two rules of relapse prevention

This session introduces two foundational principles for avoiding relapse: self-care and planning. They may sound simple but they’re deeply powerful when fully understood and the positive impact will spread into everyday life. These tools are essential for building stability and momentum in recovery, and no one sustains real change without them.

Session 8 – Overcoming the cycle of addiction 

In our final session, we unpack the addiction cycle: the six repeating phases that keep the behaviour going. The key to breaking free is learning to recognise this cycle and how to get off it before it gains momentum. We finish the course with seven practical relapse prevention strategies to stay off the cycle and protect your progress moving forward.