Pivotal Recovery: new free online course for porn addiction
Starting January 2026, UoB students can access Pivotal Recovery: an entirely anonymous free online course created to support anyone experiencing problematic porn use or compulsive sexual behaviours. Created by psychotherapist Dr Paula Hall, the course offers a supportive, evidence-based way to better understand your behaviours and take steps toward positive change.
Introducing Pivotal
Many people never reach out because they feel they should handle it alone. As Dr Hall explains: “Shame and stigma tends to isolate you; you feel like you're the only one that has this problem… There's a lot of people that are struggling with this – you are not alone.”
The course has been tailored for student life. University can be an exciting fresh start, but it can also bring academic, social and emotional pressures that make it harder to juggle everything. During this time, porn can easily become “a source of refuge”, a way to “chill out, switch off…” which is fine, Dr Hall explains, “as long as it's not the only coping mechanism you have. For some people that becomes problematic.”
She adds that people often don’t recognise what’s driving their behaviour until they try to change it: “Often it’s not until you actually stop that you get in touch with what’s going on… by stopping, it gives you the space to see what’s underneath.”
Problematic porn use is often a symptom rather than the core issue. Underlying factors like low self-esteem, loneliness, anxiety, depression or unprocessed trauma may be shaping the behaviour – and without addressing these deeper roots, old problematic patterns tend to return or shift into new ones.
How do you know if it’s a problem?
Everyone’s relationship with porn is different but there are some common signs your usage might be slipping into the territory of concern. According to Dr Hall, you might notice:
- Increasing time spent using porn – “Maybe it used to be 20 minutes a day and now it's an hour, 2 hours, 3 hours a day. Or it might be 3, 4, 5 times a day.”
- Changes in the type of content that worries you – e.g. “It started as fairly vanilla and maybe it's getting a bit more violent... It's straying into areas that actually really challenge your value systems.”
- An impact on your daily life – withdrawing from friends, using porn while procrastinating, missing deadlines
- Secrecy – hiding or lying about your use
- Failed attempts to cut down
She sums it up plainly: “How do you know when it’s a problem? When you think it’s a problem and you’ve tried to stop and can’t.”
She also emphasises that porn problems exist on a spectrum from heavy use you want to reduce, to compulsive use affecting everyday life – every recovery journey will look different and Pivotal allows for this.
What Pivotal Recovery offers
The Pivotal Recovery course includes:
- 40 short podcasts (10–20 minutes each) to help you understand the science behind your behaviours
- A digital workbook that helps you reflect on patterns, triggers and underlying issues
- A daily wellbeing tracker (sleep, diet, social connection, exercise, mood)
The course is split into two parts:
- Understanding the issue -What problematic porn use is, why it happens, and what’s going on in your mind and body.
- Staying in control -Long-term strategies for changing habits and developing healthier coping mechanisms.
The overall aim, Dr Hall explains, is “getting you back in charge, back in the driving seat of your life.” A phrase often used in recovery captures this approach well: “Recovery is not about what you give up; it’s about what you take up.”
Pivotal builds on this idea by encouraging you to develop new, healthier coping strategies. The workbook and daily tracker help you notice the habits and forms of self-care that support you – whether that’s better sleep, social connection or healthier routines – so that change isn’t just about stopping a behaviour, but taking up something more sustainable.
How to access Pivotal Recovery
The course will be available from January 2026.
You can learn more about Pivotal Recovery here and sign up for free access here. You will then receive an email to the address you provide giving you a unique access code for the course.
Your participation is completely confidential. The course provider does not share your information with the University, and no record of you accessing the course will appear on your academic records.
Additional support at UoB
If you’d like to speak to someone alongside, or instead of, using the course, support is available. Students can access:
If you're unsure whether Pivotal Recovery is right for you, or you simply want to talk things through first, the Mental Health and Wellbeing team is here to help, confidentially, compassionately and without judgement.