Your ritual is a key part of your porn use. Everyone has rituals for acting out, and this is one of the most valuable things for you to identify for your recovery. Your ritual is the starting point of the road that ends with acting out.
Another word for ritual might be “preparation.” It means anything that you do to get ready for a sexual experience, a preparation checklist so to speak.
Frank, for example, started his porn ritual by mentally checking that he would be free from disturbance (home alone on Friday night). Once he sat down he’d then begin with the “How-close-can-I-get-to-porn” game. He’d trick himself into finding sexual material by telling himself that it was okay because it wasn’t porn. He’d edge closer and closer until he crossed a tipping point where he felt there was no going back and end up consuming full-on pornography.
