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AWG Secular 12 Step Self-Esteem Group 🚀


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Zoom access and meeting times Meeting description Workbook Readings
Zoom access and meeting times

Meetings are every Tuesday from 11 am to 12 pm Eastern US Time. See Meeting Time in a Different Time Zone (normal calendar)

ALERT: The US time change on March 8 means meeting times may temporarily differ for members outside the US. Double check your time zone here!


* Zoom link not working? Search the meeting ID below in the Zoom meeting database and then use the code to sign in: 

Meeting ID: 824 1142 4876
Code: 781927


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Meeting description

This is a secular 12 Step meeting focused on self-esteem recovery for late-identified autistic women and members of all other marginalized genders (nonbinary, gender fluid, MTF/FTM trans, agender, autigender, and more). 

We meet each Tuesday on Zoom, practice the AWG 12 Steps using the AWG 12 Step Workbook, share in response to weekly readings, and participate in the optional co-mentorship program if we so desire. 

It is not mandatory to turn on your mic or camera. Coming to listen is totally fine. By taking part, we hold space for others, and ourselves, to participate in a way that is manageable for us as we exist right now.

It is not necessary to actively be doing the AWG 12 Steps in order to be a full participant. Any contact with the group and its resources can be beneficial as long as it’s sustainable for each of us as individuals. Many of us participate simply by attending meetings.

As we participate in this meeting over time, we might find ourselves seeking to…

  • Find our own concept of self-esteem and grow toward it
  • Come to discover a more realistic sense of our place in the world
  • Reassess our relationships, especially in terms of our responsibilities towards ourselves and others
  • Come to understand personal boundaries, their roles in our lives, and how to develop and maintain healthy boundaries
  • Understand the concept of nonviolent detachment and how and when to enact it
  • Develop more manageable lifestyles
  • Develop a sense of self that leads to more health, well being, and manageability in our lives
  • Release others from the responsibility of defining or reinforcing our sense of self-esteem
  • Form personal goals about self-esteem and self-concept based on our own understanding of our own needs, as they exist today

AWG 12 Step Self-Esteem Readings

Formed by a time that no longer exists?

Tuesday, March 10, 2026

What to do with the part of my self-esteem and self-image that were formed in a previous era?

I think I'm starting to realize that some of the metrics by which I measure my self-image and self-esteem belong to the world of the past. For example, the body image standards of the time in which I was raised were extreme compared to now, but they continue to feel like a priority to me despite being unhealthy. Some of my ideas about food, clothing, work (for example, home office versus going into work) are also linked to a previous era, and when I "violate" those standards, I feel bad, even though it's a new time now and I'm technically free to be making other choices.

At the same time, little things that used to boost my self-esteem, like being able to navigate the radio dial effortlessly without hitting static, no longer seem to happen, and it's been hard to find equally satisfying replacements. On a more physical level, I am holotropic, and so I physically miss things like phone answering machines and cassette tapes, as though I were missing part of myself. It makes me feel incomplete, impacting my self-image, or like I am living in a dream. It also affects my self-esteem because I know other people are not preoccupied by these things to the same extent.

I know it's normal for humans to hold on to the world in which they were born to some extent. But I feel like I got a special dose of"imprinting" from the era I grew up in. It seems to affect me more than it does other people, and I believe it has to do with other of my autistic traits, like resisting change, demand avoidance, and black and white thinking. What about you? Does your self-image and self-esteem relate to a past era in any way?

Share questions:

  • Do parts of your self-esteem and self-image still correspond with things that used to exist in the past, and no longer do? What is that like? 
  • How do you cope with the disparity on a daily basis? 
  • Are there any times when the differences between today's world and the world you knew as a kid have an especially strong impact? 
  • How do you feel about some of your self-esteem being tied to a world you no longer inhabit? Is it a source of strength? A source of worry? 
  • Any tools, resources, or strategies that helped you? 
  • Anything else to add?
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AWG 12 Step Self-Esteem Workbook

Step 1

We admitted that despite our efforts, many of the factors affecting our sense of self and self-esteem seemed out of control, leading to increased unmanageability in our lives.

Step 2

Coming Soon

Step 3

Coming Soon

Step 4

Coming Soon
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