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AWG Secular 12 Step Self-Esteem Group 🚀


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Looking for the old site? All of the original materials are still available on https://awg12steps.wordpress.com/

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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

Overwhelm and self-esteem part 1: Outside influences

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Trigger alert: Description of intense sensory overwhelm

Overwhelm adds unmanageability to my sense of self on so many levels. Working the AWG 12 Steps has helped me start to unpack why.

For example, Step 6 asks how our sense of self is informed by outside influences. Pre-identification, I would have thought of "outside influences" as societal standards and people's opinions. But now I realize that my sensory environment is an enormous outside influence on my sense of self. When I'm in a manageable sensory environment, I feel good about myself: calm, capable, and in control. When I'm in an unmanageable sensory environment, I feel out of control and helpless, or even terrified, tranquilized, or incapacitated. 

It can take a long time for my sense of self to recover from exposure to unmanageable sensory influences. I've even started to wonder if my sense of self has undergone long-term damage from all of my unprotected sensory exposure pre-identification. This realization only came to me on my third time going through the Steps. It goes to show how powerful they can be when used cyclically.

Share questions: 

  • Does sensory overwhelm affect your self-esteem? Please describe. 
  • Along with the physical impact of overwhelm, does it interact with any of your autistic traits? Personal drive for autonomy? Sense of justice/fairness? Perfectionism? Other? What is it like?
  • Have you ever felt shame, guilt, fear, or other negative emotions during or after overstimulation, beyond the immediate physical and mental discomfort? Did those feelings continue to have an impact on your sense of self after the overwhelm was over? What happened?
  • Common definitions of "outside influences" might include societal standards and people's opinions, but someone with sensory sensitivities might also consider sensory input a form of outside influence. Can you think of any other outside influences that might not be included in standard definitions? 
  • For members who have worked or are working our Self-Esteem Recovery 12 Steps: Have you ever had unexpected realizations from working a Step more than once? What was it like?
  • 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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