AWG Secular 12 Step Self-Esteem Group πŸš€


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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


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

Self-esteem and current events: Part 1

Sunday, January 25, 2026

It can feel unmanageable to look at my sense of self and self-esteem during difficult current events

A part of my self-esteem is connected to what's happening in the world around me. Some of my autistic traits seem to increase that connection: justice sensitivity, holotropism, black and white thinking, perfectionism, aversion to change, hyper-empathy, and more. When current events are positive, that can be pleasurable. But when current events are difficult, it can feel more unmanageable than normal to think about my sense of self and self-esteem.

I wonder why that is. Do I feel guilt because my self-esteem "shouldn't matter" in light of what's going on? Do I not want to look because I don't like changes, inside or outside? Do I worry that if I look at my self-esteem right now, I'll be motivated to take actions that could end up being unmanageable? Do I fear that looking at the part of me that is connected with current events might let those events start to sweep me away? Do I feel responsible in some way for the current events that are happening? Or do I simply lack the spoons? 

It's a tough topic. I think I would be helped by hearing about members' experiences with sense of self and self-esteem during difficult local, regional, national, or global events.

Share questions:

  • How do current events impact your sense of self? Self-esteem? It's okay to answer this question generally or with reference to specific recent events. 
  • Do you feel any inner resistance in looking at the part of your self-esteem or sense of self connected to current events? Guilt because personal self-esteem "shouldn't matter" in light of what's going on in the world? Not liking changes, inside or outside? Fear of being motivated to take actions that could end up being unmanageable? Worry that investigation of sense of self might let current events sweep you away? Feeling responsible in some way for the current events that are happening? Blaming yourself for being part of the system in which the events in question happened, or are happening? Other? Please describe.
  • Where might those feelings be coming from?
  • If you don't have inner resistance to looking at the part of your sense of self connected to current events, what is it like? How are you able to do it? 
  • 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

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