AWG Secular 12 Step Self-Esteem Group

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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 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

AWG 12 Step Self-Esteem Readings

What does "connecting with myself" really mean?

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

In AWG, it's encouraged to challenge traditional words and phrases. Shares from the group help me think about things in new ways.

As I do the Steps, I sometimes have trouble with colloquial phrases. For example, while doing Step 9, I'm getting hung up on the idea of "connecting with myself". What does it mean? 

When I think about the word "connecting", I picture two things coming together. But if I'm just one person, aka, "myself", what is the other thing? Is there supposed to be a difference between "myself" and another part of me?

Is it my "outer self" (whatever that is) connecting with my "inner self"? My "emotional self" connecting with my "intellectual self" or "behavioral self"? My "masking self" connecting with my "unmasked self"? All of the above? Or maybe something else?

Fortunately, in AWG, it's encouraged to challenge traditional words and phrases. Shares from the group help me think about things in new ways. This isn't the first time I've needed to redefine a word or phrase for myself, and it won't be the last. Each time, it helps me see reality from a more "me" perspective.

Share questions:

  • What does the phrase "connecting with myself" mean to you?
  • Have you ever found yourself stuck on a word or phrase related to sense of self of self esteem? What happened?
  • Have you ever investigated a traditional word or phrase connected with sense of self or self-esteem and found a more "you" way to think about it? What happened?
  • How does the idea of challenging, investigating, redefining a traditional word or phrase make you feel? Why?
  • Are there any tools, resources, or strategies that help(ed) you think about this?
  • Anything else to add?

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