AWG 12 Step Workbook: Introduction

Contents of the introduction:

1. Five important ideas

2. 12 Steps questions

Before we start, here are some fundamental ideas behind the workbook.

1. The AWG 12 Steps can be cyclical or non-cyclical. Some members choose to go through the AWG 12 Steps once and move on. Some members  engage with the Steps as an ongoing practice where Step 12 leads back to Step 1. Either approach is perfectly compatible with the Steps. The choice depends only on members' personal circumstances, needs, and goals.

2. We engage with the workbook in the way that's sustainable for us today. For many of us, the ability to read, reflect, and respond varies from day to day. That's why AWG believes that successful engagement should not defined by performing a specific activity at a certain time or in a particular way. It’s always ok to skip questions, then either come back to them later, or move on. Self-esteem doesn't have to rest on doing every single thing that's presented to us in life.

3. Writing and speaking are just two of the ways we can respond to workbook questions. Members often choose alternative response methods, like thinking, interpretive movement, stimming, playing an instrument, singing, creating visual art, sitting with the material, or other. Some members use combinations of methods. "Intelligibility" to others is optional. The AWG 12 Steps are a personal process rather than performative.

4.  The bandwidth we have is the right amount to fill. Sometimes, we find that our bandwidth is being used by other things, be they difficult or pleasant. We might only have a little bandwidth left over for the 12 Step Workbook for the rest of the day, week, month, or longer. That is ok. We see stepping away from the 12 Steps as a form of engagement that can also help us to cultivate our sense of self and self-esteem.

5. Disagreement can be an important part of the process. Many of us have been trained to believe that disagreeing with something openly might lead our personal safety to be threatened. But in AWG, we believe that sense of self and self-esteem can grow through our rejection of what we disagree with as much as acceptance of what we do agree with. In this workbook, it's always ok to disagree with or reject a question, and to express anger, resentment, fear, and more in our responses. Every response leads to some kind of knowledge about ourselves and our self-esteem.