ICSAA 2024 We’re Not All Egomaniacs: Adapting the Twelve Steps for Alcoholics with Low Self-Esteem

Beth Aich is the author of We're Not All Egomaniacs: Adapting the Twelve Steps for Alcoholics with Low Self-Esteem.

Some of us come to Alcoholics Anonymous feeling terrible about ourselves and are told, bewilderingly, that our problem is too much ego and a lack of humility. Bill W. described himself as an egomaniac. He put his own needs and wants ahead of others, was grandiose, felt entitled, and thought he was all-powerful. He called this the alcoholic personality type and designed a program to crush the ego as the foundation of sobriety.

But what about alcoholics who normally put others’ needs before their own and see themselves as less-than, unentitled, not enough, defective, impostors, losers? Our egos need building, not deflating. The Steps can be modified to build and strengthen our sense of self, to grow from a place of feeling unlovable into a strong sober person, no longer dependent on alcohol or external validation to feel good.

This recording is from ICSAA 2024, Saturday 10:30 AM, September 21, 2024, in Orlando, Florida, led by Beth H.

The presentation slides can be found on www.aasecular.org/icsaa2024, direct link here.

Secular AA is AA sobriety that is neither religious nor irreligious, focusing on the practical, humanist tools of Alcoholics Anonymous and borrowed from the wider recovery community. Secular AA is a growing subculture within AA, offering 100 agnostic/atheist/freethinkers AA meetings every day + regional events and the International Conference of Secular AA (ICSAA). More @ https://aasecular.org