The book Alcoholics Anonymous written in 1939 describes alcoholics as power-driving egomaniacs who are self-centered in the extreme. The idea put forth in the book was that recovery from alcoholism would require crushing this oversized ego and learning to live with humility. This may have been an apt description of the less than 100 mostly men who were helping Bill put the book together, but is this the true picture of people with alcohol use disorder today, in the 21st Century? Beth Aich would answer, ” No, we’re not all egomaniacs.” and she wrote a book to help people with low self-esteem navigate their way through the Twelve Steps. That book, We’re Not All Egomaniacs: Adapting the Twelve Steps for Alcoholics with Low Self-Esteem serves as the topic for this episode.
What we discussed
- Beth’s story.
- A brief history of AA.
- The difference between egomaniacs and shame-based people.
- How childhood impacts self-esteem.
- Understanding our feelings.
- Navigating the Twelve Steps as a person with low self-esteem.
Links
We’re Not All Egomaniacs: Adapting the Twelve Steps for People with Low Self-Esteem (paperback)
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