Women like me don’t always fit the stereotype.
We’re partners, professionals, moms — holding it together by day and unraveling in private.
I wasn’t drinking from a paper bag under a bridge.
I was pouring wine into coffee mugs on Zoom calls and convincing myself I was “fine.”
I wasn’t fine.
I was drowning in shame, anxiety, and the pressure to keep up appearances — until I couldn’t anymore.
Rehab was a turning point.
But the real transformation came afterward — through truth-telling, daily practice, and slowly rebuilding from the inside out.
Recovery isn’t just quitting drinking; it’s healing what led you there.
I’ve done that work — and now I help other women do it too.
PHOTO - Karen & Frisco - at the Jersey Shore
Karen Rubinstein
The Heart of My Work: The RETURN™ Method
Along the way, I realized something important: women don’t heal in straight lines or through will power alone.
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We heal by understanding what shaped us — the stories, beliefs, fears, and roles we carried for decades.
I took everything I learned in my own recovery and created the RETURN™ Method, a simple, trauma-informed framework that helps women gently uncover what’s underneath their drinking, rewrite the old inner story, and finally come home to themselves.
To guide women who are struggling with alcohol and emotional pain into lives of freedom, purpose, and wholeness—through honesty, compassion, and real healing.
A world where women don’t suffer in silence, and recovery becomes an emotional and spiritual awakening supported by safe,
soulful community.
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Come Home to Your True Self
So many of us learned to silence our pain, tucking away parts of ourselves just to survive. Sobriety may be the first step — but true freedom begins when you heal what’s underneath.
When you uncover the truth of who you really are and bring compassion to the places you once hid, you begin to reclaim your wholeness — and a life that finally feels like your own.
I suffered far longer than I had to. I’ve lost people I love to addiction.
Now I dedicate my life to helping women heal sooner, reclaim their joy,
and live the lives they were meant for.
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I also speak at treatment centers, women’s groups, libraries, and recovery events about emotional sobriety,
healing the roots of addiction,
and finding your way home to yourself.
