This month, we’re honored to spotlight a passionate advocate whose lived experience, professional expertise, and compassionate heart have made a meaningful impact on the TriCircle community.
Karen Bernetti’s journey with TriCircle began at a Today I Matter memorial event in Durham, where John Lally spoke about losing his son, Tim, to addiction. Moved deeply by the stories shared—and by TriCircle’s powerful memorial quilts—she felt an immediate calling to get involved. After learning about TriCircle’s mission and services, Karen reached out to Ana to ask how she could help support the work being done for individuals and families impacted by addiction.
Since then, Karen has been an active and enthusiastic presence at TriCircle events, including Harmony Within yoga and sound healing gatherings, the TriCircle Gala, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert at Mohegan Sun, and Overdose Awareness events throughout August. Her commitment to both service and community shines through in everything she does.
Professionally, Karen brings a wealth of experience to TriCircle as a Family Recovery Coach, Certified Recovery Support Specialist, trauma-informed recovery yoga instructor, and facilitator of TriCircle’s very own Hope & Support Groups. Through her practice, Mindful Family Recovery, Karen works with individuals and families navigating the impact of a loved one’s addiction. She also leads Invitation to Change workshops—an evidence-based approach that helps families communicate more effectively, care for themselves, and move from helplessness to empowerment.
Karen’s personal story is one many families can relate to. Growing up in a home shaped by alcoholism, she later found herself repeating familiar patterns in her own marriage. Like many loved ones, she believed she could “fix” addiction through care and effort alone. It wasn’t until a painful divorce and custody battle that she reached a personal breaking point—and discovered Al-Anon, where Karen learned a life-changing truth: she could not control addiction, but she could heal herself.
Yoga and mindfulness became the foundation of that healing. These practices not only restored her sense of stability and purpose but also inspired a life’s mission—bringing recovery tools to families, who are so often overlooked in the addiction story. Today, Karen teaches trauma-informed recovery yoga across Connecticut and has created The Serenity Circle, an online mindfulness-based self-care community for families seeking support, connection, and hope.
What Karen brings to TriCircle is a powerful blend of lived experience, professional training, and deep empathy for families navigating addiction. Her work creates safe, non-judgmental spaces where loved ones can finally exhale, speak honestly, and begin their own healing journeys. With upcoming plans to co-facilitate SMART Family & Friends groups and expand community outreach with TriCircle, Karen’s impact continues to grow.
Her message is simple yet profound: Families need recovery too. And through Karen’s work with TriCircle, she is helping make that truth visible—one family at a time.
- Family Recovery Coach, Connecticut Addiction Counseling & Coaching
- Yoga Instructor | Happy for No Reason Certified Trainer | Founder, Mindful Family Recovery Phone: 860-302-0333
- Join The Serenity Circle – offering help and hope to families impacted by a loved one’s addiction… it’s free!
- Take The Family Impact Survey – uncover the hidden ways addiction may be impacting your family + receive my Mindful Path to Peace ebook