Coming Clean with Katherine Arati MaasComing Clean with Katherine Arati Maas
Katherine Arati Maas
Katherine Arati Maas shares how childhood food issues evolved into blackout drinking and emotional pain, and how sobriety led her to a life of transparency and authenticity. The conversation also reflects on women, shame, and the many forms addiction can take beyond alcohol.
0:00•22 Feb 2016
Coming Clean: Katherine Arati Maas on Addiction, Food, and Radical Honesty
Episode Overview
- Addiction can begin very young, with behaviours like comfort eating that later shift into alcohol misuse.
- Many people function outwardly while feeling completely powerless and afraid inside, especially around their drinking.
- Food and alcohol often go hand in hand for women, acting as ways to feel safe, cared for, and in control.
- Society increasingly treats various addictions, from overeating to technology use, as ‘normal’, masking the harm they cause.
- Radical honesty and transparency about one’s story can be a freeing way to move beyond shame and create a new life.
“After I came clean and got sober, I made a promise to myself that I didn’t want to live that way anymore. I wanted to live completely transparently.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? This conversation between Dr Pat and Katherine Arati Maas peels back the layers of addiction, honesty and what it really means to “come clean”. Katherine shares how her addictive behaviour began in childhood with food: “My first addiction was food… when I ate, even as a small child, I felt good, I felt happy, I felt safe and cared for.” As she grew older, that comfort shifted to alcohol.
From her first drink at 14 she was a blackout drinker, chasing that feeling of being “protected… powerful… funny and charming”, until the solution became the problem. You’ll hear her talk candidly about being a “slave” to alcohol, the moment she realised she couldn’t stop, and the fear that came with recognising she was “in over my head”.
She also connects the dots between food, alcohol and emotional pain, echoing many women’s experiences of carrying on as “functional” on the outside while falling apart inside. The episode also looks at wider questions: how society normalises addiction, why overeating and technology can be just as destructive as booze, and how women face particular shame and secrecy.
There’s a sharp contrast drawn between how a “high‑functioning alcoholic” man might be celebrated, while a woman in the same position risks heavy criticism. Katherine’s commitment now is radical transparency. After getting sober, she promised herself “I didn’t want to live that way anymore… I wanted to live completely transparently.” Her upcoming show, Coming Clean Radio: The Art of Transparency, is framed as a space for truthful conversation about addiction, depression, spirituality and creating a new story for yourself.
If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re hiding behind old stories or habits, this episode might nudge you to ask: what would your life look like if you were truly honest with yourself?
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