Reframing Me
So many prepare us for the transition to motherhood, but no one prepares us for how hard the transition out is, and once our kids become teens, it also can feel very solitary. The issues we face with teens are often ones we need to talk about, yet feel we can't or shouldn't. Together, we can create a community of women who, faced with growing children and changing families, are relearning how to mom, and relearning who they are as women. Grounded in family communication theory, join Dr. Jennifer Brubaker to have those conversations to help you better understand this new chapter of your life. Episodes focus on both family communication with our teens and reflection and self discovery. Dr. Brubaker has her Ph.D in Communication Studies and is an Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where she has taught for 17 years. Prior to UNCW, she taught at The Ohio State University, Kent State University and the University of Toledo. Originally from Ohio, Jen lives in Wilmington, NC, with her husband, three children, three dogs, cat and a menagerie of small animals. She loves spending time with her family, traveling and all things fitness, sports and wellness. Reach out with your questions, issues or experiences to begin the conversation. Or reach out to say hi and let me know you’re listening :) Join the Reframing Me: The Podcast Community Facebook group to connect with others who are looking to relearn how to parent, now that their kids are teens, and rediscover who they are as women, beyond the framework of motherhood. Send emails to jen@reframing-me.com; or on socials: Reframing Me on FacebookAND join the Facebook group Reframing Me: The Podcast Community; @reframingme on Instagram; Reframing Me on YouTube @reframingme on TikTok
Reframing Me
Welcome to your Matrenaissance! Reframing Midlife
At some point, every woman in midlife finds herself asking: Who am I now? Maybe your kids don’t need you the way they used to. Maybe your career feels stagnant. Maybe your relationships are shifting in ways you never expected. You’re not the same person you were ten years ago, but where does that leave you?
In this episode, I’m sharing my own story—the moment I realized that I wasn’t lost, I was evolving. That midlife wasn’t a crisis, but a turning point. That’s when I started diving into research, self-reflection, and conversations with other women, and I discovered a pattern—a process we all go through but rarely talk about.
I call it Matrenaissance—a movement, a mindset shift, and a framework for understanding the transformation that happens when women redefine their identity, relationships, and sense of purpose in midlife. We’ll talk about how our internal dialogue shapes the way we see ourselves, how shifting roles in motherhood and family dynamics impact our relationships, and how cultural messages about women “aging out” of relevance couldn’t be further from the truth.
If you’ve ever felt like you were losing yourself, this episode is for you. Midlife isn’t about fading into the background—it’s about stepping fully into who you are meant to be. This is your Matrenaissance.
Please help me with my Matrenaissance Identity Theory of Communication research by completing a completely anonymous survey at https://forms.gle/WunxbwZ7L1MmvWEF6
This research has been approved by the UNCW Institutional Review Board.
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