Claim OwnershipReframing Me - Self-Development & Parenting Teens for Midlife Moms
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Your kids are growing up - but so are you. Reframing Me is the podcast for moms of teens ready to reframe family, identity, and self-development in midlife.
Parenting teens is hard -and parenting while rediscovering yourself in midlife can feel even harder. Reframing Me is the parenting podcast for moms raising teenagers who are also navigating the transition out of hands-on motherhood, identity shifts, and the search for balance, fulfillment, and self-development.
Hosted by Dr. Jennifer Brubaker, a Communication Studies professor, mom of three teens, and intrapersonal communication expert, each episode blends family communication strategies, honest conversations about parenting teens, and self-reflection tools to help moms strengthen family relationships while rediscovering who they are as women.
Together we’ll talk about the issues moms face but don’t always say out loud: changing family dynamics, feeling invisible, letting go of control, and creating new purpose. Through research, theory, and compassionate conversation, you’ll find support, strategies, and a sense of community in this season of parenting and personal growth.
Join the Reframing Me community to connect with other midlife moms, share your stories, and reframe how you see yourself, your family, and your future.
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
246 Episodes
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Send us a text *** Join me in the Reframing Circle to go deeper each month with *1 bonus Jen is Zen episode,* *1 matreniassance-themed episode,* *1 guided meditation,* and *weekly book readings/discussions.*** What does it really take to build openness, honesty, and trust with our kids as they grow into teens? It's not by becoming the "cool mom" and loosening all boundaries, but it is by evolving right alongside them. As kids grow up, parent–child relationships shift from vertical to horizont...
Send us a text Be a founding member and join the Reframing Circle for EXCLUSIVE content! Inside the Circle - a private space for women ready to rediscover themselves beyond the frames around them, the roles they play, and the narratives they’ve been told - you'll have access to bonus Matrenaissance, Jen is Zen, book content and more! In this bonus episode, we continue our weekly series, reading and discussing excerpts from my new book, Reframe the Moment. It's super fun and appropri...
Send us a text Welcome back to the show! I hope you enjoy this episode - it's not a typical episode; instead, it's more of a guided walk-through of the ReFRAME process, a six-phase model for personal and identity transformation. Do you feel like you're not quite sure who you're becoming, but you know you're not who you were? Identity discovery is a fluid, ongoing practice of communication between our past, present, and emerging selves, and the ReFRAME model exists to help you through it. The...
Send us a text In this bonus episode, we continue our weekly series, reading and discussing excerpts from my new book, Reframe the Moment. It's super fun and appropriate because each essay grew out of a Jen is Zen episode, so why not bring it full circle. Today we talk about Chapter 6 - Feeling the Feels. We waste so much energy avoiding uncomfortable emotions. Whether it’s sadness, worry, fear, or uncertainty, pushing feelings away doesn’t make them disappear - it only delays heali...
Send us a text I hope you enjoy this episode! Teen friendships can be beautiful -and brutal. This episode explores why some kids become “mean girls,” how exclusion and gossip take root, and what’s really happening beneath the surface. Drawing from Relational Aggression and Social Identity Theory, it explains how insecurity, power dynamics, and the need to belong shape behavior in middle and high school friend groups. The discussion discusses how social media magnifies hierarchy and comparison...
Send us a text In this bonus episode, we continue our weekly series, reading and discussing excerpts from my new book, Reframe the Moment. It's super fun and appropriate because each essay grew out of a Jen is Zen episode, so why not bring it full circle. Today we talk about Chapter 5 - The In Between. This episode feels a little different — more like a page from my journal than a polished podcast. But that’s the point of all of this, right? Identity isn’t something we talk about from a safe ...
Send us a text In this bonus episode, we continue our weekly series, reading and discussing excerpts from my new book, Reframe the Moment. It's super fun and appropriate because each essay grew out of a Jen is Zen episode, so why not bring it full circle. Today we talk about Chapter 4 - Underneath the Emotions. It's ok to feel all of the feels, but we just can't live there. We are not our emotions; emotions are like the weather - just passing through - and we are the clear blue sky ...
Send us a text Kindness realigns us - one small, intentional act can shift our energy and open our hearts to something bigger. When we lead with kindness, we invite joy. That joy clears the lens through which we see the world, allowing us to view life and people through love. Love naturally awakens gratitude - not the performative kind, but the deep, grounding awareness that helps us see the good that’s still here. Gratitude builds confidence - quiet, steady, authentic confidence —- the kind...
Send us a text College application season brings pressure, opinions, and plenty of myths about what makes higher education valuable. This episode unpacks the biggest fallacy of higher education - that college is job training - and explores four common misconceptions parents often hear: choosing majors only for profitability, dismissing the value of minors, chasing prestige instead of fit when selecting a school, and assuming general education courses are a waste of time. With a mix of practic...
Send us a text In this bonus episode, we continue our weekly series, reading and discussing excerpts from my new book, Reframe the Moment. It's super fun and appropriate because each essay grew out of a Jen is Zen episode, so why not bring it full circle. Today we talk about Chapter 3 - Life's a Rollercoaster, and it's appropriate because I know I often find myself comparing where I'm at on my journey and questioning if I will ever be "successful" if someone else "has ALL of the suc...
Send us a text In this Jen is Zen , we explore the difference between balance and harmony in midlife. Balance often feels like an impossible demand, dividing time, energy, and attention equally across parenting teens, family communication, relationships, career, and self-care. Harmony, on the other hand, invites flow, flexibility, and grace. Harmony can help us navigate midlife transitions, embrace both joy and struggle, and live with more peace and presence. This episode offers inspiration f...
Send us a text In this bonus episode, we continue our weekly series, reading and discussing excerpts from my new book, Reframe the Moment. It's super fun and appropriate because each essay grew out of a Jen is Zen episode, so why not bring it full circle. Today we talk about Chapter 2 - I Am, and it's really relevant because of how off balance I've been feeling this week. Video is available on YouTube, my website, and socials (I think y'all know how rare that is for me! I guess I'm turning ov...
Send us a text I could NEVER forget my Southern Hemisphere friends (I see you and love you, Australia!) Reposting just for you :) It's the Spring Equinox! For the Southern Hemisphere, brighter days are on the horizon. It makes us realize that sometimes, it's our time to shine (literally!), and sometimes, it isn't. Can we celebrate others and know that it's just not our time right now, but still trust that we are on the right path? Manifesting is about speaking it out loud – and writing it dow...
Send us a text As we in the Northern Hemisphere (sorry, Australian friends!) reach the Autumnal Equinox, we can use it as a time to reflect on our own summer abundance. We may not be tending to crops, but we have each been tending to and nurturing other aspects of our lives. Each of us is growing and changing, and each of us is doing so in our own way. This change of season is a good time for us to look at our family system to see how our interconnectedness has changed and how our communicati...
Send us a text In this bonus episode, I'm starting a weekly series, reading and discussing excerpts from my new book, Reframe the Moment. Not only do I think it'll be fun, but I also think it's appropriate because each essay grew out of a Jen is Zen episode, so why not bring it full circle. Plus, i love the fact that I can share where I am now or what/how I'll see each episode now versus then. Video is available on YouTube, my website, and socials (I think y'all know how rare that is for me! ...
Send us a text Gratitude doesn’t need perfection. Some days are filled with sunshine and ease, while others feel heavy, overwhelming, and far from what we hoped for. But gratitude isn’t about flawless circumstances - it’s about choosing to notice the good, even in the middle of the mess. This Jen is Zen reflection explores how to practice gratitude in everyday life, especially when parenting teens, caring for aging parents, and juggling the endless responsibilities of home and work. It doesn'...
Send us a text Parenting teens has a way of stirring up echoes from our own adolescence. When our kids face rejection, heartbreak, or big milestones, it can trigger memories of our past - and without realizing it, we may project our old wounds or family narratives onto their story. In this episode of Reframing Me, we explore how to notice when we’re parenting our younger selves instead of the teen in front of us, how to disrupt the limiting scripts we inherited, and how to avoid the “empathy ...
Send us a text It’s a hard time to be a teenager. Many worry about their safety at school, feel overwhelmed by daily pressures, and struggle with anxiety about the future. Recent studies show what parents already know in their hearts: our teens are hurting, and they need support. It’s a hard time to be a parent, too. Watching your child feel stressed, anxious, or hopeless — and not always knowing how to help — can feel overwhelming. But there are ways we can make a difference. In this episode...
Send us a text Invisible labor is the unseen work that keeps families, relationships, and workplaces running smoothly, yet it often goes unrecognized. Tasks like scheduling appointments, handling logistics, emotional support, and household responsibilities are rarely acknowledged as productivity, but they are the foundation that makes visible accomplishments possible. Sociologists call this the mental load - the constant planning, anticipating, and remembering that disproportionately falls on...
Send us a text ***My new book is available now on Amazon!! Reframe the Moment: Choose Your Zen!*** Three years ago, this podcast began as a way to make sense of parenting teenagers and the shifts that happen in midlife. Since then, it’s become a space for exploring both family communication and personal rediscovery. In this episode, I share the journey of starting Reframing Me, what I’ve learned along the way, and why this community matters for moms raising teens who are also redefining who t...
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