Reframing Me - Self-Development & Parenting Teens for Midlife Moms

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

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Reframing Me - Self-Development & Parenting Teens for Midlife Moms

Jen is Zen - Control the Controllable

January 13, 2026 • Dr. Jennifer Brubaker

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What does it look like for you to reclaim a sense of control in your life?

This Jen is Zen episode explores what it truly means to reclaim a sense of control when life feels overwhelming. Rather than focusing on fixing everything or forcing positivity, the episode reframes control as creating steadiness and orientation in the midst of uncertainty.

The reflection begins by acknowledging that chaos doesn’t only exist on a global scale. It often shows up in everyday life – within homes, relationships, careers, bodies, and demanding seasons of parenting and midlife transition. Through personal examples, the episode illustrates how small, repeatable rituals – such as maintaining simple routines, tending to one intentional space, or returning to basic practices like movement, meditation, and gratitude – can help regulate the nervous system when things feel out of control.

The episode then explores gratitude in a nontraditional way, focusing on appreciation for situations that feel problematic or unfinished.

The episode addresses parenting teens during uncertain and unsettling times. It responds to common questions about how to comfort our teens when reassurance feels dishonest and explanations feel incomplete. The key message is that comfort does not come from certainty, but from presence. Honest acknowledgment, emotional steadiness, and shared containment offer more safety than promises or solutions.

The episode also highlights the importance of helping teens identify their own stabilizing anchors – routines, activities, creative outlets, and structures that provide a sense of agency and regulation. These behaviors are reframed not as control-seeking, but as coping strategies that help young people feel grounded.

Steady presence, intentional rituals, and emotional grounding are powerful tools for navigating both personal and collective uncertainty.

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