In this episode of Courage Becomes Her, host Laurel Emory shares a decision she has made concerning the podcast and invites you to take a listener survey about the future of the Courage Becomes Her podcast.

In this episode of Courage Becomes Her, Dr. Bev Wiens talks about sexual intimacy in mid-life. She shares that a satisfying sexual relationship is the result of a satisfying relationship outside of the bedroom. She educates us about the different types of sex drives and how our drives impact our sexual intimacy. She talks about the impact that perimenopause and menopause have on our sexual intimacy, and how our aging bodies can limit our sexual enjoyment. She shares, from her personal experience, about the impact that physical pain and disability have on sexual intimacy. She talks about the difficulty of enjoying sexual intimacy when we don’t feel comfortable with our bodies.

In this episode of Courage Becomes Her, Joanna Teigen shares about major mid-life transitions, including going back to school, adopting a foster child, moving back to her home state, welcoming adult children back home, and facing unknowns in her physical health. She talks about how she has navigated these changes and how she has learned to view them as invitations to grow. She talks about the necessary trade-offs in times of transition and learning trust and humility by doing so. She talks about how she has learned more about herself and has grown in confidence about who she is because of transitions. She talks about the importance self-compassion and shares some tips for how to recover after transition.

In this episode of Courage Becomes Her, Laura Tremaine talks about her experience with loneliness and going through a season without friends. She shares about how friendship does change with the seasons of life and that it is good to be forward-thinking about what we expect out of friendships both now and in the future. She encourages us to flex the muscle of putting effort into our friendships and to default to saying yes more than we say no to relationship. She talks about the value of consistency in friendships and her belief that women in mid-life do that well. She shares about the changes she is seeing in her friendships as she moves into mid-life.

In this episode of Courage Becomes Her, Rhonda Nelson talks about how women in mid-life are often forgotten, and their identities often get lost in the roles that they play in life like wife and mom. She talks about her journey of discovering and defining her true self apart from those roles, titles, and expectations, and finding contentment and happiness. She talks about what it looks like to take care of ourselves in this season of life and how that enables us to adapt to changes and more easily work through life’s obstacles.

In this episode of Courage Becomes Her, Dawn Barton talks about being in the “sandwich generation” of parenting a teenager while also caregiving for parents. She talks about making the decision to be a multi-generational family with three generations living on one property. She shares about how her priorities have shifted in the last several years and even though there have been incredibly difficult moments, experiences, and emotions, that she doesn’t see it as a sacrifice and wouldn’t have it any other way.

Jenny Ellis is an Enneagram 9 who loves time with her family and making and sharing beautiful pieces of art. She and her husband have a blended family of five grown children and five grandchildren. She spent her career as a high-end dressmaker and moved into the upholstery world 10 years ago and now has her artistic chairs featured in stores, restaurants, and hotels like the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina.

Michele Cushatt is an Enneagram 2 whose tank gets filled by hiking the Colorado Rockies. She is a wife and a mom to six, a three-time cancer survivor, and an executive coach, presentation coach, author, and speaker. Through her lived experiences, she is an expert on trauma, pain, and the deep human need for authentic connection and enduring faith.