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Feeling lost after 50? You're not broken—you're transitioning. In this episode, Dr. Julie Merriman explores the identity crisis many women over 50 experience, especially healthcare professionals and helpers who've spent decades caring for others. Learn the neuroscience behind why this happens, why your nervous system is recalibrating, and practical steps to reconnect with joy and desire without another self-improvement project.

Perfect for: Women over 50, healthcare professionals experiencing burnout, counselors, therapists, social workers, nurses, physicians, empty nesters, and anyone navigating midlife identity transitions.

KEY TOPICS COVERED

• Identity Crisis After 50 – Why it's developmental, not personal failure
• Burnout in Healthcare Professionals – How helpers experience identity loss differently
• Nervous System Science – Polyvagal theory and why you feel "lost"
• Perimenopause and Identity – How hormone shifts force recalibration
• Compassion Fatigue – The cost of over-caring for decades ✓ Grief and Midlife Transition – What you're actually mourning
• Finding Purpose After 50 – Why that advice often makes it worse
• Practical Recovery Steps – Nervous system regulation and identity reclamation

KEY QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE

"This disorientation is not personal failure. This is identity being returned to you."

"You have never had this much freedom before. You just haven't learned how to desire again."

"Your nervous system has been in crisis mode for so long, it thinks silence means something is wrong."

"Helpers burn out differently than other professions. It's not just overwork. It's over-caring."

"You don't need a new purpose. You need to reconnect with desire."

"Purpose asks: 'What should I do with my life?' Desire asks: 'What makes me feel alive right now?'"

"You cannot think your way out of nervous system dysregulation. You have to feel your way through it."

"You are not starting over. You are returning to yourself."

"You are entering the chapter where your life finally becomes your own. And that is terrifying. And that is beautiful."

RESEARCH & RESOURCES MENTIONED

Psychological & Developmental Frameworks

• Erik Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development
  Generativity vs. Stagnation (ages 40-65)
  Understanding midlife as a normal developmental transition

Neuroscience & Nervous System

• Polyvagal Theory by Dr. Stephen Porges
  The three states of the autonomic nervous system
  Understanding why you feel disconnected or numb
• Neuroscience of Identity Formation
  Brain requires: quiet, novelty, curiosity, rest, and play
  Neural pathway reformation in midlife

Burnout & Compassion Fatigue Research

• Compassion Fatigue in Helping Professionals
  How counselors, therapists, social workers, nurses, and physicians burn out differently
  The cost of "over-caring" vs. overwork

Hormone Health

• Perimenopause and Menopause Effects on Identity
  Estrogen's role in stress resilience, mood, and tolerance
  How hormone shifts lower your threshold for accepting unacceptable things

PRACTICAL TOOLS & EXERCI

Connect with Dr. Julie:

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