Dear Kerry Ann: Honest Answers to Your Midlife Questions


 

Real questions from accomplished women navigating midlife — answered with honesty, depth, and hard-won wisdom. New letters published regularly. Subscribe to have them delivered to your inbox.

Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD

How to Find the Right Support During a Midlife Transition

How do you find the right support during a midlife transition? Start by figuring out what you need right now, and only then choose the best match. Retreats, courses, communities, life transition coaching and therapy all work beautifully for high-achieving women when the support is designed to meet the need. But they are costly and ineffective when the need and support don’t match.

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Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD

Sudden Crashing Fatigue at Midlife: When Your Labs Are Normal and Rest Isn't Enough

What causes sudden crashing fatigue in midlife women, and why doesn't rest fix it? Physical causes come first and deserve a proper medical evaluation. But when your labs come back normal and rest still isn't enough, the medical conversation continues. And it's also worth getting curious about the context of your energy: when it rises, when it disappears, and what your body may be asking you to notice about your life.

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Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD

What High Achievers Don't Tell You About Getting Everything You Wanted

High achievers almost never say this out loud: sometimes you get everything you wanted, and it doesn't feel the way they expected. Not because something's wrong with their life, but because arriving was never going to do what we hoped it would do. This edition of Dear Kerry Ann features a letter from a middle-aged woman who achieved everything she set out to do, but wants to know why she feels flat.

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Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD

A Menopause Reading List: From Biology to Becoming

Menopause is often discussed as a collection of symptoms to manage. But it can also be understood as a profound developmental transition, one that touches the body, brain, identity, relationships, culture, creativity, and our sense of who we are becoming. The menopause books on this list explore that fuller landscape, moving from science and medicine into lived experience, cultural narratives, fiction, and finally the deeper questions of meaning, power, and Elderhood.

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Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD

I’m at a Crossroads in Midlife. Do I Have to Choose?

"I'm at a crossroads" is what midlife professionals say when something new comes alive and their stable career suddenly feels less central. But a life that's outgrown its container is not the same as a life that needs to be turned upside down. Here's how to tell the difference, and how to take your new passion seriously without quitting your job.

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