Midlife ADHD can be scary. But it doesn’t have to be. Here on Peri-Normal, we are demystifying neurodivergence and perimenopause plus, with candid conversations and advice from experts. Join me for a no-holds-barred exploration of what it means to be neurodivergent at midlife.
Is Psilocybin the Medicine Midlife Women Have Been Missing? | Welcome to the Bottom of the U
Guest: Dr. Rebecca Richey is one of Colorado’s first prescribing psychologists, dedicated to empowering women, girls, and gender-diverse individuals through compassionate, evidence-based care. With advanced training in clinical psychopharmacology and a deep understanding of the unique mental health challenges faced by her clients. Learn more about her here. Episode Summary In one of our most anticipated conversations yet, Steph sits down with Dr. Richey — a prescribing psychologist AND a natu...
9 Jun 2026
The "Now What?" Era: Reinventing Midlife After Divorce with Cindy DiTiberio
ABOUT THIS EPISODE What does it mean to arrive on the other side of the hardest thing you've ever done — and realize the rest of your life is suddenly, terrifyingly, exhilaratingly wide open? In this episode, I'm doing something a little different. Before introducing my guest, I'm reading a piece I wrote about a year ago for my Substack column, The Reclamation Era, called The Case for Divorce. It came up in my Facebook memories right as I was preparing for this conversation, and I couldn't th...
4 May 2026
Motherhood, ADHD, and the Identity Crisis Nobody Warned You About
Motherhood, ADHD & the Identity Crisis Nobody Warned You About What happens when a coach realizes she abandoned her own journey while helping everyone else with theirs? Dr. Gertrude Lyons got a doctorate about it. In this warm, wide-ranging conversation, Steph and Dr. Gertrude bond over late ADHD diagnoses, the chaos of new motherhood, and why "doing it differently" isn't something to apologize for. What we're getting into: Premarital counseling at 23 — weird then, genius in retrospectFro...
13 Apr 2026
Finally, I Make Sense: An ADHD Diagnosis at 65 and the Little Girl Who Always Knew
Show Notes: What does it feel like to finally receive an ADHD diagnosis at 65? For writer Penny Hawes, it felt like someone had handed her a map—not an excuse, not a crutch, but a way of finally understanding the terrain she'd been navigating her whole life. Penny is the witty, warm, and deeply perceptive voice behind the Substack column Slightly Over the Hill with ADHD, and in this conversation, she and Steph explore what it means to look back at six and a half decades of life through a bran...
27 Mar 2026
Midlife is the perfect time to return to your creativity: A conversation with Ann Imig
Show Notes: Experience a quick, grounding practice (PQ reps) to tune into our bodiesGuest Ann Imig and Steph have a discussion of the concept of saboteurs: patterns that keep us stuckWe overview common obstacles to our creativity: perfectionism, procrastination, people-pleasing, or being a hyper-achiever“We don’t outrun our saboteurs, but we learn to turn them down and take action from a different place in our brains—the intuitive, clear, focused place.”What happens when you feel like y...
18 Feb 2026
The Hormonal Accelerant: How Midlife Brings Patterns to the Surface with Dana Bowman
Steph talks to Dana Bowman, author and TedX speaker, about midlife, recovery, hormones, and identity. • Sobriety & Motherhood - Getting sober while raising young kids and navigating wine culture • Perimenopause as a Catalyst - How hormonal changes during perimenopause can reveal underlying issues and trigger addictive patterns • Process Addictions - Understanding addictions beyond substances (scrolling, sugar, exercise, gambling) and how they emerge during life transitions • The Medical G...
26 Jan 2026
The Messy Intersection of ADHD + Perimenopause with Dr. Rebecca Richey
Dr. Rebecca Richey returns to talk about the wild intersection of ADHD and perimenopause, or as she calls it, “When the wheels fall off the bus.”Anxiety might actually be your ADHD talking – When you treat the ADHD first, the anxiety often gets way quieter. It's not the main problem; it's the monkey on your shoulder that comes with ADHD.Perimenopause + ADHD Your estrogen is ping-ponging all over the place while your executive function was already struggling. No wonder everything feels impossi...
8 Jan 2026
The Portal of Midlife: Putting the "Pause" in Perimenopause
Show Notes: Special guest: Dr. Breanne Hinz, my go-to chiropractor and all-around holistic health guru. She’s all about treating the whole person—body, mind, and spirit.The "portal" of midlife—Dr. Bre and I share what this means to us, and how this transitional stage of life is a powerful opportunity for transformation and renewal. We talk about the importance of pausing— it's almost like perimenoPAUSE is giving us an instruction we so frequently miss. Midlife is the perfect time to stop...
2 Dec 2025
Endocrine Disruptors at Perimenopause and Beyond: What Women Need to Know
This week's episode features a conversation with Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff, environmentalist and journalist, about endocrine disruptors and women's health. • Practical tips for reducing toxins: Rachel keeps it real—she shares information without making you panic or feel overwhelmed. The goal is to be informed, not freaked out! • Cleaner cleaning supplies: Chemicals in everyday cleaners can be harmful; while there are a number of safer, non-toxic products on the market, don't fo...
13 Nov 2025
The Antidote to Hustle Culture and Why "The Grind" Doesn't Work for Most Women
This episode is a must-listen for anyone feeling the squeeze of midlife, burnout, or just the relentless grind of doing it all. Steph sits down with Jenni Gritters, author of "The Sustainable Solopreneur," for a real, no-holds-barred chat about what it means to build a business (and a life) that actually works for you—especially if you’re neurodivergent, a parent, or just plain tired of patriarchal hustle culture. What’s Inside: Why the old rules of grind culture just don’t work for most wome...
29 Oct 2025
Meds Can Be a Lifesaver: It's Time to End the Medication Stigma
Show Notes: I speak with Sarah Michelle Sherman about her journey to a diagnosis of ADHD and Bipolar disorder and the impact of medication on her life.Getting the right diagnosis is all about having a provider who spends the time listening to you in order to get a full picture of your mental health—the correct diagnosis means the correct medication, which can make a world of difference. Neurodivergence has a lot of Venn diagram overlap AND comorbidity with other conditions like anxi...
15 Oct 2025
The Slippery Slope of DIY Women's Health: ADHD, Menopause, and Midlife Eating Disorders
Show Notes: Meet Amie Newman: writer, editor, and all-around champion for women’s voices, especially when it comes to the messy realities of our bodies.Amie is working on an anthology called This Is Not Your Mother’s Eating Disorder—and she wants your stories!We dive into what it’s like getting an ADHD diagnosis in your 40s and 50s. Spoiler: you’re not alone, and you’re definitely not crazy.Midlife women are starting to share openly (suuuuuper openly) with our friends (and sometimes the...
🎙️ Peri-Normal Podcast: The Perimenopausal Glucose Diaries: Insulin Resistance and CGMs Welcome back to the Paranormal Podcast! In this episode, Steph dives into the wild ride of perimenopause, neurodivergence, and midlife—sharing her personal journey with glucose monitoring, hormone therapy, and the realities of being a single parent with ADHD. What’s Inside: Real talk about perimenopausal weight gain, hormone changes, and why the old tricks don’t always work anymoreSteph’s experience with c...
23 Sept 2025
Perimenopause: What if there was nothing to fix?
Welcome to Peri-Normal! In this episode, Steph sits down with the amazing Britt Ballard, creator of The Unsent Show, for a real, unfiltered conversation about perimenopause, creativity, and what it means to be a woman in midlife. We get into: The wild ride of perimenopause—the grief, the superpowers, the chin hairs, the metamorphosis. Britt says, “When I gave birth, the woman I was before then died.” We talk about the life cycles of womanhood and the constant deaths and rebirths along th...
7 Sept 2025
Welcome to Peri-Normal
Episode Overview: Welcome to the debut episode of Peri-Normal, a podcast dedicated to demystifying neurodivergence and perimenopause, especially as they intersect at midlife. Host Steph Sprenger shares her personal journey with ADHD, discusses the challenges of diagnosis for women, and sets the stage for candid conversations with experts and real people navigating neurodivergence in midlife. Key Topics Covered: Steph’s ADHD diagnosis story: growing up undiagnosed, internalizing symptoms, and ...
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