NICU Therapy

You’ve Been in Survival Mode—Now You Need to Slow Down and Process in Therapy

If your baby has to go into the NICU, you are in full survival mode. At Tribeca Maternity, we provide a space to slow down and process what you experienced or are still experiencing. Nobody plans to have their baby go into the NICU. The NICU can be upsetting and traumatic no matter how caring the doctors and nurses are. Together we’ll unpack:

• What happened in the NICU
• How you felt in the NICU environment
• What it feels like now that your baby is home
• Grief for the lost early days of parenthood and ways to recreate what was lost
• How the NICU affected your family as a whole

Or maybe you just don’t want to talk about the NICU—that’s okay too. 

The Adjustment to Parenthood Is Different Post-NICU

Having the medical field in charge of your baby’s care can mess with your identity as a new parent. When your baby is in the NICU, it’s hard to get to know them outside of the pressures of the hospital and its fluorescent lights. Once you’re home, everything changes. The doctors, nurses, and other staff were in control in the NICU—now you are. 

In therapy, we’ll help you sort out what this new identity as a parent (or as a parent of another child) means to you. But we’ll also create plans to cover your logistical and emotional needs as you adjust to a new or different kind of parenthood without the help and guidance of hospital staff.

We Help Couples Unpack What Brought Them Closer (And What Didn’t) in the NICU

Getting into the groove of new parenting takes time, especially after an experience in the NICU. Couples may be so entrenched in the day-to-day tasks of providing for their baby that there’s no time to slow down together, process what each of you is going through, and decide what you need. In couples therapy, we’ll make that time. We’ll talk about what brought couples closer and what broke down in the NICU. We’ll also help you take back the control you lost in the NICU.