Panic Attacks Are a Sign Something Needs Attention: You

At Tribeca Maternity, we talk to patients about how panic attacks represent a sign that something is being stretched too thin. In new parenthood, everything is being stretched too thin: your sleep, your patience, your relationship, your resources, your family, what’s in your fridge. You likely haven’t been able to care for yourself in the way you used to, and your postpartum panic attacks are telling you that you need attention. We’ll help you get immediate relief while also organizing for more systemic care.

We Offer Techniques to Calm Panic Attacks as They Happen

Panic attacks are scary. They might feel unexpected or sudden, and can include:

Heart palpitations
Shortness of breath
Feeling disconnected or dizzy
Stomach pains or IBS
Tingling or numbness

When suffering from panic attacks, the first lines of defense are strategies that offer immediate relief. In therapy, we’ll provide skills that can quickly help during a panic attack, including how to ride the wave of panic, calm yourself, and put an end to it sooner.

And We Explore the Cause of the Panic Attack Too

Panic attacks don’t come out of nowhere, even though they feel that way. Panic is often a reasonable response to a big change—such as the major transition to new parenthood or adding another baby to your family. In in-person therapy at our Tribeca, as well as phone and video conferencing therapy sessions, we explore what caused the panic attack and why in order to get to the root of the issue to pave the way for more lasting change.

Couples Need to Confront Panic Attacks as a Unit

In dealing with postpartum panic attacks, couples will be more effective by confronting panic as a team. In couples therapy, we help partners explore the causes of panic with curiosity rather than blame, as well as examine how the family can help the partner suffering panic attacks in this moment, including:

Changing your system for childcare
Taking a look at getting more help in the home
Helping couples find creative ways of making the routine of childcare and housework work
Making time for the couple as a pair or the family as a unit
Helping partners find grounding, individually and together, in the tough moments of new parenthood

Meet our founder and clinical director, Matt Lundquist, LCSW, MSEd

A Columbia University-trained psychotherapist with more than two decades of clinical experience, I've built a practice where my team and I help individuals, couples, and families get help to work through difficult experiences and create their lives.