Postpartum & Early Motherhood Support
Therapy for New Moms in NYC & Brooklyn
For the parts of motherhood that aren’t always spoken about.
Losing yourself a little in early motherhood isn't a personal failing. It's what happens when your whole life reorganizes around someone else's needs, overnight, with zero training. That comes with real loss. It can also come with fear about doing it wrong and a responsibility that never clocks out. None of that means something's wrong with you. It means you're new at this.
Even when everything looks fine, it can still feel like too much.
Let's understand what's actually going on — together.
If Motherhood Feels Different
Than You Thought It Would
You’ve probably felt:
▸ Guilty for missing your old life
▸ Certain you’re doing it wrong
▸ The pressure to hold everything together
▸ Isolated, even when you’re not alone
▸ Anxious even when everything's fine
▸ Unrecognizable to yourself
understanding what you're going through doesn't automatically make it feel different. that's because two things are happening at once.
A real loss hasn't been grieved and A nervous system that’s been on high alert hasn't come back down. Both need somewhere to go.
▸ What You Can Expect
Working With the Fear
Fear here isn't something to talk yourself out of. We look at what it's actually pointing to, and work with it directly.
Making Room For the loss
You can miss your old life and still want this one. Both are allowed here.
finding the right support
You want to be heard. They want to fix it. We work out how to actually ask for what you need.
Integrating with your world
Your mother, your partner, the person you used to be — it's all part of this, not just the baby stuff.
What Shifts In the Work
▸ More self-regulation
▸ Greater capacity for ambivalence
▸ Reduced Anxiety
▸ Fewer intrusive thoughts
▸ Renewed sense of identity
▸ More trust in your own judgement
▸ Clearer sense of your needs
Motherhood doesn't just add a role. It reorganizes everything.
Displaced roles, shifts in connection and intimacy, changes in physical closeness. Let’s explore without judgment.
Alissa Friedlander
LICENSED CLINICAL SOCIAL WORKER · MSW, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
I came to this work through two doors at once. Clinical training taught me how the mind organizes experience. A long-standing yoga practice taught me how much of that experience lives in the body, whether or not it's ever spoken.
I hold an MSW from Columbia University and completed postgraduate training at the Training Institute for Mental Health, with additional training from Sky Ting Yoga. My clinical approach is psychodynamic and relational, shaped by close attention to what's happening in the room beyond what's being said.
Working with me around new motherhood means we don't skip the parts everyone else glosses over — grief for your old life, ambivalence about the new one, fear you haven't said out loud, and yes, probably some stuff about your own mother that suddenly feels very relevant. Insight matters here. So does actually feeling met while you sort through it.
Start Therapy
for New Mothers
If you've been circling the idea of therapy without starting, you don't need to have it all figured out first. A consultation is a low-pressure way to ask questions and see if this feels like the right fit.
In-person in Brooklyn • Remote across New York State
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Fill out the brief contact form. No need to explain everything up front — a brief overview is perfect.
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I respond within 1–2 business days to schedule a free consultation call.
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We'll talk through what's bringing you to therapy now and whether working together makes sense — for both of us.
More questions? Read the full guide to The Therapy Process →