Patrick Clancy Says Unexpected ‘Miracle’ Treatment Helped Him Process the Death of His Children

Michelle Stein September 23, 2026, 9:52 am

What To Know

Patrick Clancy shared in a 60 Minutes interview thata form of psychotherapy for trauma was a “miracle” treatment that helped him process the loss of his three children.
He described his struggles with grief, suicidal thoughts, and panic attacks following the deaths.
Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial ended in a mistrial, with a status hearing set for September 29 to determine if prosecutors will seek a retrial.

Warning: The following post contains discussions of suicide.

Patrick Clancy revealed that an unexpected “miracle” treatment helped him process the trauma of his children’s death.

In an extended 60 Minutes interview, Lindsay Clancy‘s ex-husband opened up about the impact of losing Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months, in January 2023 at the hands of their mother. Lindsay’s attorney argued that she was not criminally responsible due to her postpartum psychosis.

When asked if he ever had suicidal thoughts, Patrick admitted, “Yeah. There was a time where I didn’t think I would live to see my 35th birthday, and I was completely fine with it.”

Moving from Duxbury, Massachusetts, to New York City offered Patrick a new degree of “anonymity” as he grieved his children.

“I don’t avoid the good memories. I really never do,” he explained. “The bad ones, I avoid. I really try not to think about them. I mean, it’s traumatic, and that can be overwhelming.”

However, what has truly helped Patrick process his trauma — after finding his kids strangled with exercise bands and his now ex-wife following the attempted suicide at paralyzed her from the waist down — is EMDR.

“I don’t know what it stands for. It has something to do with rapid eye movement,” he shared. “It’s a little unusual. They put you right back in that place that you’ve been trying to avoid for years, and you face it head on. And it’s unpleasant.”

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EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is a form of psychotherapy that treats a variety of conditions, including PTSD, anxiety, depression, and more.

“They get you used to dealing with that and eventually, you’re better at processing it,” Patrick noted. “And they’ve used it for survivors of 9/11 and October 7, and some horrible events.”

He added, “And after I did that, all of those sessions, the waking up screaming, the horrible dreams, they mostly stopped. I mean, it was like a miracle.”

'60 Minutes' Ratings: Did Patrick Clancy Interview Give CBS Show a Boost?

In the 60 Minutes interview, Patrick also revealed that he suffered a “massive traumatic panic attack” in a back room on the day of the trial that the 911 call was played.

“They put me in an ambulance. They offered me some medication,” he recalled. “But I said, ‘I don’t want it because I want to go back, and I want to finish this. So I can be done with this.’ I went back, and I finished the testimony.”

On September 4, the judge in Lindsay’s murder trial declared a mistrial after the jurors couldn’t come to a unanimous decision. A status hearing is now scheduled for September 29. Prosecutors are expected to announce then whether they intend to retry Lindsay with a new jury.

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, contact the National Alliance on Mental Illness at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264). If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.

Patrick’s 60 Minutes interview is available to stream on Paramount+.