Help Your Child Thrive With Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE)
SPACE is a parent-based treatment program developed at the Yale Child Center by Eli Lebowitz. It is regarded as a compassionate, evidence-based therapy for children’s mental health that supports recovery from anxiety disorders and OCD. Studies demonstrate SPACE results in equal positive outcomes to cognitive-behavioral therapy for children. SPACE is a sensitive solution to anxiety disorders and OCD recovery for children who are unwilling or unable to participate in therapy and for parents who desire to be equipped with effective tools to help their child overcome fearful avoidance and ritualized behavior.
The SPACE program is used to treat:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Separation Anxiety
Social Anxiety
Fears and Phobias
School Refusal
Child and Teen Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms
Teen Independence and ‘Failure to Launch’
SPACE for Child and Teen Anxiety
Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) is an evidence-based treatment method for child and teen anxiety and OCD. This child anxiety treatment promotes parental empowerment and is shown to be as effective as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for child and teen anxiety and obsessive compulsive behavior.
SPACE works by utilizing therapist coaching of parents to strategically and lovingly adjust their approach. With expert guidance, parents are supported in reducing accommodations that in the long-term unintentionally maintain and increase their child’s anxiety and obsessive compulsive symptoms.
SPACE does not require children or teens to participate in therapy. Children and teens are helped through SPACE via very specific parental behavioral change.
SPACE is a non-coercive, family-centered model that respects child development, child autonomy, and parental values. It’s a great fit for parents whose children won’t participate in therapy and for parents who desire to remain supportive while encouraging resilience, agency, and optimal development.
Contact to learn more and get started with evidence-based and compassionate child anxiety and OCD treatment. Learn about your options in obtaining SPACE therapy in Ventura and throughout California.
Anxiety Therapy for Kids
Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) is a transformative family-centered program designed to help parents effectively support their anxious children. The program focuses on understanding your child's anxiety or OCD and teaches parents the skills needed to foster resilience and psychosocial development.
Key Principles of SPACE:
Recognize Anxiety Triggers: Become aware of the situations or events that trigger your child's anxiety. This awareness allows you to collaborate with the therapist on treatment planning to target your child’s unique concerns.
Increase Support: Parents are coached to increase a very specific type of support that helps children and teens feel validated while also encouraging bravery.
Limit Accommodations: While it’s the most natural thing in the world to protect your child from their fears, some types of accommodations can unintentionally reinforce the anxiety and OCD symptoms. In SPACE parents are taught to lovingly increase support while gradually changing their patterns of relating to their child’s anxiety.
Teach Courage: Children look to their parents for guidance on how to respond to a variety of situations. Demonstrating calmness, courage, and healthy coping strategies can help children learn new skills in navigating how to approach their own challenges.
Strategically Plan for Change: With the help of a SPACE therapist, you will have a well crafted plan to implement gradual change. You will be helped to inform your child of the upcoming changes and you will assisted in planning your response to your child’s reaction to the change.
Enhance Healthy Coping Skills: Encourage your child to develop emotional and physiological self-regulation and problem-solving strategies to use when faced with anxiety-inducing situations, worries or fears.
By implementing these principles, parents can create a nurturing environment where anxious children feel safe to confront their fears, ultimately fostering the development of independence and resilience. The SPACE program empowers families by providing tools that promote emotional growth and healthier coping mechanisms for managing anxiety, phobias, and OCD.
SPACE FAQs
Will my child be forced to participate in exposures for their anxiety disorder or OCD?
No. The SPACE approach to child anxiety and OCD does not force children to participate in treatment. Children are not coerced to do anything they don’t want to do.
Why should I attend therapy when the problem is with my child?
The SPACE approach values your role as parent—the most important person in your child’s life with the greatest potential for positive influence and change in your child’s behavior. While you did not cause your child’s anxiety disorder or OCD, you can play a pivotal role in their recovery—similarly to your child getting a medical illness like a cold or flu—you didn’t cause the illness but you can help to nurture their recovery.
Will anxiety or OCD treatment with SPACE be effective if my co-parent isn’t on board?
There are workarounds for unique situations that involve co-parents, parental discord, and splitting time between two homes where parents have different styles.
How many sessions will I need in SPACE treatment?
Treatment is both a structured protocol and flexible approach based on your child’s or family’s needs. On average, the SPACE program is about 12-16 weeks, but your specific treatment length may vary based on your child’s particular mental health symptoms and family dynamics.