Supporting Parents of Children with Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE)
SPACE is a parent-based treatment approach that is designed to help children and adolescents manage anxiety and OCD. SPACE treatment was developed by Dr. Eli Lebowitz at the Yale Child Study Center and has been shown to be effective in treating child anxiety and OCD in randomized controlled clinical trials.
How does SPACE treatment work?
SPACE treatment is based on the principle that parents can play a key role in helping their children manage anxiety and OCD. SPACE treatment teaches parents how to:
Respond supportively to their child's anxiety and or OCD.
Reduce their own accommodating behaviors (e.g., avoiding situations that trigger their child's anxiety)
Encourage their child to face their fears and engage in anxiety-provoking activities
Benefits of SPACE treatment
SPACE treatment has been shown to be effective in reducing anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents. SPACE treatment can also improve parent-child relationships and increase parental confidence in their ability to help their child.
Who is a good candidate for SPACE treatment?
SPACE may be an especially good treatment option for families with children who have a clinical anxiety disorder or OCD, parental accommodations present, and the child/adolescent has failed to engage successfully in treatment in the past. Contact us today to see if SPACE would be a good fit for your family.
