SPACE Treatment
SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) is a parent-based therapy designed to reduce childhood and adolescent anxiety by changing how parents respond to their child’s anxiety symptoms. While SPACE targets anxiety in youth, treatment is provided exclusively to parents or caregivers—children do not need to attend these sessions.
Developed by Dr. Eli Lebowitz of the Yale Child Study Center, SPACE is an evidence-based approach that empowers caregivers to support their child’s emotional growth while restoring balance and flexibility to the family system.
How SPACE Works & Who Can Benefit
In SPACE treatment, parents learn practical strategies to make meaningful changes in their own behavior.
In our work together you will learn how to:
Reducing Accommodations: Identifying ways you may be adjusting routines or avoiding situations to minimize your child’s distress, and learning how to gradually reduce these accommodations.
Use Supportive Communication: Using calm, validating language that conveys confidence in your child’s ability to cope with anxiety.
Encourage Independence: Helping your child face challenges and build autonomy without increasing pressure or conflict.
How Does SPACE Help Reduce Anxiety?
Children often cope with anxiety by avoiding situations or relying on parents for reassurance. While well-intentioned, these accommodations can sometimes exacerbate the anxiety cycle.
SPACE helps parents:
Gradually reduce anxiety-related accommodations
Encourage children to face fears in manageable ways
Communicate support without reinforcing avoidance
Over time, children learn they can handle anxiety and become more independent.
What Will I Learn as a Parent?
In SPACE therapy, parents learn how to:
Identify and reduce behaviors that accommodate anxiety
Use supportive, confidence-building language
Respond calmly and consistently to anxious behaviors
Encourage independence and emotional growth
These skills help parents feel more confident, empowered, and less overwhelmed when anxiety arises.
SPACE can be a great fit for families who want to support their child’s anxiety without increasing avoidance or distress. It is especially helpful when a child is resistant to therapy or when parents feel stuck or unsure how to help.
Get In Touch
If you're interested in working with me, or would like to learn more about how SPACE treatment might work for your family, please reach out for a FREE 15 minute Consultation Call.