SPACE Therapy

(Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions)

Parent-Based Therapy for Childhood Anxiety

When your child is struggling with anxiety, parents do everything they can think of to help them feel better. You may find yourself offering extra reassurance, helping them avoid situations that make them anxious, changing certain routines, or doing whatever you can to make things a little easier.

If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. These are things most loving parents do because they want to help.

SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) is an evidence-based treatment where a SPACE-trained therapist works directly with parents to help them better understand their child's anxiety and learn practical strategies that can help the child to increase their confidence over time. 

SPACE is unique from other therapy options because your child does not need to be willing to attend therapy for treatment to be effective.

What Is SPACE Therapy?

SPACE is a parent-based treatment developed for children and teens experiencing anxiety, OCD, and related concerns. It is typically a short-term treatment lasting about 12 to 16 sessions. Parents meet with the therapist weekly, where they  learn how to respond supportively to their child's distress while gradually reducing accommodations that may be unintentionally maintaining anxiety. The strategies will be adjusted along the way based on what works best for each family.

Although parents are the ones who attend therapy, the focus is always on helping the child.

Could SPACE Be a Good Fit for Your Family?

SPACE can be effective for children as young as three years old through adolescence and is often a great fit for families whose child isn't ready or willing to participate in therapy themselves.

SPACE may be helpful if your child struggles with:

  • Generalized anxiety

  • Separation anxiety

  • Social anxiety

  • OCD

  • Panic attacks

  • Specific phobias

  • Selective mutism

  • School refusal related to anxiety

  • Sleep-related anxiety

  • Excessive worries or frequent reassurance seeking

You may also notice that anxiety has started affecting your family's daily life. Maybe mornings have become stressful, bedtime has turned into a long process, or you find yourself avoiding certain situations because you know they'll be hard for your child.

If that sounds familiar, SPACE may be a helpful option.

Why Parents Choose SPACE

One of the biggest advantages of SPACE is that your child doesn't have to attend therapy. That makes it a great option for children who are too anxious to participate, refuse therapy, or simply aren't ready. In addition, if your child is already working with another therapist, SPACE can complement those sessions by helping parents support the same goals at home.

SPACE is supported by research and has been shown to be just as effective as other individual therapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), for treating childhood anxiety.

Want to learn more about SPACE?

We recently wrote a detailed guide explaining how SPACE works, who it helps, and what parents can expect throughout the process. Read more here!

Ready to Get Started?

We provide SPACE therapy virtually for families throughout Michigan. Feel free to reach out to learn more or schedule an appointment.