Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE)

SPACE is a parent-based treatment for parents of children or teenagers struggling with an anxiety disorder. SPACE was developed for clinicians at the Yale Child Study Center and its effectiveness has been demonstrated in studies.

Only parents attend sessions in SPACE treatment and the time is focused on parents learning specific skills and tools to help their child overcome anxiety. Treatment focuses on helping parents make changes in the way they respond to their child’s anxiety symptoms, including learning to become more supportive and decreasing parental reactions that unintentionally increase a child’s anxiety symptoms over time. Parents also learn ways to coach their child on how to approach new situations and reduce avoidance.

Treatment includes education about childhood anxiety and the factors that increase anxiety. Parents learn about supportive responses to their child’s anxiety and responses that communicate acceptance of the child’s distress and confidence in the child’s ability to tolerate distress. By reducing their accommodating behaviors, parents allow their child to improve their ability to regulate their anxiety.