SPACE, an evidence-based treatment developed at Yale University, has shown that parents are able to help their anxious children tremendously simply by changing their own behavior.
What is SPACE?
SPACE stands for Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions and is a parent-based treatment program for children and adolescents with anxiety, OCD, and related problems. Developed by Dr. Eli Lebowitz at the Yale Child Study Center, SPACE has been tested and found to be efficacious in randomized controlled clinical trials.
Who is SPACE for?
SPACE aims to treat children and adolescents with anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder by working directly with their parents. Although children do not typically attend SPACE sessions – they are the patients! When SPACE treatment is successful, children feel less anxious and function better following treatment.
Some of the main anxiety problems treated with SPACE include:
Separation anxiety
Social anxiety
Generalized anxiety
Fears and phobias
Panic disorder and Agoraphobia
Selective mutism
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Who Participates in Treatment?
Parents (and other caregivers) participate in SPACE treatment sessions. Research shows that parents are able to help their anxious children tremendously simply by shifting their own behavior. While the child or adolescent is the patient, in most cases they do not need to attend the treatment sessions.
When SPACE treatment is successful, children feel less anxious and function better in their lives..
What happens in SPACE treatment?
Parents who participate in SPACE learn skills and tools to help their child overcome anxiety, OCD, or related problems. Therefore, the treatment focuses on the changes that parents can make to their own behavior; they do not need to make their child change.
The two main changes that parents learn to make in SPACE treatment are (1) to respond more supportively to their anxious child and (2) to reduce the accommodations they have been making to their child symptoms.
What if my "child" is older?
SPACE treatment has been found very effective in young adult (18+) dependent children. We often work with the parents of kids who are still living at home, have withdrawn from school, are unemployed, etc.
What is the affiliation with Yale University?
Dr. Eli Lebowitz and the clinical staff at Yale Child Study Center developed the SPACE treatment. Many providers at Weaver and Associates are trained by Dr. Lebowitz and the team receives bi-weekly clinical consultations with Dr. Lebowitz. In addition, Weaver therapist Amy Killy, LCSW is one of a handful of Certified SPACE providers in the country.
Pediatric Anxiety deserves effective treatment
Why do we need more treatment options for pediatric anxiety? Anxiety is the most common mental health concern for children. Approximately 30% of children will suffer from clinical levels of anxiety sometime throughout their childhood, and, depending on the study cited, between 5% and 15% of children suffer from anxiety at any given moment.
Why to be concerned: (provided by NAMI, NIMH, CDC and the ADAA)
4 million children and adolescents in this country suffer from serious psychiatric issues that cause significant functional impairments at home, at school, and with peers
Anxiety disorders affect one in eight children. Anxiety disorders also often co-occur with other disorders such as depression, eating disorders, and ADHD
Anxiety disorders are highly treatable, yet only about one-third of those suffering receive treatment
Untreated children with anxiety disorders are at higher risk of performing poorly in school, missing out on important social experiences, and engaging in substance abuse.
Untreated Anxiety in the 1st grade has been shown to predict anxiety and low academic achievement in reading and math in the 5th grade (Ialongo et al, 1995)
Anxiety or depression (untreated) in adolescence predicts a 2-3x increase in the risk of anxiety or depression in adulthood (Pine et al, 1998)
There are many different types of anxiety disorders, including separation anxiety, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, selective mutism, OCD, phobias, panic disorder, trichotillomania/dermatillomania, health anxiety, and PTSD.
Want to Learn More about SPACE?
Visit the SPACE website
Additional Resources Here