Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions

(SPACE Therapy)

What Is SPACE?
SPACE — Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions — is an evidence-based treatment developed by Dr. Eli Lebowitz at the Yale Child Study Center for children and adolescents with anxiety, OCD, and related problems.

What makes SPACE unique: parents attend the sessions, not the child. By changing how parents respond to their child’s anxiety, children feel less anxious and function better — without ever needing to sit in a therapist’s office.

How It Works
When parents accommodate a child’s anxiety — offering constant reassurance, avoiding triggers, or adjusting family routines — they unintentionally reinforce it, creating a difficult cycle. SPACE breaks that cycle by coaching parents to respond with calm confidence instead.

Research has shown SPACE to be just as effective as individual Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for childhood anxiety, while producing even greater reductions in family accommodation. 

Who It Helps
SPACE is effective for children and teens with separation anxiety, social anxiety, generalized anxiety, OCD, phobias, panic disorder, selective mutism, and school refusal.

SPACE-ARFID is a specialized adaptation for families of extreme picky eaters. It empowers parents to help their child expand eating flexibility  without forcing or pressuring the child directly. Research shows significant reductions in ARFID symptom severity and family accommodation, with increases in food-related flexibility. 

My Training
I am trained in both SPACE and SPACE-ARFID by Dr. Lebowitz and Dr. Shimshoni at the Yale Child Study Center. If your child is struggling with anxiety, OCD, or extreme picky eating, I’d love to talk about whether SPACE is the right fit for your family.

You can learn more about SPACE Therapy here: https://www.spacetreatment.net.