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SPACE Program

The Supportive Parenting of Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) Program is a short-term, evidence-based program developed by Dr. Eli Lebowitz and the team at the Yale Child Study Center designed to treat children who are experiencing significant anxiety by working with their parents in a structured manner leading to increased parental support and decreased family accommodation of the child’s anxiety.

Parents learn how to alleviate their child’s anxiety by changing the way they themselves respond to their child’s symptoms. Notably, parents are not required to impose changes on their child’s behavior. Rather, parents are taught how to replace their own accommodating behaviors of the child’s anxious symptoms with supportive responses that demonstrate acceptance of their child’s difficulties and confidence in their child’s ability to cope.

What is SPACE Treatment?

In the SPACE program, parents learn about about the underpinnings of anxiety and the interpersonal nature of how anxiety can be inadvertently reinforced, how to talk to their anxious child about their anxiety, how to avoid the common traps of being overly protective or demanding, how to identify when they themselves have been enabling their child’s anxious behaviors, and how to support their child face challenging anxious experiences so that the child can learn that they are indeed capable of handling difficult anxious moments.

Get Started With SPACE Program in Montclair, NJ

Looking to start SPACE program in Montclair or the New Jersey area? Our team is committed to providing high-quality care that honors and respects the whole person you are and the relationships that shape your life.

Reach out to us

Contact us in the way that feels most comfortable, by text, call, email, or our website form. We’re here to support you from the very first step.

Get matched with a therapist

Our Intake Coordinator will follow up to answer any questions and connect you with the therapist who best fits your unique needs and goals.

Start your healing journey

You’ll be welcomed into a warm, compassionate space where you can connect deeply with yourself and take meaningful steps toward change.

Call: (973) 891-0793Make an Appointment

Frequently Asked Questions

Parents, guardians and caregivers of children and adolescents, aged 6-17, who experience significant levels of anxiety that impair their child’s functioning in school or at home.

Sessions are conducted on a weekly basis, and occasionally, twice per week depending on the implementation of the treatment plan.

The number of sessions depends on the child’s specific anxiety symptoms and their severity. Some families can complete treatment within 8-12 sessions, with some finishing sooner and some later, depending on the number of anxious scenarios that are being targeted.

When there is more than one parent/guardian in the child’s life on a daily basis, it is encouraged that both adults participate in treatment to present a unified approach in reducing accommodations to the child’s anxious behavior.

Depending on the child’s behavior and surrounding circumstances, sometimes supporters are invited to assist in the treatment. Supporters can be grandparents and other relatives, teachers, nannies, and other important individuals in the child’s life.