Get ready for me to NERD OUT. I love SPACE. This modality has the ability to offer families so much. It is an evidence-based program to treat childhood anxiety without actually involving the child. I work with you, the parent or caregiver, to help you feel more confident in responding to your child in a way that promotes recovery.

I can assure you, kids do not come with a manual and they especially have no specific instructions about feelings. Yet, children are inherently reliant upon their caregivers from the day they are born to regulate their emotions - when babies are uncomfortable, they cry to elicit specific reactions from us (dance, monkey, dance!). As they grow, kids naturally become more independent (thank goodness). However, when you have a child with a predisposition to experience higher levels of anxiety, sometimes the boundaries between child and parent do not separate like we anticipate. It’s pretty standard to hold your 3 year old’s hand when you cross the street. It’s not so standard to hold your 14 year old’s hand to cross the street. If you have a child, any age child, and want to feel more confident in helping them navigate hard feelings in a way that promotes supportive independence, SPACE is for you.

The best news? You don’t actually need me! The founder of SPACE, Eli Lebowitz at Yale Child Studies Center, wrote a book for parents to be able to implement SPACE without a clinician. It’s called Breaking Free of Childhood Emotions and OCD. You can also watch a video of SPACE implementation on their website.

While developed for Anxiety and OCD, SPACE has also been researched to support families struggling with ARFID/Picky Eating and Failure to Launch, which is akin to school refusal at a younger age. I use SPACE principles in all of my parent consultation. I would be thrilled to get to support you in a SPACE journey, whether it’s a consultation to be sure you’re on the right track with the book or the full kit and caboodle if you’re not a reader. I can generally graduate families from SPACE in about 6-10 sessions.