Tampa Pediatric Psychology is proud to offer the evidence-based

SPACE Anxiety Treatment

Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions



Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE)
is a short term parent-based intervention designed to treat a range of anxiety disorders in youth.

Treatment focuses on helping parents to a) respond supportively to their child’s anxiety with a combination of validation and confidence, and b) reduce reinforcing or accommodating their child’s anxiety. By exclusively focusing on changing parental behavior instead of youth behavior, SPACE reduces the escalation families often experience when trying to force youth to change course and empowers parents to take action to support their youth.

As a parent-based intervention, child involvement is not required for any portion of treatment, making it an ideal option for parents of children and teens who are unwilling or unable to engage in their own treatment. SPACE is also a great supplement for parents and other caregivers when their child is already engaged in individual treatment, yet not making great progress.

We have found SPACE is often a necessary first step to anxiety treatment, as ongoing parental accommodation regularly interferes with children and teens being motivated for change on their own. While the target of treatment is the child’s anxiety, most parents find SPACE improves their own well-being and sense of competence in navigating their child’s anxiety. 

Our SPACE program is for parents who are:

  • Frustrated with their inability to help their child.

  • Fatigued by the feeling of dragging children through their days.

  • Sad that their child is missing out on things they use to enjoy.

  • Confused about their child’s behaviors and defiance as it relates to their anxiety

  • Hopeless, like nothing will work.

  • Out of sync with their partner in their parenting approach.

  • Ready to try a new approach.

​We teach you specific strategies to help you get your child through their anxious emotions and behaviors.

By the end of us working together, you can expect to:

  • have a clear understanding of what can cause, maintain, and reduce your child's anxious feelings and behaviors

  • know what to say (and not say) when your child is worrying, expressing fears, or refusing to do something because they are too anxious or nervous

  • know what to do (and not do) to help them increase their bravery, independence, and self-efficacy

  • feel confident in your ability to set limits and boundaries that fit the needs of your whole family that doesn’t require walking on eggshells around your child’s anxiety

Our focus on your behavior as a parent does not mean that you are to blame for your child's anxiety. You are not the problem here, however you can be an important part of the solution. Anxiety disorders make it difficult for children to function independently. They tend to rely heavily upon their parents to help them cope rather than learning to cope on their own.

We offer the SPACE treatment individually as well as in group workshops. The group format is offered twice per year and covers all of the same material that would be delivered individually, while also allowing caregivers to learn from and support each other. Groups include written materials, didactic discussions, coping skills practice, and group-based processing. Spots in our SPACE group are limited in order to ensure individualized attention in the group setting.

 Frequently Asked Questions

  • The goal of the SPACE group is to learn the core fundamentals of responding effectively to child anxiety. While the exact features of anxiety may vary slightly from person to person, the building blocks of the disorder and how it impacts interactions between parents and children/teens is remarkably similar between families. In the SPACE group, parents will receive individualized feedback on core aspects of delivering SPACE and group activities will focus on applying the general principles to your individual child. By learning the core principles of SPACE first, parents decrease the likelihood of getting lost in the weeds of their child's specific details and are better able to see the broader patterns of anxiety.

  • Nearly all of our group participants feel confident in their new parenting strategies and satisfied with their child's treatment progress by the completion of our group; however, if you or your child are in need of additional support, individual parent consultations or child therapy can be added on at the end.

  • We are very confident in the effectiveness of this program for parents of children and teens with anxiety and related disorders -- both in research and within dozens of families helped in our own practice. Prior to registering, you will complete a form that allows us to get an idea of your current situation. We will only allow you to join the program if we feel you and your child can actually benefit from it. There are many reasons a child can present with symptoms of anxiety. This program specially addresses the symptoms of excessive worry, debilitating anxious thoughts, rigid behaviors due to fear, separation anxiety, family accommodation (walking on eggshells to prevent outbursts), and related disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder.

  • We work with parents who start our program with many of the following concerns:

    -Separation anxiety: children who struggle to separate from their parent(s) whether at school or shorter periods such as allowing a parent to shower or go to the bathroom without them

    -Excessive worry: children who ask for reassurance throughout the day such as repeatedly confirming when something will take place, if all the details are still the same, etc. as well as repeatedly confirming/clarifying things with parents such as whether something is safe to eat or 'ok' to use.

    -Fears and phobias: children who are unable or unwilling to participate or engage in a certain activity due to irrational fears such as going upstairs by themselves at night, using a bathroom without their parent accompanying them, riding the bus to school, trying new things such as summer camp, etc.

    -Obsessive-compulsive behaviors: children who insist on engaging in a certain behavior prior to something else happening such as using the bathroom repeatedly within a short period of time to "make sure" they don't have an accident in the car

    -Challenging behaviors: almost all of the parents who participate in our program struggle to understand and manage their child's challenging behaviors that occur when their anxiety reaches a certain point, from verbal protests to tantrums to aggressive outbursts to self harm.

    There are many ways anxiety can show up. These are only some of the primary ones we see in our groups.

SPACE has been proven to be effective with some of the most common anxiety issues children face including:

Separation Anxiety
Social Anxiety
Generalized Anxiety
Fears and Phobias
Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Emetophobia

 To read more about SPACE and how it works visit www.spacetreatment.net

Join our next group.

To learn more about the next SPACE group, please inquire below.