SPACE Therapy in Madison, CT
SPACE Therapy for Parents
Support that helps you respond to your child’s anxiety with confidence and clarity.
When your child is anxious,
it affects the whole household.
You might find yourself rearranging routines, offering constant reassurance, staying at activities, avoiding certain places, or stepping in to prevent meltdowns or distress. You’re doing everything you can to help your child feel safe—but the anxiety keeps growing, and the demands keep getting bigger. It can leave you feeling exhausted, worried, and unsure what to do next.
SPACE gives you a clear, supportive framework to reduce accommodations and build your child’s ability to cope with anxiety. You’ll learn how to communicate confidence, set healthy boundaries, and respond to anxiety in ways that help your child grow. With structured support and step-by-step guidance, you can make meaningful changes at home—without forcing your child into therapy or relying on conflict, pressure, or power struggles.
SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions)
SPACE is a parent-based approach that helps reduce your child’s anxiety by changing the way you support them—not by pushing them harder, but by responding with warmth, clarity, and confident leadership.
SPACE Therapy can help you…
Reduce anxiety-driven accommodations so your child can build resilience and independence.
Respond to your child’s distress with warmth and confidence instead of fear or urgency.
Create calmer routines and clearer boundaries so your household feels steadier and less reactive.
How We Approach SPACE Treatment
01. Schedule Your First Session
We’ll start with a parent-only consultation where you can share what’s been happening and learn how SPACE works. You’ll leave with a clear understanding of the process and what support will look like.
02. Your First SPACE Session
We’ll map the anxiety cycle in your home—what your child struggles with, where anxiety shows up, and how accommodations have developed over time. This helps us identify the clearest starting point and the first small changes that will make a meaningful impact.
03. Identifying a Target Accommodation
Together, we choose one specific accommodation to work on first. You’ll learn how to express support and confidence to your child while gently reducing the behavior that keeps their anxiety going. We move slowly and collaboratively so the process feels manageable.
04. Weekly or Bi-Weekly Sessions
In ongoing sessions, we’ll build and strengthen your supportive statements, plan gradual reductions in accommodations, troubleshoot challenges at home, and help you stay steady and consistent. You’ll gain skills you can use long after SPACE ends.
05. Strengthening Confidence and Maintaining Progress
As your child becomes more independent and less anxious, we’ll prepare you for maintaining these changes and expanding your skills to other areas if needed. You’ll leave with clarity, confidence, and a more peaceful household.
A Supportive, Proven Approach for Childhood Anxiety
SPACE is an evidence-based treatment developed at Yale that focuses on helping parents reduce accommodations that unintentionally maintain a child’s anxiety.
Instead of placing pressure on your child to change, SPACE empowers you to make small, steady shifts that promote independence, coping skills, and long-term resilience.
Our work centers on warmth, confidence, and collaboration—helping you support your child without stepping into patterns that increase anxiety or limit growth.
SPACE is effective for parents of children experiencing:
Generalized anxiety
Separation anxiety
School anxiety and refusal
Social anxiety
Panic and fear-based avoidance
OCD-related accommodations
Sleep-related anxiety
Fears, phobias, and specific triggers
Emotional dependence
Reassurance seeking
Frequently Asked Questions
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SPACE is a parent-only treatment. Children do not participate in sessions, which often reduces pressure and makes change more sustainable.
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Yes. SPACE was designed specifically for children and teens who avoid or decline therapy. Change happens through the parent—not by forcing participation.
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Most families see meaningful progress within 8–12 sessions, though the timeline can vary depending on the child’s symptoms and the family’s goals.
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SPACE can still work even if only one caregiver participates. We’ll help you build consistency in the areas you can control.
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Absolutely. SPACE is shown to help families reduce teen anxiety and conflict by building clear, supportive communication and reducing reactive accommodations.
You Deserve Steady Support in Helping Your Child Grow
Supporting a child with anxiety is overwhelming, especially when you’re doing everything you can, and nothing seems to change. SPACE gives you a clear, compassionate path forward—one that helps your child feel more capable, and helps you feel more grounded and confident.