Reduce Your Child's Anxiety with SPACE

No matter how carefully you prepare, your child’s anxiety seems to show up everywhere. It ruins playdates, makes family outings feel impossible, and can even stop you from getting out the door on time. You do your best to avoid potential triggers—making sure they have their favorite items, taking the long way around, or canceling plans altogether when it seems too overwhelming. But despite your efforts, it only takes one small glitch to send everything spiraling.

You are not alone. We’ll show you how common this is— And how to fix it.

The SPACE program will teach you a set of strategies you can use to respond effectively to your child’s anxiety for years to come.

As parents, we are hard-wired to want to protect our children from harm and reduce their distress. However, knowing how to help without feeding anxiety can be incredibly challenging.

Research has repeatedly demonstrated that ‘accommodating’ reactions from parents may unintentionally reinforce a child’s fear instead of helping them overcome it. By guiding parents to make focused behavioral changes of their own, parents are able to engage in a manner that ultimately enhances a child’s ability to cope with anxious thoughts and feelings.

SPACE is a treatment program for parents developed by Dr. Eli Lebowitz from the Yale Child Study Center and stands for Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions. 

It is focused on the only thing you have control over with your child’s anxiety: YOUR behavior. Focusing on shifting parental responses to anxious childhood emotions has proven to be extremely effective in treating child anxiety. Instead of helping your child avoid anxiety-provoking stimuli, you’ll learn new ways to engage that encourage confronting, rather than avoiding their fears.

SPACE Parenting Groups at Tampa Pediatric Psychology

1

Intro to SPACE Parenting Workshop

The Intro to SPACE Parenting Workshop is perfect for families who would like to understand the SPACE approach and decide whether it’s for them. We’ll talk about what it takes to implement SPACE with your child, and explain the research behind it.

2

Supportive Parenting for Your Anxious Child

Supportive Parenting for Your Anxious Child is a group of 3-4 families learning how to use SPACE together. The group is designed for parents of children who struggle with anxiety, OCD, or related disorders. Each of the 8 sessions is 75 minutes long, and is offered on Google Meet. This allows for convenience and flexibility, so you can join from the comfort of your own home or office.

3

SPACE Parenting Booster Group

The SPACE Parenting Booster Group is a 4 session (1 month) booster group for families who have already participated in SPACE with their child, either individually or in group. The booster group was created out of interest from our previous SPACE families and continues to be a hit!

Our next group starts February 25, 2025!

Dates/Times:

  • Tuesdays at 12pm - 1:15pm
    February 25, March 4, March 11, March 25, April 1, April 8, April 15, April 22

Goals/Topics covered:

  • Learn specific skills and tools to help your child overcome anxiety

  • Learn how to respond more supportively to your anxious child

  • Learn how to decrease family accommodations to your child's symptoms

Important Information

Group Leader: Kristin Edwards, Ph.D.

Fees: Early Bird Fee is $680 per family (up to two caregivers) for all 8 meetings ($85 per session). After February 11th, the standard fee is $1,000 per family (up to two caregivers) for all 8 meetings ($125 per session). Our groups fees are significantly reduced from our individual session fees of $250 per session. There is a discounted rate to add a third caregiver (step-parent, grandparent, nanny, etc.), as well.

This group is open to parents residing in FL or any PSYPACT state, where our psychologists are licensed.

*Complete this form before February 11th in order to reserve a spot in the group at the discounted rate of $680 ($85 per session).

Ready to Register?

Complete the form below and our Care Coordinator will follow up with more information!

You can expect to:

  • gain confidence in parenting your anxious child

  • develop the tools to effectively address your child’s anxiety

  • reduce some of your own accommodating behaviors

Our psychologists have been trained directly by experts at the Yale Child Study Center, where SPACE was developed.

As evidence-based practitioners, we measure outcomes before and after every SPACE Parenting group. We’re proud to offer such a highly effective treatment. As a result of our SPACE programs:

  • Every parent (100%) agreed they gained practical strategies to handle their child’s challenging behaviors, reduced how often they accommodated anxious or OCD symptoms, and saw improvements in their child’s symptoms.

  • Almost every parent (88%) felt much more confident in their own ability to handle anxiety related to their child’s symptoms and the majority (77%) felt much more confident in their child’s ability to manage anxiety or discomfort after 8 weeks.

“I honestly can’t express how grateful I am for this group. Before SPACE, I felt totally lost when it came to helping my daughter. We were just stumbling along, hoping something would stick. During some of our darkest weeks, the skills and support I received here were a lifeline. And the strategies we learned truly worked. It’s a relief to finally have a clear path going forward.”

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Our SPACE groups are for parents and caregivers of any kind. Grandparents, teachers, and other caregivers are all welcome.

    All of our SPACE groups are open to residents of Florida and any of the 39 states where PSYPACT has been enacted. Psypact is a program that allows licensed psychologists to practice virtually in approved states. Click here to see whether your state is included in the list of eligible states.

  • Our SPACE groups are geared to parents of children in Kindergarten through High School, and the groups will be comprised of parents of similarly aged children.

    Do you have an older teen or college-aged child who struggles with anxiety or OCD? SPACE Parenting is also effective for parenting young adults with anxiety and parenting young adults with ‘failure to launch’. Let us know if you’re interested and we will fit you in an appropriate group!

  • We offer Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) in an individual therapy format in addition to our SPACE Parenting groups. Just let us know you prefer to work one-on-one with us when you reach out.

Don’t let anxiety control your family’s life any longer.

Take the first step toward lasting change—fill out the screening form today, and our Care Coordinator will get back to you as soon as possible. We look forward to helping you and your child discover the powerful impact of SPACE!