FAMILY THERAPY CHILDREN & TEENS 

Get relief from childhood anxiety and ocd. in franklin & online across tennessee.

Your child’s Anxiety & OCD don’t have to stay in control. Things can be different.

You may not be entirely sure when or how it started, but slowly, anxiety or OCD has taken over control of your home. It feels like it impacts everything your child does and, therefore, everything your family does. 

Maybe….

  • you have to go out of your way to avoid certain people, places, or things

  • you have to assure your child that they’re safe constantly 

  • you have to repeatedly answer the same questions about plans for each hour, day, or week.

  • bedtime takes hours or your child permanently resides in your bed

  • you’ve developed rituals or tricks to try to assure your child that things are okay. 

But those tricks don’t seem to work anymore, and if you’re being honest, you’re exhausted, you’re frustrated, and frankly, you’re out of tricks at this point.

When you’re ready to take back control, SPACE Therapy can help you.

What is SPACE Therapy?

SPACE stands for Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions. It’s a unique approach to treating childhood anxiety and OCD because even though your child is experiencing anxiety or OCD, you, the caregiver, come to sessions. 

The therapy was developed by Dr. Eli Lebowitz, Ph. D., at the Yale School of Medicine and has been clinically proven to reduce symptoms of anxiety, including social anxiety and OCD.

What makes this treatment unique, and what parents love about it, is at no point will you be asked to pressure your child to do things! The protocol is a straightforward, step-by-step, systematic approach that focuses entirely on the parents to provide you with supportive, tested tools to help your child and, in turn, change the behaviors at home.  

Parents learn that while they are not to blame for their child’s anxiety disorder, research shows that they can be the solution. 

By making small changes in your own behavior– changes that are clear and understandable to their child–you can help your child learn to change as well.

How is SPACE different?

During our time together in session, we will uncover the ways your child’s anxiety is impacting your family and combine all of the information in a treatment plan or mapping exercise.

 At that point, we will work together to define new ways to address each instance within the map and carefully create a plan to support both you and your child to reduce anxiety or OCD. This plan is specifically tailored to your family to address your concerns.

Throughout the roughly 12-session program, you will have the support you need and will learn tools to help navigate challenges that may arise. We’ll work together to support, treat, and troubleshoot the plan so you feel supported throughout the time together.

How does SPACE work?

Does your child…

  • Cling to you and refuse to speak in social situations

  • Feel afraid to fall or stay asleep in their bed at night

  • Ask the same question over and over again in an attempt to seek reassurance and certainty

  • Exhibit irrational fears or repetitive behaviors

  • Avoid certain places or situations

Do you wish you could…..

  • Help your child become more independent

  • Help your child transition between activities more smoothly

  • Reduce unhelpful, stressful rituals

  • Expand your child’s and family’s activities and social engagements

  • Reclaim your bedroom

There is Hope

Together, let’s tackle your child’s anxiety or OCD and put you back in control of your home.

faqs

Common questions about SPACE therapy:

  • Absolutely not, and that is not what this treatment is suggesting. You’re here because you love your child and you want your child to feel better, not because you’re the cause of it.

    Many things contribute to a child's anxiety level, including internal biological factors as well as external environmental factors. It appears that some children are born with a tendency to be more anxious through a combination of genetically inherited and randomly determined features in their DNA. While we want to do everything we can to create a healthy and stable environment, it would be wrong to assume that a child's anxiety problem is the result of any single feature, including a parent's behavior.

  • Anyone who is involved in regular, consistent care for the child. This could be parents, grandparents, or nannies - whoever is responsible for the care of your child 1:1 with consistency.

  • A Randomized Noninferiority Study of SPACE showed the therapy to be effective. The study included 124 young people who were clinically diagnosed with anxiety. Roughly half of the participants had a parent in the program. In the other half, the kids got Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which is the only proven treatment for anxiety. At the end of 12 weeks, the kids whose parents were in the SPACE program were less anxious than the kids who were getting CBT. Read the full study here

  • Primarily, SPACE is intended for parents of children in grades K through 12 but has been successfully implemented in much younger children as well.

  • Typically, the program takes about 10-12 sessions. It’s important to remember that the program is tailored to each family, so your needs may vary, and we won’t stop treatment until you feel like you are seeing the results you want.

  • Yes! The program is available online if you live in Tennessee.