Parent SPACE Skills Group
Parent SPACE Skills Group
A clinician-led, interactive workshop for learning and applying parent strategies that improve child functioning
CBTeam’s SPACE-Informed Skills Group is a structured program designed to help parents whose children struggle with anxiety or OCD implement the principles of SPACE treatment (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) in a group setting. The group format allows parents to learn and practice these strategies together, offering mutual support, shared experiences, and encouragement.
SPACE has been shown to be highly effective both in individual and group formats for parents of anxious children, adolescents, and young adults. Group SPACE has been shown to result in a significant decrease in parental accommodation and child anxiety and OCD symptom severity. Moreso, parents reported reduced family power struggles, lower parental loneliness, and less parental helplessness.
SPACE treatment (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) is a parent-based therapy designed to help children of all ages (even adult children) with anxiety, OCD, and related disorders. SPACE is an empirically validated intervention developed and studied at the Yale Child Study Center spearheaded by Dr. Eli Lebowitz.
Unlike traditional therapies where the child is the primary participant, SPACE focuses on coaching parents to change their accommodations within the environment to manage symptoms related to anxiety and OCD. SPACE has been shown to be effective in reducing anxiety symptoms in children, often without the child needing direct therapy themselves.
Goals of SPACE:
Cultivate a supportive role of the parents
Restore the child’s autonomy
Indirectly improve the child’s self-regulation and coping
Develop a supportive community
Improve collaboration and communication among the family
Identify and utilize unilateral parental action
Minimize escalation
Key Components of the SPACE-Informed Skills Group:
Group Sessions: Parents will learn the components of the SPACE protocol in small groups led by a SPACE-trained therapist. Together we will discuss challenges, share progress, and learn to implement the skills.
Focus on Skills: The group focuses on teaching parents specific skills to reduce accommodations and support their child’s ability to cope with anxiety. These skills may include setting boundaries, encouraging independence, and responding to anxiety in a supportive but non-accommodating manner.
Reducing Accommodation: Parents often unwittingly accommodate their child’s anxiety by allowing avoidant behaviors or making special arrangements for them. SPACE teaches parents how to reduce these accommodations in a strategic, stepwise fashion.
Parental Support: Parents learn to communicate supportively without reinforcing the child’s anxiety. This involves expressing confidence in the child’s ability to handle anxiety-inducing situations.
Peer Support: The group setting provides an opportunity for parents to connect with others facing similar challenges. This peer support can be valuable for support, motivation, and problem-solving.
Clinician’s Role: The clinicians work directly with parents in breakout groups, providing guidance and feedback on identifying and implementing these changes in the environment.
CBTeam’s SPACE-informed Skills Group is designed to empower parents with the tools and confidence they need to help their children manage anxiety, with the added benefit of support from a community of peers.
Structure of the SPACE-Informed Skills Group:
Group will be held virtually at 7pm, and will run 90 minutes each Tuesday for five weeks. We ask for a five-week commitment in order to complete the five week series.
The structure of each group will begin with a brief introductory phase, followed by an educational piece, and then will move into an experiential phase where families will have consistent coaching to practice and solidify the skills learned. This will allow parents to be better prepared to use the skills learned within daily life. Because we will be using consistent coaching, the experiential portion can be individualized to meet your family’s unique needs.
The cost is $150 per session per family, and will be billed weekly. If, after the first group you do not believe the group is right for you, you will not be charged for subsequent sessions.*
*If you attend the second session or do not cancel after the first session, it is assumed you will participate in the entire series and you will be billed for weeks 2-5 each week.
Please reach out to us at info@cbteam.org if you have any questions or would like to enroll in this group.
