Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE)

Anxiety and compulsive behaviour in a child have profound impact on the family. When family members start to accommodate to the child's symptoms, we call this family accommodation. This includes everything a family member does, or does not do, to lower the child's tension. Family accommodation is quite common and plays a significant role in (the persistence of) the symptoms. SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) is a treatment that focuses on this family accommodation. Using parental treatment therapists attempt to reduce the child's anxiety and compulsive symptoms. This article discusses what SPACE entails and illustrates the treatment process using a case study.