SPACE: Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions

When a child struggles with anxiety, it can feel like the whole family is walking on eggshells. Parents often find themselves making adjustments—avoiding certain situations, offering constant reassurance, or changing routines—just to keep the peace.

While these responses come from a place of love, they can unintentionally reinforce anxiety over time, sending the message that the child is unable to handle discomfort or uncertainty.

Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) is an evidence-based parent-focused treatment designed to help parents respond to their child’s anxiety in a way that fosters resilience and independence.

Unlike traditional child-based therapy, SPACE focuses on changing parent behaviors that inadvertently maintain anxiety rather than trying to directly change the child's anxious responses.

How SPACE Works

SPACE is a structured program delivered through parent sessions over approximately 8 to 12 weeks. During this time, parents learn how to reduce accommodations, set healthy boundaries, and increase their child’s ability to tolerate discomfort—all while maintaining a strong, supportive relationship.

Key Elements of SPACE

  • Reducing Parental Accommodations: Parents often adjust routines, avoid anxiety-provoking situations, or provide excessive reassurance to help their child feel safe. SPACE teaches parents how to gradually reduce these accommodations in a supportive, intentional way.
  • Building Parent Confidence: Many parents worry that if they step back, their child will struggle. SPACE helps parents recognize their child’s capacity for growth, reduce overprotective behaviors, and increase their confidence in their child’s ability to manage challenges.
  • Sending Supportive Messages: A central goal of SPACE is helping parents send clear, empowering messages to their child: “I believe in you. You can handle this.” These messages reinforce the child’s sense of competence and ability to cope with distress.
  • Managing Parent Anxiety & Guilt: It is natural for parents to feel guilty when they see their child in distress. SPACE helps parents process their own emotional responses, so they can support their child’s growth without feeling like they are abandoning or failing them.
  • Strengthening the Parent-Child Relationship: By shifting the focus from accommodation to encouragement, parents often see improvements in their child’s anxiety, independence, and overall family dynamics.

Who Can Benefit from SPACE?

SPACE is highly effective for children and teens struggling with:

  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
  • Separation Anxiety
  • Social Anxiety
  • Selective Mutism
  • Phobias & Panic Disorder
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • School Avoidance & Transitions

Our Goal

At Moroz Child Psychology Group, our goal with SPACE is to help parents feel empowered in guiding their child toward bravery and independence. Instead of unintentionally reinforcing fear, parents learn to offer support while stepping back from accommodations, ultimately allowing their child to develop confidence in facing life’s challenges.

With the right guidance and structure, parents can be a powerful force in helping their child overcome anxiety—not by removing discomfort, but by fostering resilience in the face of it.