What is SPACE therapy and how do I use it in my coaching?

SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) therapy is a model created by Dr. Eli Lebowitz at Yale Child Study Center and it focuses on assisting parents in fostering a supportive and empathic environment that decreases the kiddo's anxiety. SPACE acknowledges the powerful role that parents have in the life of children and is fully focused on the parents.

1. Parents are encouraged and taught how to acknowledge their child's feelings and provide statements that show they understand their child.

2. Parents are shown how to gradually expose their children (at their pace) and with support to the experiences that cause anxiety.

3. Parents are taught how to praise their children for their effort and progress in facing anxiety.

I know both as a therapist and as a mom of a 9-year-old with anxiety that the role parents play in a kid's life is immeasurable. That how a mom responds to a kid's fear will either encourage or decrease the fear. And for years, I was accidentally encouraging my kid's fear.

NOT ANYMORE!

In my coaching with mamas of anxious kids, I use the practical and hands-on techniques from SPACE such as teaching active listening, mindfulness techniques, name it to tame it, creating fear ladders, reward systems, and patience...patience for you as a mama and for your kiddos. No more not knowing what to do when your kiddo is scared, no more unintentionally encouraging the fear, no more cycling between understanding, overwhelm, frustration, and back to understanding. Instead, you will learn:

What to say when your kiddo is ramping up;

1. how to help identify and name feelings to shrink them;

2. that the goal is not to prevent feeling scared

3. all well engaging in self-care, focusing on taking care of yourself, so you are able to be regulated and fully available to your kiddo.

Anxiety is overwhelming and exhausting for our children but it can be just as hard on the mamas. My parent coaching utilizes the research-based principles of SPACE therapy to create a collaborative approach for mamas to feel supported and confident in their ability to help their children manage and overcome anxiety.

Click the link below to set up a free consultation to learn how I can assist you in utilizing this amazing technique to reduce your kid's anxiety.

Link to schedule a free consultation with Cerissa Rhodes Coaching.