SPACE Treatment
in person for Lubbock, TX and virtually for all of Texas
SPACE is a groundbreaking approach to childhood anxiety and OCD — one that works by changing how parents respond, not by putting an anxious child in a therapy room. If your child's anxiety is running your household, SPACE was designed for families exactly like yours.
Accepting new clients --- Most Insurances Accepted
IS THIS RIGHT FOR YOU?
Who Is SPACE For?
SPACE is a parent-based treatment, meaning the parent is the primary participant — not the child. It may be right for your family if:
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Your child's anxiety is running the household — dictating routines, meals, activities, or family decisions
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Your child refuses to go to therapy, or finds the idea of therapy overwhelming or shameful
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You've been accommodating your child's anxiety (avoiding triggers, providing reassurance, adjusting family routines) — and it keeps getting worse, not better
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You feel helpless watching your child suffer and unsure how to help without making things worse
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Your child has anxiety, OCD, or separation anxiety that is significantly impairing their daily functioning
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Your child is school-refusing, socially withdrawn, or unable to participate in normal childhood activities
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Other approaches haven't worked or your child won't engage with traditional therapy
SPACE works even when your child won't come to therapy. Because the change starts with you — in how you respond to your child's anxiety every day.
THE APPROACH
How Prolonged Exposure Works
SPACE was developed by Dr. Eli Lebowitz at the Yale Child Study Center. It's based on a well-established finding: parental accommodation — the natural, loving tendency to protect your child from anxiety by removing triggers, providing constant reassurance, or adjusting family life around the anxiety — actually makes childhood anxiety worse over time. Accommodation communicates to a child's nervous system that the feared thing is genuinely dangerous. SPACE helps parents reduce accommodation in a structured, compassionate way — and the research shows that when parents change their responses, children's anxiety improves significantly, even without direct child participation in therapy.
SPACE treatment consists of approximately 12 weekly sessions with the parent or parents — the child doesn't attend therapy at all, or attends minimally. Sessions focus on three core elements: understanding accommodation — learning to identify the many forms it takes (answering repeated reassurance questions, avoiding anxiety-provoking situations, doing things for the child they could do themselves, participating in rituals) and how it maintains anxiety; building supportive responses — developing a new way of responding that communicates both belief in the child's ability to cope and unwavering warmth and support; and gradual reduction of accommodation — making planned, strategic changes in how the family responds to anxiety, with the therapist's guidance and support throughout. Parents are coached on exactly what to say, how to handle pushback, and how to support their child through the discomfort of change.
SPACE is one of the only evidence-based treatments for childhood anxiety that produces results without requiring the child to participate. In clinical trials, SPACE has been shown to be as effective as CBT delivered directly to children — a remarkable finding that gives hope to families whose children can't or won't engage in traditional therapy. At Flatland Counseling, SPACE is delivered by therapists trained in the model, and it is particularly useful for families dealing with school refusal, separation anxiety, OCD accommodation, and anxiety that has significantly disrupted family functioning.
Evidence-Based Care
SPACE was developed at the Yale Child Study Center by Dr. Eli Lebowitz and has been shown in randomized controlled trials to be as effective as child-focused CBT for reducing anxiety in children — without requiring the child to attend therapy.
Equally effective as child-focused CBT in clinical trials — SPACE produces comparable anxiety reduction in children through parent-only treatment
THE PROCESS
What to Expect
Step 1: Reach Out
We'll match you with a SPACE-trained therapist. Sessions are with you — the parent — not your child, so no convincing your child to come to therapy is required.
Step 2: Your First Session
Your therapist will help you identify all the ways you've been accommodating your child's anxiety — without judgment. Accommodation is a natural, loving response. Understanding it is the first step to changing it.
Step 3: Start Making Progress
As you gradually reduce accommodation with your therapist's guidance, most families see real shifts — in the child's anxiety, their willingness to face challenges, and the overall functioning of the household.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my child have to come to therapy for SPACE to work? -- No — and this is what makes SPACE unique. SPACE is designed to be delivered entirely to parents. Your child may never set foot in a therapy office and still experience significant improvement in their anxiety. This makes it ideal for children who refuse therapy, are too young or too anxious to engage in individual treatment, or whose anxiety is so severe that getting them to a therapist is itself an insurmountable barrier.
What exactly is "accommodation" and why is it a problem? -- Accommodation refers to any change a parent makes in their own behavior to help their child avoid or reduce anxiety in the moment. Examples include: answering repeated reassurance questions ("Are you sure I won't get sick?"), avoiding situations the child fears (skipping birthday parties, not making them go to school), doing things for children they could do themselves to prevent anxiety, sleeping with an anxious child every night, or participating in compulsive rituals. While these behaviors come from love, they communicate to the child's nervous system that the feared thing is genuinely dangerous — and prevent the child from learning they can cope. Reducing accommodation, done carefully and compassionately, is the most powerful lever for changing childhood anxiety.
Won't reducing accommodation just make my child more anxious? -- In the short term, yes — there will likely be an increase in distress when accommodation is first reduced. This is expected, and your therapist will prepare you for it. SPACE gives you the tools to support your child through that temporary increase in anxiety without returning to accommodation. The research is clear: in the medium and long term, reducing accommodation leads to significantly lower anxiety — not higher.
Is SPACE effective for OCD? -- Yes. SPACE was originally developed for anxiety but has been extended to OCD, where parental accommodation (participating in rituals, providing reassurance, restructuring family life around compulsions) is often significant. SPACE for OCD helps parents gradually reduce their participation in OCD behaviors in a planned, compassionate way.
What if my partner doesn't agree with the approach? -- This is one of the most common challenges in SPACE, and your therapist will address it directly. Both parents don't need to be on board from the start — but the therapist will help you navigate disagreements, communicate with a reluctant co-parent, and make changes even if consistency isn't perfect. SPACE works even when one parent is more resistant than the other.
My child is school-refusing. Can SPACE help? -- Yes — school refusal driven by anxiety is one of the conditions SPACE is particularly well-suited for. The patterns of accommodation around school refusal (allowing the child to stay home, reducing demands, providing constant reassurance about school) are exactly what SPACE targets. Many families dealing with school refusal have seen significant improvement through SPACE.
How is SPACE different from parent training? -- Traditional parent training focuses on behavioral management — reducing disruptive or defiant behavior through consistent consequences and reinforcement. SPACE is specifically designed for anxiety and OCD, where the core problem is not defiance but avoidance maintained by accommodation. SPACE's focus is on the relationship between parental responses and the anxiety cycle — which is distinct from behavioral management, though some principles overlap.
How long is SPACE treatment? -- SPACE is typically delivered in approximately 12 weekly sessions with the parent(s). Some families complete the core work in fewer sessions; others with more complex situations may benefit from a longer course. The structured, time-limited nature of SPACE is one of its advantages — most families see significant change within the treatment window.
How do I get started? -- You can reach out through our contact page or click the Get Started button to request an appointment. Taking that first step is often the hardest part — I'm glad you're here.
CONDITIONS WE TREAT
Concerns SPACE Treatment Addresses
SPACE is used at Flatland Counseling for families where childhood anxiety is significantly impacting family functioning.