Helping Your Child Overcome Anxiety Through SPACE Therapy in Colorado
What Is SPACE Therapy?
If your child struggles with anxiety, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, or overwhelming fears, you probably feel like you’ve tried everything, including comforting words, new routines, maybe even traditional therapy. But when your child’s anxiety begins to impact your family’s day-to-day life, you might feel stuck, exhausted, or unsure what else to do.
SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) is a research-based approach developed at the Yale Child Study Center. Unlike traditional therapy models that focus directly on the child, SPACE works by supporting parents to make changes that help their child feel safer and more confident.
The goal isn’t to get rid of your child’s anxiety overnight, it’s to change the patterns that maintain it.
How SPACE Therapy Works
Anxiety often leads to family’s making accommodations for the child, where parents adjust their routines to help their child avoid distress. For example, a parent might:
Reassure their child repeatedly to ease worry
Stay home with them to avoid social situations
Avoid triggering environments or topics
While these accommodations bring temporary relief, they can also unintentionally reinforce the child’s fears over time.
Through SPACE therapy, parents learn to:
Recognize accommodations and how they maintain anxiety
Develop supportive communication that validates feelings without reinforcing fear
Gradually reduce accommodations in a compassionate, planned way
Strengthen connection and confidence within the family
The therapist’s role is to guide parents through these steps while maintaining warmth, trust, and collaboration.
What Makes SPACE Therapy Effective
SPACE has been shown in clinical studies to be as effective as direct child therapy for anxiety and OCD, and in some cases, more sustainable. That’s because it focuses on empowering parents to make meaningful, lasting changes at home.
Parents often say SPACE therapy helps them feel more in control, less anxious themselves, and more connected to their child. Which then helps children learn they can tolerate distress and face fears with growing resilience.
Who Can Benefit from SPACE Therapy
SPACE therapy is designed for children and teens struggling with:
Generalized anxiety or excessive worry
Separation anxiety
Obsessive-compulsive behaviors (OCD)
Social anxiety or selective mutism
Panic or specific phobias
It’s also highly effective for families where traditional therapy hasn’t worked or where the child is reluctant to participate in therapy sessions.
At Empowered Living Collective, we provide SPACE therapy for parents across Colorado, including in Denver, Aurora, Cherry Creek, Westminster, Thornton, or through remote sessions statewide.
SPACE Therapy at Empowered Living Collective
Our clinicians understand how exhausting it can feel to parent a child with anxiety or OCD. You want to help, but sometimes, it feels like everything you do is only making it worse.
Through SPACE therapy, we support you in navigating this struggle differently, using empathy, structure, and empowerment. You’ll learn practical tools to support your child through their own struggles with anxiety.
Our approach blends neuroscience, attachment awareness, and family systems work to help you and your child experience less fear, more connection, and greater confidence.
Getting Started with SPACE Therapy in Colorado
If you’re ready to help your child overcome their fears and anxiety, without power struggles, SPACE therapy might be the right fit.
Our psychology, Liz Glen offers in-person and telehealth SPACE therapty options, to accommodate your schedule and needs.
You can learn more about her approach and schedule a free consultation with her below.
