SPACE Program with Angela Adamson Springer, LCSW, A-CBT
Anxiety counseling for kids and teens in St. Louis, MO.
It can be hard to be the parent of an anxious child.
It can feel isolating, and lonely, and sometimes you just don’t know what to do. That’s why we’re excited to feature Angela Adamson Springer on the blog today! Angela is leading an ongoing parenting program for St. Louis parents called SPACE, focused on teaching parents how best to deal with their child’s anxiety.
Feeling like you need some parent support?
Our parent coaching program is like therapy for parents, helping you come up with a plan for how to help your anxious child calm down.
You might notice “classic” signs of anxiety, like running away form new experiences, getting shy in front of others, and wanting to avoid places and people. Anxiety can also look like a “fight” reaction, like yelling at new people, getting really frustrated when you make them do something they don’t want to, and shouting or hitting to get out of uncomfortable experiences.
(Read more here: Is Your Angry Child Actually Anxious?)
Whether your child’s anxiety is big or small, really noticeable to others or not, you want to know what to do. That’s where the SPACE program comes in!
Angela Adamson Springer, Pediatric Cognitive Behavioral Therapist & Owner of Calm Mind CBT, LLC
Angela, tell us about your experience in child anxiety therapy in St. Louis:
I have been working with kids, teens, and their families who are struggling with anxiety related problems and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder since 2007. I started my practice, Calm Mind CBT, in 2018 in Clayton. Specializing in Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy means that I work with kids and their families on specific goals and create clear, structured plans to help them reduce the symptoms that they are struggling with. I enjoy supervising therapists, training therapists, and providing presentations to parents wanting to learn how to get clear on their role in helping their anxious children.
Who is the Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) Course for?
The SPACE Course is a parent-based program and would be a great opportunity for any parent raising a child, teen, or young adult that struggles with anxiety related problems or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Specifically, if you find that your child’s struggles are causing YOU to change your actions to try to help them, this course could be a game changer for you and your child.
This course could be especially helpful for parents who have children who have not been willing to engage in their own therapy or strategies to make chances; a primary premise of this program is that we don’t ask the child to change anything, it is all parent-focused. I would even go so far as to say if you are starting to notice signs of anxiety in your child at ANY age, taking this course could help prevent you from making mistakes that could make the anxiety worse over time.
Here are some questions to help determine if you would benefit. If you can relate to ANY of these, the SPACE course could help you:
Do you reassure your child a lot?
Do you provide assistance to your child because of their anxiety?
Do you participate in behaviors that are related to your child’s anxiety?
Do you assist your child in avoiding things that create anxiety?
Do you avoid doing things for yourself because of your child’s anxiety?
Do you change parts of your family, work, or leisure routine/activities because of your child’s anxiety?
Do you do things that would usually be your child’s responsibility because of their anxiety?
Are you starting to notice anxiety and want to make sure you know the best ways to prevent it from getting worse over time?
Why is the SPACE program a good option for treating anxiety in kids?
A huge part of what keeps anxiety growing and being a problem for children is the well-intended, loving behaviors of parents who are trying to help reduce their child’s anxiety.
In fact, higher levels of family accommodation to anxiety are associated with kids having more severe anxiety and worse functioning.
There is research that has been done on the outcomes of increasing support and decreasing accommodation (those behaviors parents do or don’t do to reduce their child’s anxiety) and this research shows that the outcomes for the CHILD can be the same as individual therapy for a child. These two tenants, support and accommodation are the primary focuses of the SPACE program. This means that if you have a child that is not willing to engage in therapy or is not great at following through with their strategies there is still hope to help your child.
Does the SPACE program provide parent support to help a child with anxiety? How?
Absolutely! The primary goal of the SPACE program is to reduce your child’s anxiety. We work on this through changing parent behaviors by increasing support and decreasing family accommodations with a clear plan focused on specific behaviors. Parents will learn specific skills and tools to understand anxiety, create a plan, and learn how to follow this plan with the specific parenting tools.
Is the SPACE program a good fit for parents of kids with anxiety-driven anger, or behavioral problems?
Yes! Any problem that has a root of anxiety or OCD is a good fit for the SPACE program.
Is there any specific issue that is not a good fit for the SPACE program?
Problems that are not anxiety or OCD related have not been studied within the SPACE program. In addition, since the focus of the program is on increasing parental support and decreasing parental accommodation, if you are a parent that is not identifying accommodation behaviors (which is rare!) then this program may not be a good fit for you. You can use the questions above to determine if you are engaging in accommodation behaviors.
When would you recommend a parent consider child counseling in addition to the SPACE program?
If your child is motivated to change and willing to collaborate with a therapist, then individual therapy could be a great choice for them in addition to parents learning the concepts of the SPACE program.
What general tips do you have for parents of anxious kids?
Raising a child with anxiety or OCD related problems can be really challenging, exhausting, and heartbreaking. We hate seeing our children struggling and would do anything to help them. I do have a free guide that I offer to parents on my website, www.calmmindcbt.com on What to Say in Anxious Moments that could be a great resource for parents who don’t feel sure on what exactly to say or do in those moments.
How can parents learn more and contact you about the program?
Parents can go to our website, www.calmmindcbt.com to learn more about the SPACE program, register for the SPACE program, and get information about other services that we provide! In addition, parents are welcome to contact me at angela@calmmindcbt.com with any questions to help them make the decision about whether the SPACE program is right for them.
We also provide an online version of the SPACE program that parents can complete at their own pace.
Curious to hear more, or are you a little reluctant about counseling? Compassionate Counseling St. Louis provides specialized anxiety and anger management therapy for kids, teens, and college students. We work in Clayton, MO and serve kids, teens, and college students throughout St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Ladue, University City, Town and Country, Webster Groves, Creve Coeur, Kirkwood, Richmond Heights, and Brentwood. You can set up your free phone screening to see if we’re a good fit for your needs right on our website, and if we’re not the best fit, we’ll connect you to other awesome resources, like the SPACE group!
This post was originally published September 12, 2021 and updated March 1, 2023.
