**Important book for parents with children who suffer from OCD and Anxiety**
If you have not heard of Dr. Eli Lebowitz and the SPACE program, today is your day. I am not associated with this book, but have found the SPACE program to be groundbreaking in helping parents.
Many of you have loved ones with OCD or anxiety. What we have found through research is the way you respond to your family member’s behavior is very important. A key term we talk about is called “family accommodation”. That is behavior you engage in to reduce the discomfort of someone experiencing OCD or anxiety. Family accommodation is not a sign of bad parenting, it often means you are a responsive and empathetic parent, BUT reducing discomfort can exacerbates OCD and anxiety.
If you want to help a loved one who has OCD or anxiety, you have a very important tool. Learning to reduce accommodation. Family accommodation is the ONLY family factor that impacts treatment outcomes.
So that’s the background. Why is this book and program important?
Dr. Lebowtiz helped create the SPACE program. It is a 10-12 program for PARENTS of children who suffer from OCD or anxiety. The parents learn how to support their children (validate them and improve their confidence in coping) and reduce accommodation behaviors. There have been several clinical trials comparing parents in the SPACE program to children in a traditional CBT program. Guess what, they both had significant and comparable reductions in anxiety.
The reduction in anxiety are not only by parent report, but by children’s own self-report. That means if a PARENT learns these skills, they can reduce their child’s anxiety or OCD without the child being in treatment.
You can have a huge impact. And this program (which is outlined in the book) can help.
