Do you know how sometimes your history stands as a reminder of your interests and passions? The other day it dawned on me that I have always worked with kids, from volunteering to paid jobs. Growing up I was that teenager who babysat each weekend, and in University I worked at day camps. As an adult, I held jobs as a behaviour interventionist, educational assistant, and then as a child and youth counsellor with Island Health. Even now, while I love counselling adults, it always gives me a burst of energy when I see that I have a child or teenager in my schedule. And while kids are awesome and resilient, and childhood can be a wonderful time, it isn't a stretch to conclude that it's hard to be a kid sometimes. As many parents can attest, children and teens can experience challenging, anxious symptoms. Often as parents we only want to help, which is a wonderful and expected response! It's only later, if we see that our child's anxious symptoms have stayed the same (or maybe gotten worse), do we stand in shock wondering how our helping didn't help!
This is why I was beyond excited to attend SPACE training over the Family Day long weekend. I have wanted to do SPACE training since 2022, but as it continues to be a sought after treatment modality, it took years (and possibly some luck!) to register and attend. SPACE stands for Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions and is an evidence based treatment to reduce childhood anxiety and OCD. What makes SPACE unique is that the work is exclusively with the parents. While kids are still welcome and benefit from therapy, SPACE provides a framework for the parents to identify the accommodations (ways in which the parents have changed their behaviour around the child's anxiety) and then how to alter the parent's response. With the counsellor, the parents map out those accommodations and pick one target to work on. With this, we let the child know and provide them with support, which SPACE defines as acceptance and confidence. Such as, "I know it will feel really hard to take the bus home from school today, but I 100% believe you can do it!" Parents are provided practical tools to help manage this transition, and they are encouraged to share and receive support from their trusted friends and family.
I can't wait to see how SPACE can help parents provide support for their anxious children and... For kids to see how strong and capable they are, regardless of what their worries have been telling them!!
Danielle van Schaik