SPACE Workshops
Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions
Six live sessions on Zoom Wednesdays · 12:00–1:00 pm Mountain Time September 23 & 30 · October 7, 14, 21 & 28, 2026
For caregivers of children ages 4 and up. Your child does not attend — this workshop is for you.
Open to families anywhere. Because this is an educational workshop rather than therapy, you don't need to live in Montana to join.
Early registration — $500 per family. Save $100 when paid by August 28, 2026.
Standard registration — $600 per family. Each registration covers up to two caregivers. Payment plans available through Affirm.
You've already tried everything you can think of
If your child struggles with anxiety or OCD, your family has probably reorganized itself around it — not by decision, but a little at a time. The reassurance you give six times before school. The restaurant you stopped going to. The bed you share because it's the only way anyone sleeps.
None of that makes you a bad parent. It makes you a parent whose child is in real distress, doing what any loving parent does: stepping in to make it stop.
The hard part is what happens next. Anxiety tends to grow in the space we clear for it. Each accommodation quietly teaches a child that the feared thing really was too big to face, and so the list of things they can't do gets longer, not shorter.
SPACE offers a way out of that pattern. It doesn't require your child to be motivated, cooperative, or even willing. It works through you.
I'm Michelle Puerner, a licensed clinical social worker based in Montana who specializes in pediatric anxiety and OCD. I run this workshop virtually, for families anywhere.
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• You give the same reassurance over and over, and it never quite sticks
• You've rearranged routines to keep your child from getting upset
• You avoid places, people, or situations you know will set anxiety off
• You sleep in your child's room, or they sleep in yours
• You order for them, answer for them, or speak for them in public
• You check, re-check, or re-explain things on request
• You've cancelled or changed family plans to head off a meltdown
• It feels like the household schedule is built around managing anxiety
If you recognized your family in more than a couple of these, you're in the right place.
These are called accommodations, and nearly every family with an anxious child develops them. They come from love and from exhaustion, usually both. They're also the single most changeable factor in how anxiety behaves at home — which is exactly what this workshop is about.
Does any of this sound like your home?
What is SPACE?
SPACE — Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions — was developed by Dr. Eli Lebowitz at the Yale Child Study Center. It's a research-supported program for caregivers of children and teens with anxiety and OCD.
What makes it unusual is where it puts the work. Most treatment asks the child to change. SPACE asks the parents.
You learn to step back from the accommodations that keep anxiety fed, and to respond to your child's distress in a way that carries two messages at once: I know this is genuinely hard for you, and I know you can handle it. Children are remarkably good at hearing the second message when it's delivered consistently — and remarkably good at noticing when it isn't.
In a randomized clinical trial at Yale, SPACE produced results comparable to treating the child directly with cognitive behavioral therapy, with the child never in the room.
For families whose child refuses therapy, is too young for it, or has already been through it without much changing, that's the whole point.
Session 1 — Setting the Stage Anxiety, personal boundaries, and the support model.
Session 2 — Charting Accommodation How family behavior maintains anxiety.
Session 3 — Choosing a Target and Informing Your Child Target criteria, the announcement, and the letter.
Session 4 — Formulating a Plan A specific behavioral plan, disengagement, and distancing.
Session 5 — Responding to Your Child's Reactions Progress monitoring, pushback, and supporters.
Session 6 — Review, Additional Targets, and Moving Forward Consolidating skills and planning for long-term change.
What we'll cover, session by session
Format Six live, interactive sessions on Zoom. Groups stay intentionally small — usually around six families — so there's room to talk about your actual household rather than sit through a lecture.
Schedule
Wednesdays, 12:00–1:00 pm
Mountain Time
Session Date
1: Wednesday, September 23, 2026
2: Wednesday, September 30, 2026
3:Wednesday, October 7, 2026
4: Wednesday, October 14, 2026
5: Wednesday, October 21, 2026
6: Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Who it's for Caregivers of children and teens ages 4 and up who are struggling with anxiety, OCD, school refusal, or avoidance. No diagnosis required.
Where Anywhere. This is an educational workshop rather than therapy, so families are welcome regardless of what state you live in.
Materials
Caregiver planning worksheets after every session, yours to keep.
Cost
Early registration — $500 per family, when paid by August 28, 2026
Standard registration — $600 per family
Each registration covers up to two caregivers from the same family. Payment plans are available through Affirm.
Workshop details
Common questions
Is this therapy?
No. This is an educational workshop based on the SPACE program. It teaches strategies you can use to support your child. It does not include assessment, diagnosis, or treatment, and enrolling doesn't establish a therapeutic relationship.
Why don't you need to meet my child?
Because the work is yours to do. Children depend on caregivers to shape their environment and to respond when anxiety shows up. When you change how you respond — fewer accommodations, more supportive communication — you create the conditions in which your child can face what frightens them. That happens whether or not I ever meet them.
What ages is this for?
Ages 4 and up. The strategies scale with age; what changes is how you apply them, not the underlying approach. If you're unsure whether it fits your child, ask me before you register.
Do I need to live in Montana?
No. Sessions are on Zoom at 12:00 pm Mountain Time, and families join from anywhere.
Do both parents need to attend?
Registration covers up to two caregivers, and I'd encourage both to come when it's possible. Accommodations are usually shared across a household, and changes hold up much better when everyone is working from the same plan. That said, plenty of parents attend alone and still see real change.
Does my child need a diagnosis? No. Many families join while still sorting out what's going on. The patterns SPACE addresses are recognizable long before anyone puts a name to them.
What if I miss a session?
Sessions build on each other, so attending all six is strongly recommended. If you do miss one, I'll send the slides and handouts so you can catch up before the next session.
What if I need extra support along the way?
Short questions by email between sessions are always welcome. If you'd like more individualized guidance, I offer separate consultations.
Is this billed to insurance?
No. Because this is an educational workshop rather than a clinical service, it isn't submitted to insurance. Payment plans are available through Affirm.
I'm Michelle Puerner, LCSW, founder of The Anxiety Break.
I've been a therapist for fifteen years, and since 2021 my work has centered on OCD and anxiety — not because they're the only things I treat, but because they're the ones where the right approach makes such a dramatic difference, and where families are so often handed the wrong one. I'm trained in the SPACE model and work with children, teens, adults and the families around them.
I lead these workshops because of a pattern I saw again and again in my practice: parents who were doing everything right by every instinct they had, and watching their child's world shrink anyway. SPACE gave those families something to do — and gave the parents their footing back. That's what I want you to leave with.
Meet your workshop leader
Groups are small, and enrollment closes once they fill.
Start with the short form below. I'll follow up with registration and payment details, and I'm glad to answer questions before you commit — including whether this workshop is the right fit for your family right now.
Early registration is $500 per family through August 28, 2026. After that, standard registration is $600.