SPACE Therapy for Parents of Anxious Children in Chicago
Anxiety Therapy in Chicago and greater Illinois with Sarah Schufreider, LCSW
SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) focuses on changing the parent’s behaviors in order to create lasting and calming changes in the whole household.
Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions : A Different Approach to Helping Children with Anxiety
Your child seems anxious all the time. Even the smallest thing can spiral into a full meltdown, and you find yourself watching it happen, not sure what to do next.
They call for you over and over, for things you know they can handle. They act helpless, and you know that they are capable. Yet, here you are again, being pulled in to help.
Sometimes you jump in right away because watching them fall apart is genuinely painful. You cannot stand to see them so upset, so you hop in to fix things. Other times, your patience runs out entirely and you hear yourself telling them to just suck it up. You feel the guilt no matter what.
You do not want them to feel overwhelmed and upset all the time. But you also cannot keep doing everything for them. This is not the relationship you imagined, and you are not sure how you got here or how to find your way back.
YOU ARE NOT FAILING YOUR ANXIOUS CHILD. YOU JUST NEED A DIFFERENT APPROACH.
What To Expect from SPACE Therapy
My work is grounded in a research-supported approach called SPACE, which stands for Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions. SPACE is a parent-based program designed to help children and teens (ranging from ages 4-18) with anxiety, OCD, and related challenges without requiring the child to participate in therapy.
You read that correctly. Your child does not have to come to therapy in order for their anxiety symptoms to improve.
Many clients arrive feeling like they are one meltdown away from losing it entirely. By the middle of our work together, clients often report feeling more grounded in their responses, less reactive, and genuinely surprised by how quickly their child begins to show more capacity to sit with difficult feelings. That shift does not happen because the child changed first. It happens because the parent did.
In my practice, most parents report that they feel empowered to find that they can actively be one of the powerful anxiety intervention available to their child.
How SPACE Therapy Works for Parents in Chicago
SPACE allows you to work towards having calmer times together with your family members in only 8-10 sessions.
SPACE treatment is time-limited, practical, and designed to get you out of survival mode and into something sustainable. In fact a study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry found that parent-based treatment utilizing SPACE was as effective as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to treat childhood anxiety.
Here is what the process typically looks like:
We meet weekly. This allows for consistent support as you practice new responses between sessions. The work is structured and focused. Most clients complete SPACE in about 8 to 10 weekly sessions.
You will:
gain a clear understanding of what accommodation behaviors are, why they increase anxiety over time, even when they feel like the loving and necessary thing to do
through parent coaching, you will learn how to reduce accommodation behaviors in a way that feels supportive rather than harsh or cold
learn how to respond to your child's anxious moments in a way that signals calm confidence instead of alarm or frustration.
The core of the model is straightforward: when parents change their responses, children's anxiety symptoms decrease.
Not because the parent have done anything wrong, but because a different approach allows the child's nervous system to begin receiving a different signal from the person they trust most. Your steady, consistent presence becomes the most effective tool available.
By the end of our work together, most clients find that family stress has decreased, their relationship with their child feels less strained, and they trust themselves in the moments that used to feel completely impossible.
*** SPACE is not for emergencies. If your child is in immediate danger or talking about harming themselves, call or text 988 or call 911.
Sarah Schufreider, LCSW works with parents of anxious children in Chicago area.
I am Sarah Schufreider, LCSW, (llinois License #149016639.) I'm an online therapist in Chicago, and I offer SPACE sessions to parents across Illinois. I am is trained in the SPACE model through the Yale Child Study Center, under the program's developer, Dr. Eli Lebowitz. I help parents of anxious children who are exhausted from managing their kid's anxiety every single day.
With over 17 years in the field, I have worked with children, adults, and parents navigating anxiety, worry, and panic. What I have come to know in all of that time is something that genuinely surprises most of the parents I work with: you do not need to fix your child's anxiety from the outside in.
Experience and Trainings
Education:
Boston University, Master of Social Work with Trauma Certificate, 2010
College of the Holy Cross, Bachelors of Arts, 2007
Certifications:
Bria Better Health Menopause Mental Health Level 2 Certification (In Progress)
Bria Better Health Menopause Mental Health Level 1 Certification, 2026
200 Hour Registered Yoga Teacher Certification (RYT-200), 2019
Yoga To Transform Trauma Certification, 2019
Trainings:
The Illinois Certified Domestic Violence Professionals 40 Hour Domestic Violence Training, 2020
Massachusetts 40-Hour Domestic and Sexual Violence Training, 2007
You Do Not Need To Keep Doing This All Alone
Change is possible, and research suggests that it can happen in 8 to 10 sessions. Reaching out is the first step.
I’d love to help you. Schedule your free 15- minute phone consultation for therapy for special needs parents in Chicago and greater Illinois.
My other specialties include mid-life issues such as menopause, postpartum depression, anxiety, parenting special needs children, and grief.
Frequently Asked Questions about SPACE Therapy in Chicago
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SPACE stands for Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions. It is a research-supported treatment program developed at Yale University specifically for children and teens with anxiety, OCD, and related challenges. What makes SPACE different from traditional child therapy is that the child does not have to participate at all. Instead of working directly with the child, SPACE works with the parent. The focus is on helping you respond differently to your child's anxious moments, which in turn reduces the anxiety itself.
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Yes. Sarah Schufreider, LCSW, is trained in SPACE by Dr. Eli Lebowitz of the Yale Child Study Center. She offers online SPACE sessions to parents in Chicago and across Illinois.
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SPACE is a time-limited treatment. Most clients complete the program in about 8 to 10 weekly sessions. That means you are not signing up for something open-ended or indefinite. You come in with a clear goal, we work through a structured process together, and most families begin noticing meaningful shifts well before the final session.
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SPACE is for parents of children and teens, ranging from age 4 to 18, with anxiety. Your child does not attend sessions, because the work focuses on how you respond to their anxiety.
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Sessions are weekly and focused on you as the parent. You set goals, learn how to respond supportively without feeding the anxiety, and practice the skills at home between sessions.
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Look for worry, avoidance, or meltdowns that keep happening and affect school, sleep, or family life. If your child talks about harming themselves, call or text 988 or call 911 right away.
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Sessions with Sarah are $225 for 50 minutes. She is in-network with most Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO plans, offers self-pay, and can provide a Superbill for out-of-network reimbursement.
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Yes. Sessions take place on a HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform, so you can meet from home anywhere in Illinois.
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Accommodation behaviors are the things parents do to help their child avoid or escape anxious feelings in the moment. This includes things like answering reassurance questions repeatedly, helping with tasks the child could do independently, adjusting family routines to avoid triggers, or stepping in to prevent distress. The problem is that over time, accommodation teaches the child's brain that the anxiety was warranted and that they cannot handle it without you. Reducing accommodation in supportive way is one of the most effective things a parent can do to help their child build real confidence and tolerance.
Therapy for Parents: Supporting Parents of Anxious Children in Chicago.
You do not have to fix your child's anxiety. You have to change the cycle.
Last updated: October 31, 2026