It's summer, and our awesome team is busy doing amazing things! Training, expanding the accessibility of evidence-based treatment for anxiety and OCD, and giving back to our community are values that are especially important to us at Austin Anxiety and OCD Specialists. This month we are excited to spotlight our two amazing therapists, Rebecca Athanason, LCSW and Jhana Rice, LPC, who are doing just that!

When I first start talking to parents about SPACE, I often introduce the concept by saying that responding supportively to a child’s anxious emotions is as paradoxical as riding a bike backwards. But unlike riding a bike backwards, SPACE can be extremely effective and get us where we need to go. SPACE, standing for “Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions”, is a parent-based treatment program targeted to treat children’s anxiety. That is to say, your child never has to step foot into a therapist’s office in order for SPACE to have a positive impact on the family system and on your child’s anxiety.

With the COVID-19 pandemic winding down in some areas of the world, I had the opportunity to travel to Denver, Colorado for this year’s Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) Conference in March. I was so happy to be back among other clinicians and researchers to learn about the treatment of anxious and depressive symptoms. Here are a few of the lessons I learned on this trip: