Service Description

If you are the parent or spouse of a person with an anxiety disorder and you live together and interact daily, it may be possible to treat their anxiety by focusing on you and changes to your behavior. That's right. The only person who has to change their behavior is you. Whether you are a parent or a spouse of someone with an anxiety disorder, you can learn de-accommodation and extinction strategies that will reduce anxious behaviors and improve social functioning. Based on Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) developed by Marsha Linehan and Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) developed by Eli Leibowitz, this workshop will give you new skills and new hope. Some of the main anxiety problems that have been treated in this manner include separation anxiety, social anxiety, generalized anxiety, fears and phobias, panic disorder and agoraphobia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The program will help you understand anxious behavior and anxiety disorders and recognize the ways that you accommodate such behavior. It will guide you step-by-step through creating a de-accommodation/extinction plan, writing a script to communicate your plan to your loved one with validation and encouragement, implementing and sustaining your behavioral changes, and assessing the results. The workshop consists of five weekly sessions, a two-week break, and a final meeting to discuss outcomes and maintenance of your new behaviors.