Two Evidence-Based Approaches for Parents: SPACE & PMT
Parenting a child who struggles with anxiety or challenging behavior can feel overwhelming. You want to help, but sometimes the more you try, the harder it gets. The good news is that there are proven, science -backed therapies and trainings designed to give families tools, hope, and long-term change.
Two of the most researched and effective programs are SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) and PMT (Parent Management Training). While they focus on different challenges, both put parents in the driver’s seat—showing us how changes in our own responses can transform our child’s experience.
What is SPACE?
SPACE, developed by Dr. Eli Lebowitz, is a parent-based treatment program designed to help children and teens with anxiety disorders, OCD, and related problems.
The unique thing about SPACE is that children don’t even need to attend the sessions—parents do. Through the program, parents learn two powerful shifts:
Responding supportively to a child’s anxiety without dismissing or rescuing them.
Reducing accommodations (like sleeping in the child’s bed, avoiding social events, or constantly reassuring them) that may unintentionally keep anxiety alive.
SPACE has been shown in randomized controlled trials to reduce symptoms of separation anxiety, social anxiety, phobias, panic disorder, OCD, selective mutism, and even picky eating (ARFID). When parents change their responses, kids feel less anxious and begin to function more freely.
What is PMT?
PMT, also known as Behavioral Parent Training, is a short-term treatment that focuses on reducing disruptive behaviors in children ages 2–17. It has been extensively studied and validated for conditions like Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), Conduct Disorder (CD), and ADHD-related behavioral difficulties.
In PMT, parents learn how to:
Use positive reinforcement—praise, rewards, and attention—to encourage appropriate behaviors.
Set consistent limits and remove attention from negative behaviors.
By focusing on what children are doing well, while calmly setting limits around what isn’t working, PMT reduces aggression, tantrums, defiance, and rule-breaking. Over time, positive behaviors become second nature, preventing school failure, family conflict, or escalation into more serious problems.
How SPACE and PMT Connect
Although SPACE and PMT target different types of challenges—internal struggles like anxiety versus external struggles like defiance—they share an important truth:
👉 Parents are the agents of change.
Instead of placing the burden solely on children to “get better,” both approaches empower parents with strategies that shift the parent-child relationship and the child’s experience.
SPACE helps children reduce fear and avoidance by changing how parents respond to anxiety.
PMT helps children reduce aggression and conflict by changing how parents set boundaries and use reinforcement.
For families, these two programs are complementary. A child may have anxiety and disruptive behaviors, or a sibling may struggle in each area. Together, SPACE and PMT offer a comprehensive toolkit for supporting children across the emotional and behavioral spectrum.
A Quick Comparison
Where Meyerson Education Services Fits In
At Meyerson Education Services (MES), we often meet families who are navigating the challenges of anxiety, ADHD, or disruptive behaviors at home. While SPACE and PMT give parents the tools to reduce anxiety and manage behavior, MES provides an additional layer of support: helping students build the academic and executive functioning skills that carry over into school, homework, and daily routines.
Our coaches work with students on organization, planning, study habits, and self-advocacy—the practical skills that make classroom and home life smoother. For families pursuing SPACE or PMT, MES can serve as a partner resource: reinforcing progress, easing stress, and helping children thrive both emotionally and academically.
If your child is struggling, know this: you are not alone, and you are not powerless. SPACE and PMT are two evidence-based, parent-centered treatments that work—helping children feel less anxious, act out less often, and thrive in daily life. And with the added support of academic coaching through MES, families can feel confident that they have the right tools, strategies, and team in place for long-term success.
By learning new ways to respond, and by giving kids the scaffolding they need at school and at home, you can create calmer days, stronger connections, and a brighter path forward for your family.
