Breaking Free of Child Anxiety & OCD: A Scientifically Proven Program for Parents

Me and my husband are both reading this, me in paperback, him on Kindle. We're nearly half way through, page 92 of 220ish pages. We've been doing the worksheets together and agreeing combined answers, a rarity. I like that this is about modifying our behaviour, not directly asking for changes or more workbooks or exercises by our child. I like that it recognises that one parent may have a more demanding style, one may have a protective style. I wish it mentioned more (in the first half I've read) about the fact that anxiety and OCD are often co-morbid with neurodivergence, such as ADHD or autism. But that isn't essential, as we know enough about our child after many years and much reading, so can adjust. Just going through these exercises (the part of self help books I usually skip, or half do in my mind) is helping us see things differently and both look at our own learned behaviours. A lot of the parenting strategies widely shared and promoted for children with anxiety, OCD traits and ADHD, are all very well for younger kids. I've seen so many parenting books and the blurb says, the author has learned everything through bringing up their own kids, aged 6 and 9. Hmm, ok, no thanks! Once you're dealing with teens, especially with one approaching adulthood, the game changes. They are still under your roof and may sometimes follow parental advice and house rules. But they also have a lot more autonomy, their own money, their own ideas, do their own online research, cook their own high protein meals and decide when they sleep (within reason). Reward charts are a distant memory and sanctions based on taking devices away are rare now and pretty ineffective. The negotiation skills and patience needed for parenting teens are considerable. They have your number, push your buttons and make you question yourself. It's an exciting time, lots to be proud of, but also daunting, when you see them still struggling with health anxiety, frustrations, anger management and avoidant behaviours, that can affect the family. I have high hopes for these analytic exercises and realistic coping strategies. Great book.

I cannot express how grateful I am for having this book recommend to me. It has significantly helped my son and I with his anxiety. Without giving details of his particular problem, it was a daily problem and I was close to breaking point in trying to help him. We were turned away from CAMHS a couple of times over the last couple of years and I had tried so many things to help. This book saved us. It's so easy to relate to and involves me as a parent making changes rather than telling my child to change. But by following the steps in the book, me changing has lead to him changing. I didn't take any short cuts and used a note book rather than the back of the actual book to write things down. As I was reading, I started explaining to my son (age 12) so he was prepared and starting to think things over in his head and understand. The main thing is about accommodations we make as parents thinking we are helping and actually we are not. Children need to learn that they will be OK. I honestly can't recommend this enough. I have also used the same thing with his ocd that he has a bedtime in what he has to say to me and how he expects me to respond (which now takes much less time). When nothing else helped, this book did!

Full of useful info

Great book for parents to feel like they are not alone and not to blame for their child’s anxiety. We have yet to try the programme but it makes sense in theory. Hopefully it will help!

A good read, for tips and guidance.

Informative for my practice

I am a children's mental health nurse with 30 years experience and this is the first time I've chosen to review a 'work related' book. This book really does make a positive difference for children through their parents. It's such an easy to read, relatable book that I recommend to parents and teachers to help them understand child anxiety, and how to take a compassionate, supportive and yet firm approach to help overcome this. It begins with psycho-ed, and then moves to understand in a non blaming way how we, as adults, help the anxiety take further hold by accomodating anxious behaviours. Once accomodations are recognised, how then to change these responses in caring, firm way. It really makes sense, and when put into practise, works!

When our daughter developed OCD we were desperate to help her conquer it. CAMHS were unable to share strategies that we and school could follow and she became worse over the months whilst she had sessions. When we self discharged and moved to her new (private) Dr, this was recommended following a thorough assessment. OCD traps everyone in its grasp, and this programme helps parent/carers build up an understanding, recognise own behaviours to then put in place the shroud of support around the child with success. Our daughter wanted help, and this book helped us to help her. It tells you the steps, next steps, and so on. It was a real game changer for us all. She continues to have therapy to remain strong, but this was a great start. Families needing help, please also look into the amazing work of OCD-UK and OCD Action. Two fabulous charities who again provide the help to understand and support.

Eli Lebowitz’s Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD is an outstanding, accessible guide for parents and caregivers. The book explains the SPACE approach in a clear, practical way, helping readers understand how family accommodation maintains anxiety and how small, supportive changes can promote resilience and independence. I appreciated how readable and compassionate the tone is while still being grounded in evidence-based principles. The step-by-step guidance, scripts, and real-life examples make the concepts feel immediately usable. This is a valuable resource for families navigating child anxiety or OCD and a helpful companion to treatment.

I really enjoyed reading this book - an excellent primer on anxiety and how to approach struggles with anxiety in the family, with kids who are experiencing a lot of it (to the point it's heavily impacting other family members, who are trying to manage it). The initial chapter offers some great education on what anxiety is, in a clear and compassionate manner. It also offers a lot of compassion to parents/caregivers, who likely want to help their anxious children to meet and master their fears, but may struggle with understanding how to do so effectively when those fears seem to be very big and persistent. Honestly, while this book is geared towards parents with young kids/adolescents, I think anyone could learn a lot from it about how to be supportive with someone who is highly anxious, while also self-respecting and maintaining appropriate boundaries. I would love to see the author's write a similar book that is more geared towards parents with teens/young adults who struggled with anxiety/OCD and difficulty launching into their adult lives.

An excellent resource for parents and therapists alike! A digestible and practical read with clear information and examples to help parents and providers understand how to support children through anxious emotions.

I'm a child family therapist and I recommend this book to all of my clients with anxious kids. It's an easy and enjoyable read with tangible skills. I cannot recommend this enough!

I just attended the SPACE training and am really impressed with the innovative approach designed by Dr. Lebowitz. The book is a great snapshot of his treatment method and super easy to read. One of the AMFT at my practice read the entire book in one night! Highly recommend! Can't wait to start using this with clients!