Child Anxiety Regulation Strategies

Hi Michelle! Ah, this is a good catch/question. The answer is actually not mysterious though. The manual as it appears in Treating Childhood and Adolescent Anxiety: A Guide for Caregivers includes an additional 'module' that covers regulation skills a parent can practice with a child such as relaxation and cognitive skills. They were included as a module because it makes sense to use these skills when the child is willing and collaborating, but they are not the heart of SPEAC which of course can be implemented without any need for child collaboration when necessary. The manual you have was revised slightly over time and the module was removed because when we do clinical trials comparing SPACE and CBT it is important to have very clear distinction between the treatments and not to overlap treatment components. So bottom line, I encourage the use of these skills whenever helpful but they are not in the version of the manual we use in our studies.