Session 1
Monday, January 11
Understanding the Cycle
Explore how anxiety, avoidance, and accommodation interact.
Learn why efforts to reduce distress can sometimes reinforce the patterns we’re hoping to change.
A Four-Week SPACE-Informed Sparkly Brain Workshop
The Accommodation Trap
Breaking Cycles of Anxiety and Avoidance Without Losing Connection
What happens when the things we do to help someone feel better in the moment begin reinforcing the very patterns we’re hoping to change?
Discover a more compassionate, evidence-informed way to understand anxiety, avoidance, and family accommodation, and learn how to make meaningful shifts without sacrificing warmth, responsiveness, or connection.
- 4 Live Sessions
- Mondays, 9:30–10:45 AM ET
- Begins January 11
- $200
Sometimes the things we do out of love keep everyone stuck.
- We reassure.
- We rearrange plans.
- We anticipate distress.
- We step in before things become overwhelming.
And often, these responses come from a place of tremendous love, empathy, and attunement.
But when helping becomes a way of preventing discomfort, we can unintentionally reinforce anxiety and avoidance.
The answer isn’t to become less compassionate. It’s to understand what’s happening and discover new ways of responding.
The foundation
Grounded in Evidence. Rooted in Compassion.
This workshop draws on SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions), an evidence-based, parent-based treatment approach developed at the Yale Child Study Center.
SPACE helps us understand how anxiety and family accommodation interact, and how changes in adult responses can support greater confidence and flexibility.
Dr. Val Camarano brings these principles together with a neurodivergent-affirming, parts-informed perspective that recognizes the emotional complexity behind accommodation.
We won’t simply ask what someone should do differently. We’ll also explore why changing familiar responses can feel so difficult.
A note on the evidence. The research behind SPACE comes from studies of the full treatment program delivered by trained clinicians. This four-session workshop is an educational introduction to its principles. It is not SPACE treatment, and it has not been studied on its own.
This workshop is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Yale University or the Yale Child Study Center.
What participants will learn
Four sessions.
Session 2
Monday, January 25
Rethinking Support
Understand the difference between responding supportively and participating in accommodation.
Explore how acceptance and confidence can coexist.
Session 3
Monday, February 1
Making the Shift
Recognize the fears, guilt, protective instincts, and emotional responses that can make change difficult.
Learn how to approach small, thoughtful changes without shame or rigid expectations.
Session 4
Monday, February 8
Staying Connected Through Change
Explore what happens when familiar patterns begin to shift.
Learn ways to navigate resistance, maintain connection, repair ruptures, and support growing confidence.
What makes this workshop different
Practical strategies. A deeper understanding. No shame.
Changing accommodation patterns isn’t just about learning new techniques.
Sometimes our own anxiety gets activated. Sometimes guilt shows up. Sometimes the response that seems best in theory feels nearly impossible in the moment.
This workshop makes room for that complexity.
We’ll explore evidence-based principles alongside the emotional experiences that shape how we respond to the people we love.
The approach is:
- Evidence-informed and grounded in SPACE
- Neurodivergent-affirming
- Parts-informed and compassionate
- Practical without being prescriptive
- Focused on connection, confidence, and flexibility
No parenting perfection. No shame. No mandatory homework.
Workshop details
The Accommodation Trap
Four-Week Live Virtual Workshop
- Dates
- Monday, January 11, 2027
- Monday, January 25, 2027
- Monday, February 1, 2027
- Monday, February 8, 2027
- Time
- 9:30–10:45 AM Eastern
- Investment
- $200 for the complete series
- Format
- Four live, interactive virtual sessions including teaching, reflection, practical application, and opportunities for questions.
January 18 is intentionally skipped. All sessions take place live online.
About the facilitator
Meet Dr. Val Camarano
Dr. Val Camarano, PsyD, is a New York- and Connecticut-licensed psychologist and the founder of Sparkly Brain.
Her work integrates psychological science, experiential approaches, and neurodivergent-affirming perspectives to help individuals and families navigate ADHD, anxiety, emotional overwhelm, and entrenched relational patterns.
She brings training in SPACE, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP) to an approach that values both practical change and the emotional complexity of being human.
Her philosophy is simple:
We can change the patterns that aren’t working without losing compassion for the people caught in them.
Questions
Frequently asked
The Accommodation Trap
4 Live Sessions · Mondays, 9:30–10:45 AM ET · Begins January 11 · $200