Non-violent resistance and family accommodation: A trans-diagnostic solution to a highly prevalent problem

The goal of this study is to integrate two areas in recent clinical theory, research, and practice: family accommodation and non-violent resistance (NVR). Family accommodation describes changes that family members make to their own behavior, to help their relative who is dealing with psychopathology to avoid or alleviate distress related to the disorder. Rapidly growing research on family accommodation has established its high prevalence and negative impact across disorders and the life span. NVR is a trans-diagnostic treatment approach that helps parents to cope with child externalizing, internalizing, and other problems in non-escalatory ways. This study reviews empirical research on family accommodation and NVR, and argues that the anchoring function of NVR, a central concept reflecting the stabilization of the parent–child relationship, may provide a uniquely suited framework for reducing family accommodation across disorders and development. The study discusses how the anchoring function may be applied to promote accommodation reduction through a detailed description of SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions), an NVR-informed treatment for childhood anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder.