Raising a Secure Child: How Circle of Security Parenting Can Help You Nurture Your Child’s Attachment, Emotional Resilience, and Freedom to Explore

Psychotherapists Hoffman, Cooper, and Powell, who have shared a clinical practice since 1985, provide a clearly drawn map to the circle of security, their attachment theory–based program for attuning parents to child needs. Defining attachment as children relying on caregivers for physical and emotional nourishment, the authors cite research showing how secure attachment prepares children to have better health, relationships, and performance in school. They emphasize that the program is applicable to parents of various cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, and say it will help them cope with all kinds of life obstacles. Rather than promising “perfect” child-parent relationships, the coauthors aim to create relationships in which the children understand that parents also make mistakes. Part one of the guide explains the circle of security’s rationale and initial establishment; part two details building and maintaining it throughout childhood. Embedded in each chapter are illustrative anecdotes and analyses of various examples of behavior to help parents in different situations. This is a highly usable guide with the potential to enrich relationships of all kinds. (Feb.)