Circle of Security

1. Introduction

Version followed: the Circle of Security (COS) model as set out in Powell, Cooper, Hoffman & Marvin (2014), The Circle of Security Intervention (Guilford; chapter structure only). For delivery details: Circle of Security–Intensive (COS-I) as described from the Coyne & Anderson (Eds., 2021) Circle of Security Intensive Protocol by the US Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse and the NHS Scotland Early Intervention Framework, and Circle of Security–Parenting (COS-P), the 8-chapter DVD programme (module titles as listed in a 2023 Trials protocol). The 20-week group described in early publications is called COS-G by Foundations (UK); it is the group form of what is now named COS-Intensive. A four-session home-visiting format (COS-HV4) also exists [uncertain]. Detailed protocol steps below are reconstructed from programme summaries and marked accordingly.

COS is an attachment-based, video-assisted intervention for caregivers of children roughly 0–5 (some versions up to 6–7) who face adversity or are at risk of insecure attachment. It is a manualised, licensed programme family, not a free-standing therapy school: COS-I is a 12–20-session individualised treatment built on recorded assessment; COS-P is a lighter psychoeducational/reflective programme using archived prototype video. [source: Guilford book page; ACF Clearinghouse; NHS Scotland EIF; Foundations COS-G and COS-P; Topham 2018 abstract; Pazzagli et al. 2014]

Core idea of change. Caregivers are given a simple visual map (the Circle) of the child's alternating needs for a secure base for exploration and a safe haven for comfort. Using video of children and of their own dyad, they learn to see the need behind the behaviour, to notice which needs make them uncomfortable (their "shark music", i.e. a defensive state of mind rooted in their own history), and to stay emotionally present and in charge instead of reacting defensively. The developers place reflective functioning (the caregiver's capacity to reflect on the child's and their own internal states) at the centre of change, and stress that the therapeutic relationship, not the video, is what is essential. [source: COSI Circle Sources page; Pazzagli et al. 2014; ACF Clearinghouse; NHS Scotland EIF]

2. Framework

Versions and formats [source: ACF Clearinghouse; NHS Scotland EIF; Foundations COS-G, COS-P; Topham 2018 abstract]

• COS-Intensive (COS-I). Individual, couple or group. Groups: up to 6 caregivers (ACF), 5–10 (NHS Scotland) or 6 dyads (Foundations) [uncertain: sources differ; follow the current protocol and your supervisor]. Weekly sessions of about 75–90 minutes; 20 sessions for groups, 14–16 (NHS) or 12–20 (ACF) for individuals and couples; more caregivers means more sessions, because each needs tape-review time. Can be home-based for individuals/couples.
• COS-Parenting (COS-P). 8 chapters delivered over about 8–10 sessions of 1.5–2 hours, groups of about 8–15 or individually (including inside ongoing individual therapy). Uses archived prototypical video, not the family's own recordings; no individualised assessment required.
• COS-HV4. Four-session in-home format [uncertain].

COS-I phases

COS-P chapter sequence (module titles per Trials 2023 table; session mapping varies by facilitator) [source: Trials 2023 table; Foundations COS-P; Pazzagli et al. 2014]

1. Welcome to Circle of Security-Parenting
2. Exploring our children's needs all the way around the Circle
3. "Being-With" on the Circle
4. "Being-With" infants on the Circle
5. The path to security (introduces limited circles; content not otherwise described [uncertain])
6. Exploring our struggles (shark music, the caregiver's own history)
7. Rupture and repair in relationships
8. Summary and celebration

Note: Foundations places shark music in chapter 5 and rupture/repair in chapters 6–7; the Trials titles place struggles in 6 and repair in 7 [uncertain: follow the DVD you are licensed for].

Assessment and outcome measures. COS-I requires a dedicated playroom with observation room/one-way mirror and a camera operator for the SSP; the protocol specifies which outcome measures must be collected. COS-P case use has employed pre- and post-assessments about 10 days before and after the programme. [source: NHS Scotland EIF; Pazzagli et al. 2014]

Certification, licensing and fidelity before delivering under the name

• COS-P: 4-day training (about 24 hours, in person or blended online) leads to Registered Circle of Security Facilitator (older term: Registered COS Parent Educator). No licence, no required supervision; optional "fidelity coaching" (reflective supervision with a Certified Fidelity Coach). Practitioners typically hold a master's in a helping profession. [source: ACF; Foundations COS-P; Pazzagli et al. 2014]
• COS-I: master's degree and psychotherapy licence; COS-P registration; 10-day in-person COS-I training; written exam including two case presentations; weekly supervision by a certified COS-I supervisor for the first two therapies (ACF) or first two group cycles / first five dyads (NHS Scotland); then Certified COS-Intensive provider. Delivery only by certified providers or trained providers under certified supervision; Circle of Security International certifies providers and supervisors. Groups need two trained practitioners. Sessions must be videoed for supervision. [source: ACF; NHS Scotland EIF]
• COS-I fidelity: adherence tool (omitted core components, deviations), competence and therapeutic stance rated by certified supervisors from session video, and participant attendance. Local modification of content is not supported. [source: NHS Scotland EIF]

3. Guiding principles

• Need is equal on the top and bottom of the Circle. Treat a child's need for comfort as legitimate as their need to explore; never frame comfort-seeking as manipulation. [source: COSI Circle Sources]
• Delight belongs on both halves. Help caregivers enjoy the child both when exploring and when needing them. [source: COSI Circle Sources]
• Hands on the Circle: the caregiver is secure base and safe haven. Keep the caregiver's role, not the child's behaviour, as the focus of change. [source: COSI Circle Sources; ACF]
• Bigger, Stronger, Wiser, and Kind. Coach caregivers to follow the child's lead whenever possible and take charge whenever necessary; both kindness and authority are required. [source: NHS Scotland EIF; Pazzagli et al. 2014]
• Being-With (from Daniel Stern). What children most need is emotional company; value presence over fixing. [source: COSI Circle Sources; Foundations COS-P]
• Behaviour is a signal of need. In every clip ask what need the child is signalling. [source: ACF ("children's needs signaling"); Pazzagli et al. 2014]
• Insecure patterns are adaptations ("limited circles"). Present the child's and parent's strategies as sensible adaptations, which removes blame. [source: Powell et al. 2014 ch. 4 title; Pazzagli et al. 2014]
• State of mind shapes caregiving (shark music). Look for the caregiver's discomfort with particular needs rather than for skill deficits. [source: Powell et al. 2014 ch. 5 title; ACF; Foundations COS-P]
• Defences understood through core sensitivities. Formulate each caregiver's characteristic defensive sensitivity (drawn from the Masterson model) and pace challenge to it. [source: COSI Circle Sources; Powell et al. 2014 ch. 9 title] Category names [uncertain].
• Individualise around one linchpin. Pick the one struggle that, if shifted, would unlock the most; do not try to fix everything. [source: Foundations COS-G; Powell et al. 2014 ch. 8 title]
• Reflective functioning is the mechanism. Ask questions that invite the caregiver to wonder about the child's and their own feelings; avoid telling. [source: COSI Circle Sources; Pazzagli et al. 2014]
• Start with strengths. Highlight positive moments on tape, especially for hard-to-reach caregivers. [source: Pazzagli et al. 2014]
• The therapist is a secure base for the caregiver (parallel process). Caregivers should experience in the group or with you what you hope they give the child, including co-regulation of their own emotions. [source: NHS Scotland EIF] (term "parallel process" is my label [synthesis])
• Rupture and repair, not perfection. Normalise ruptures; repair is the target skill. [source: Trials 2023 table; Pazzagli et al. 2014]
• Relationship over tools. Video is a tool; "it's the relationship that is essential." [source: COSI Circle Sources]
• Fidelity to protocol. Deliver core components as manualised; do not add or drop content under the COS name. [source: NHS Scotland EIF]

4. Intervention inventory

Scope note: items 4.1–4.5 belong to COS-I only; 4.6–4.19 are used in both COS-I and COS-P (in COS-P with archived DVD footage). Step-by-step instructions are my operationalisation of the components named in the sources; where the manual's exact procedure is not drawn on, steps are marked [synthesis]. All example language is illustrative.

4.1 Engagement and pre-intervention sessions (COS-I)

• Purpose / when: Before any tape review; build the working alliance, explain recording, gain consent, and set up assessment. At least two individual sessions. [source: NHS Scotland EIF]
• Steps [synthesis on detail]: (1) Hear the caregiver's concern in their words. (2) Explain the programme: assessment on video, weekly sessions, watching their own clips, the therapist's supervision (sessions are recorded and reviewed by a supervisor). (3) Obtain written consent for filming, storage, sharing with supervisor and, in groups, showing clips to other members. (4) Screen for fit and safety (see 5.8). (5) Schedule SSP and COSI.
• Example language (illustrative): "We'll film a short play-and-separation session and an interview with you. Later we'll watch small pieces together, starting with what's going well."
• Watch for: anxiety about being judged on video; reluctance to have clips seen by a group. Working: caregiver agrees to filming with informed understanding of who will see what.

4.2 Strange Situation Procedure observation (COS-I)

• Purpose / when: Standardised separation-reunion observation used to classify the attachment relationship and give footage for tape review; Foundations notes the MacArthur preschool version for older children. [source: NHS Scotland EIF; Foundations COS-G; ACF]
• Steps: Run the SSP (or age-appropriate adaptation) in a playroom with observation room/one-way mirror, filmed by a skilled camera operator; code with trained, reliable coders. Requires formal SSP training; do not improvise an untrained version [synthesis]. The detailed COS observation framework is in Powell et al. ch. 7 ("Observing the Relationship") [uncertain].
• Example language (illustrative): "At two points you'll be asked to leave the room briefly. Leave as you normally would; we're interested in how you two find each other again."
• Watch for: child distress beyond the protocol's limits (shorten separations per SSP rules); caregiver shame afterwards: debrief warmly. Working: codable footage containing clear moments of top- and bottom-of-Circle needs.

4.3 Circle of Security Interview (COSI): Parent Perception Assessment (COS-I)

• Purpose / when: Videotaped interview probing the caregiver's representations of the child (positive and negative), of themselves as parent, and of their own history; used to understand state of mind and plan treatment. [source: Pazzagli et al. 2014; ACF; Powell et al. 2014 ch. 10 title]
• Steps: Administer the COSI as trained; it is often scheduled after the SSP so the caregiver can reflect on the observed session (inferred from ch. 10 title; [uncertain]). Do not reproduce or improvise interview items. Note: the caregiver's words for the child, what they say about the child's needs for comfort and exploration, their reactions to the separations, and links they make to their own childhood [synthesis].
• Example language (illustrative): "What was it like for you when you left the room?"
• Watch for: global negative attributions ("he does it to wind me up"), inability to imagine the child's feelings, and topics the caregiver avoids. These feed the linchpin and core-sensitivity formulation.

4.4 Interactional assessment and linchpin identification (COS-I)

• Purpose / when: After coding: identify the dyad's central attachment-related struggle, the "linchpin", a set of problematic attachment behaviours that guides the whole treatment; the parent helps choose a key issue to work on. [source: Foundations COS-G; NHS Scotland EIF; Powell et al. 2014 ch. 8 title]
• Steps [synthesis]: (1) Mark where on the Circle the dyad struggles (top: supporting exploration; bottom: welcoming comfort; hands: organising/taking charge). (2) Note how the child miscues or hides the need and how the caregiver responds. (3) Choose one linchpin (the struggle that, if shifted, changes most). (4) Translate it into a parent-friendly goal and agree it. (5) Plan which clips will show strengths and which will show the struggle, and in which tape-review phase.
• Example language (illustrative): "It looks like when Sam gets upset and comes close, it's hard for both of you to stay together. Would that be worth working on?"
• Watch for: choosing several targets (dilutes work); choosing a target the caregiver can't yet tolerate seeing. Working: one clear linchpin both therapist and caregiver can name.

4.5 State-of-mind and core-sensitivity formulation (COS-I)

• Purpose / when: Formulate the caregiver's characteristic defensive process, using "core sensitivities" derived from the Masterson model, to decide how hard and how fast to challenge and what to emphasise. [source: COSI Circle Sources; Powell et al. 2014 ch. 9 title]
• Steps: Use COSI material and observation to hypothesise which need, feeling or relational theme most threatens this caregiver and how they protect themselves; record it in the treatment plan; review it with your supervisor. The book's specific categories and procedure are [uncertain]; do not apply named categories without training.
• Watch for: formulation used as a label rather than a guide; it is not disclosed to the parent as a diagnosis [synthesis].

4.6 Teaching the Circle graphic ("map")

• Purpose / when: First sessions (COS-I opening psychoeducation; COS-P chapters 1–2). Gives a shared, simple map of the child's needs. [source: Foundations COS-G, COS-P; Pazzagli et al. 2014; Trials table]
• Steps: (1) Show the graphic (animated in COS-P). (2) Top half: the child goes out to explore and needs the caregiver to watch over, help, enjoy and delight. (3) Bottom half: the child comes back and needs protection, comfort, delight, help organising feelings. (4) Hands: the caregiver as secure base (sending out) and safe haven (welcoming back), drawn from the image of a boat and dock. (5) Stress that need is equal on both halves. (6) Invite parents to spot their own child on the Circle this week. [source for content: COSI Circle Sources; ACF; specific need-wording of the handout not given, paraphrased]
• Example language (illustrative): "Kids go out to explore, then come back to refuel. Our job is to be the hands at both ends."
• Watch for: parents hearing it as a rule set. Working: parents spontaneously locate behaviour on the Circle ("he was on the bottom").

4.7 "Bigger, Stronger, Wiser, and Kind"

• Purpose / when: Introduced early (COS-P central sessions) and returned to throughout; defines the caregiver's role: follow the child's lead whenever possible, take charge whenever necessary. [source: NHS Scotland EIF; Pazzagli et al. 2014]
• Steps [synthesis]: (1) Name the four qualities. (2) Discuss each with clips: when is following the lead right, when is taking charge needed (danger, overwhelm, limits)? (3) Look at the two failure directions: harsh without kind; kind without in-charge. (4) Ask which one the parent leans towards.
• Example language (illustrative): "Being in charge doesn't mean being mean; and being kind doesn't mean giving up being in charge."
• Watch for: a parent hearing "take charge" as permission for harshness, or "follow" as permissiveness. Working: parents describe a moment they held a limit warmly.

4.8 Seeing the need behind the behaviour (observation skill-building)

• Purpose / when: Throughout; the basic skill trained with every clip. [source: NHS Scotland EIF ("building skills in observing"); ACF; Pazzagli et al. 2014]
• Steps: (1) Play a short clip, pause at the manual's marked point (COS-P) or your preselected moment (COS-I). (2) Ask: Where is the child on the Circle? What do they need? (3) Then: How did the caregiver respond? (4) Only later: What might the caregiver have been feeling? Keep the sequence child → behaviour → caregiver feelings [sequence is synthesis].
• Example language (illustrative): "Let's freeze here. What do you think she needs right now?"
• Watch for: answers that describe behaviour ("she's being naughty") not need. Working: need-language replaces trait-language over weeks.

4.9 Being-With and Being-Without

• Purpose / when: COS-P chapters 3–4 (with infants in 4); COS-I teaching sessions. Teaches staying emotionally present with the child's feelings so the child is not alone with them; contrasts "Being-With" and "Being-Without" experiences. [source: Pazzagli et al. 2014; Foundations COS-P; Trials table; COSI Circle Sources]
• Steps [synthesis]: (1) Show a clip of a distressed child. (2) Contrast responses that fix, distract or dismiss with a response that stays with the feeling (naming it, staying close, tone). (3) Ask parents to recall being kept company in a feeling and what that was like. (4) Practice: parents identify one moment this week to simply stay with the child's feeling.
• Example language (illustrative): "You don't need to make the sadness go away. Just let her know you're there with it."
• Watch for: parents feeling they must always soothe instantly; Being-With is presence, not perfection. Working: reports of staying calmer through a child's upset.

4.10 Delight

• Purpose / when: Throughout; delight appears on both halves of the Circle. [source: COSI Circle Sources]
• Steps [synthesis]: point out moments on tape where caregiver or child light up; ask the caregiver what they enjoy about the child; set a small home task of noticing delight.
• Example language (illustrative): "Look at his face when you smile back. He's taking that in."
• Watch for: caregivers who can't find anything to enjoy: a marker of a strained relationship to note for supervision.

4.11 Individual tape review (COS-I core technique)

• Purpose / when: The central COS-I method. Three tape-review phases, each using edited clips from the dyad's own SSP and COSI, alternate with teaching sessions; in groups each dyad is the focus about three times. Aim: the caregiver reflects on the child's needs, their own feelings and behaviour, and links present caregiving to their history. [source: ACF; NHS Scotland EIF; Foundations COS-G]
• Steps [synthesis; manual sequence not given]: (1) Before the session, select 2–4 short clips that fit the current phase and the linchpin, and rehearse them with your supervisor. (2) Open with a strength clip (see 4.12). (3) Play the struggle clip only after the caregiver feels safe; pause at the key moment. (4) Ask open, reflective questions in order: child's need → caregiver's response → caregiver's feeling at that moment → familiarity of that feeling. (5) Let the caregiver arrive at the observation; offer yours tentatively if they don't. (6) Close by linking back to the Circle and the agreed goal. (7) In groups, invite peers to reflect supportively (no advice-giving) and check in with the focal parent afterwards.
• Example language (illustrative): "What do you notice he's asking for here?" / "What was going on inside you just then?" / "Does that feeling seem familiar from anywhere else?"
• Watch for: shame spirals, defensive justification or intellectualising: slow down, return to strengths. Working: the caregiver names the need and their own discomfort with it without collapsing into self-blame.

4.12 Highlighting positive moments (strength-based tape use)

• Purpose / when: To engage difficult-to-reach caregivers and to anchor every tape review: show clips where the caregiver meets a need well. [source: Pazzagli et al. 2014]
• Steps [synthesis]: find a moment (however brief) of successful attunement; play it first; ask the caregiver what they did and what the child got from it; name it in Circle terms.
• Example language (illustrative): "Watch what happens when you open your arms. She's straight back to you."
• Watch for: caregivers dismissing the strength ("that was a fluke"); gently replay it. Working: the caregiver can describe what they do well.

4.13 Limited circles

• Purpose / when: After the full Circle is understood (COS-P central chapters; COS-I teaching). Shows how insecure and disorganised patterns arise when a caregiver struggles with part of the Circle, and that children adapt by hiding or exaggerating the need the caregiver finds hard. [source: Pazzagli et al. 2014; Powell et al. 2014 ch. 4 title ("insecurity and the power of adaptation")]
• Steps [synthesis]: (1) Describe how a child may downplay comfort needs with a caregiver uncomfortable with closeness, or downplay exploration with one uncomfortable with separation. (2) Frame this as the child's clever adaptation, not a flaw. (3) Ask caregivers which half of the Circle feels easier for them.
• Example language (illustrative): "Children are very good at learning what we're comfortable with, and they adjust to it."
• Watch for: guilt ("I've damaged him"); pair this with repair (4.16). For disorganised patterns or frightening caregiving, see 5.8.

4.14 Shark Music

• Purpose / when: COS-P chapter 5 or 6 ("Exploring our struggles"); COS-I mid-treatment. Illustrates how a caregiver's unregulated fear or discomfort, rooted in their own experience, colours a neutral situation and leads to avoidance or reactive caregiving: the term refers to experiences that heighten caregiver alertness. [source: ACF; Pazzagli et al. 2014; Foundations COS-P; Powell et al. 2014 ch. 5 title]
• Steps: (1) Show the shark-music piece on the DVD (the same peaceful footage with calm then menacing music) [the video exists per Pazzagli et al.; description of its content is my paraphrase, uncertain]. (2) Ask how the music changed what they expected. (3) Link: some of a child's needs set off "music" in us that has nothing to do with the child in front of us. (4) Invite each caregiver to identify which need (top or bottom of the Circle) sets off their music. (5) Emphasise choice: notice the music, then choose to meet the need anyway.
• Example language (illustrative): "When she clings, does some music start for you? Where might you have learned that tune?"
• Watch for: strong affect from personal history; contain and offer individual follow-up (see 5.3). Working: caregivers use the phrase themselves ("my shark music kicked in") and report pausing before reacting.

4.15 Reflecting on the caregiver's own history

• Purpose / when: Mid to late programme; caregivers examine how they were parented and how that shapes their current responses. [source: NHS Scotland EIF; Foundations COS-G, COS-P; Topham 2018 abstract]
• Steps [synthesis]: ask what happened when they needed comfort or wanted to explore as a child; connect that to their current shark music; keep the focus on understanding, not processing trauma in the group.
• Example language (illustrative): "When you were little and upset, who did you go to?"
• Watch for: trauma disclosures in group; acknowledge, contain, and continue in individual time or refer.

4.16 Rupture and repair

• Purpose / when: COS-P chapter 7 (or 6–7); COS-I later phase. Normalise that every relationship has ruptures and teach repair as the route to security and to the child's emotion regulation. [source: Trials table; Foundations COS-P; Pazzagli et al. 2014]
• Steps [synthesis]: (1) Normalise rupture. (2) Use a clip or example of a rupture. (3) Describe repair: the caregiver reconnects, takes responsibility at the child's level, and stays with the child's feeling. (4) Distinguish repair from over-apology or guilt-driven giving in. (5) Ask parents to try one repair and report back.
• Example language (illustrative): "I got cross and loud just now. That was scary. I'm here and we're OK."
• Watch for: perfectionism; repair being used to excuse repeated harshness. Working: parents report quicker reconnections after conflict.

4.17 The therapist or group as secure base; co-regulating the caregiver

• Purpose / when: Every session; caregivers experience a secure base in the group or with the practitioner, who also co-regulates caregivers' emotions. [source: NHS Scotland EIF; COSI Circle Sources]
• Steps [synthesis]: be predictable (same structure, time, welcome); notice caregiver distress during clips and slow down; name and validate the feeling; acknowledge your own ruptures with the caregiver and repair them, modelling the process.
• Example language (illustrative): "That clip was hard to watch. Let's take a moment before we go on."
• Watch for: caregiver withdrawal or attacks on the therapist. Treat these as information about the core sensitivity and bring them to supervision.

4.18 COS-P DVD facilitation (chapter-based group or individual)

• Purpose / when: COS-P delivery; also usable inside individual therapy over about eight weeks. [source: Foundations COS-P; Pazzagli et al. 2014]
• Steps: (1) Each chapter opens with roughly 15 minutes of archived video (prototypical parent-child interactions and past participants reflecting). (2) Pause where the manual indicates and run the prescribed discussion. (3) Link content to participants' own children and their experiences. (4) Give practical attunement suggestions. (5) Close each session by summarising the Circle concepts covered. [source: Foundations COS-P; steps 3–5 partly synthesis]
• Example language (illustrative): "Before we watch, notice where on the Circle each child is."
• Watch for: sessions turning into advice-trading; steer back to reflection.

4.19 Closing: reflecting on change, summary and celebration

• Purpose / when: Final session (COS-I) or chapter 8 (COS-P): caregivers reflect on their change process, give feedback, and celebrate completion; COS-I may add a follow-up session 2–3 months later. [source: ACF; Trials table; Foundations COS-P]
• Steps [synthesis]: in COS-I, show early and late clips side by side if available; ask what has changed and what still sets off their shark music; agree a plan for continuing; complete required post-measures.
• Example language (illustrative): "Looking back at that first clip, what do you see now that you didn't then?"
• Watch for: ending as a rupture for caregivers with loss histories; prepare the ending several sessions in advance.

Not covered (named in sources)

• "The Path to Security" chapter (COS-P ch. 5) content beyond limited circles [uncertain].
• COS-HV4 four-session home-visiting procedure [uncertain].
• The book's "Treatment Principles and Planning" and "Intervention Protocol" chapters (ch. 11–12) are not drawn on; any session-by-session COS-I content beyond the structure above is [uncertain].

5. Handling problems

The sources say little about handling problems; beyond the cited points, everything here is [synthesis]. In COS-I, the first resource for any of these is the required weekly certified supervision, which reviews your session video. [source: NHS Scotland EIF; ACF]

5.1 Hard-to-reach or defensive caregivers

• Lead with strength clips and positive highlighting before any struggle clip. [source: Pazzagli et al. 2014]
• Use the core-sensitivity formulation to pace challenge: stay longer with strengths for caregivers who are easily shamed. [source: COSI Circle Sources; rest synthesis]
• Reframe their pattern as an adaptation (limited circles), never as a fault [synthesis].

5.2 Stuck: caregiver understands concepts but nothing changes

• Check the linchpin: is it the right one, or too big? Narrow to one recurring moment [synthesis].
• Move from concept to their own shark music: ask what they feel in that moment, not what they know [synthesis].
• Replay the same clip in a later phase; new meaning often appears on second viewing [synthesis].

5.3 Overwhelm during tape review or shark-music work

• Stop the clip; co-regulate (slow pace, name the feeling, ground). [source: NHS Scotland EIF (co-regulation of caregiver emotions); rest synthesis]
• Return to a strength clip before ending; never end a session on the struggle clip [synthesis].
• In groups, offer individual time after the session; assess whether the caregiver needs their own therapy for trauma or mental health problems alongside COS [synthesis].

5.4 Non-attendance and drop-out

• Attendance is a COS-I fidelity parameter; track it. [source: NHS Scotland EIF]
• Reach out after a missed session in a warm, non-judgemental way; a missed tape-review slot in a group may need rescheduling because each dyad needs its focus sessions [synthesis].
• Remove practical barriers (childcare, transport, timing); in COS-I individual work, consider home delivery. [source: NHS Scotland EIF (home delivery possible); rest synthesis]

5.5 Rupture with the therapist

• Treat it as you teach it: notice, own your part, reconnect. This models rupture and repair directly [synthesis, consistent with the COS repair principle].
• Common triggers: a clip shown too early, a reflection heard as criticism. Name it: "I think I moved too quickly with that clip" (illustrative).

5.6 Group-specific difficulties (COS-I group, COS-P)

• A member criticises another parent's clip: restate the no-blame frame and redirect to the child's need [synthesis].
• Advice-trading replaces reflection: slow down and return to questions [synthesis].
• Consent: never show a dyad's clip to the group without specific consent for that clip [synthesis].

5.7 "Taking charge" heard as harshness, or "follow the lead" as permissiveness

• Restate both halves of "Bigger, Stronger, Wiser, and Kind"; look at a clip of a warm limit. [source: NHS Scotland EIF; rest synthesis]

5.8 Safety: maltreatment, violence, frightening caregiving, parental crisis

• COS is not a substitute for child-protection response. If you see or hear evidence of abuse or neglect, follow your mandatory reporting duties; COS can continue only where safe and coordinated with protective services [synthesis].
• Frightening or frightened caregiving, domestic violence, active substance misuse, severe parental mental illness or suicidality call for parallel treatment and risk assessment by current standard practice; COS targets families with these risk factors but does not treat them [source: Foundations COS-G lists such risk factors among eligibility; rest synthesis].
• If a caregiver discloses suicidal thoughts, do a standard risk assessment and safety plan, then decide whether the programme can continue [synthesis].

5.9 Modality-specific difficulties

• Video logistics and confidentiality (COS-I): secure capture, editing, storage and transfer to supervisors is required; plan this before starting. [source: NHS Scotland EIF]
• Resource demands: SSP needs a suitable room and camera operator; budget one practitioner-day per week. [source: NHS Scotland EIF]
• Adapting the programme: content changes are not supported under the COS name; if you need to adapt (language, literacy, culture), use the translated official materials and discuss with the developers or your supervisor. [source: NHS Scotland EIF (reading materials for basic literacy, translations exist, further changes not supported)]
• Using COS-P inside individual therapy: it has been delivered this way over 8 weeks; keep the chapter sequence and use sessions between chapters for personal reflection [source: Pazzagli et al. 2014; second clause synthesis].
• Co-parents in conflict: a single case study delivered COS-P individually with a mother in a situation of parental conflict; details of its handling were not extracted [uncertain]. [source: Pazzagli et al. 2014]

Sources

Sources:

• The Circle of Security Intervention: contents (Guilford)
• Table of contents scan, obalkyknih.cz (same book, with page numbers)
• Circle of Security – Intensive, Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse
• Circle of Security Intensive (COS-I), NHS Scotland Early Intervention Framework
• Circle of Security-Group (COS-G), Foundations Guidebook
• Circle of Security-Parenting (COS-P), Foundations Guidebook
• Pazzagli, Laghezza, Manaresi, Mazzeschi & Powell (2014), The circle of security parenting and parental conflict: a single case study, Frontiers in Psychology
• Circle Sources, Circle of Security International
• Group sessions and manual modules table, Trials (2023), doi 10.1186/s13063-023-07194-3
• Topham (2018), The Circle of Security Intervention: Building Early Attachment Security (Springer abstract)
• Reproducible materials page, Guilford

Further reading (not drawn on beyond contents):

• Powell, B., Cooper, G., Hoffman, K., & Marvin, B. (2014). The Circle of Security Intervention: Enhancing Attachment in Early Parent-Child Relationships. Guilford Press.
• Coyne, J., & Anderson, E. (Eds.) (2021). Circle of Security Intensive Protocol. Circle of Security International (as cited by the Clearinghouse).
• Circle of Security Parenting facilitator manual and DVD, Circle of Security International (version not stated) [uncertain].