Main description:

Today's parents are constantly pressured to be perfect. But in striving to do everything right, we risk missing what children really need for lifelong emotional security. Now the simple, powerful "Circle of Security" parenting strategies that Kent Hoffman, Glen Cooper, and Bert Powell have taught thousands of families are available in self-help form for the first time. Readers learn how to protect and nurture babies through teens while fostering their independence, and what emotional needs a child may be expressing with difficult behavior. Vivid stories and unique practical tools offer insight into how our own upbringing affects our parenting style (and what to do about it). This book puts the keys to healthy attachment within everyone's reach--self-understanding, flexibility, and the willingness to make and learn from mistakes. A parent reflects on Raising a Secure Child (video) Mental health professionals: See also the authors' related intervention manual, Circle of Security Intervention: Enhancing Attachment in Early Parent-Child Relationships.

Contents:

Introduction I. All Around the Circle: Understanding Attachment and the Importance of Security 1. Attachment: Why It Matters 2. Security: Befriending Imperfection 3. A Map for Attachment: The Circle of Security 4. Being the Hands on the Circle 5. Shark Music: How Our Childhood Echoes in Our Parenting 6. Behavior as Communication: Cues and Miscues II. Creating and Maintaining the Circle: How to Be Bigger, Stronger, Wiser, and Kind-and Good Enough 7. Shark Bones: Exploring Our Core Sensitivities 8. Testing New Waters: Choosing Security 9. Staying Afloat: Choosing Security Over and Over as Your Child Grows Resources