Circle of Security Parenting

A step-by-step map for raising an emotionally secure child

At the heart of every child’s well-being is a sense of emotional security: knowing they are safe, seen, and loved as they grow into themselves. Many things can impact our children's sense of security: life events, the people around them, their own temperament and neurodiversity. As much as we would love to, we can’t control all of these factors. We can't clear all the bumps from our children's paths. But what we can influence is how we show up in our relationship with them. Circle of Security Parenting is designed to support you to step more fully into being a steady, attuned presence your child can rely on through the ups and downs.

How it works

After 60 years of research we know that the more secure children are, the more they are able to:

Enjoy more happiness with their parents
Feel less anger at their parents
Turn to their parents for help when in trouble
Solve problems on their own
Get along better with friends
Have lasting friendships
Solve problems with friends
Have better relationships with brothers and sisters
Have higher self-esteem
Know that most problems will have an answer
Trust that good things will come their way
Trust the people they love
Know how to be kind to those around them

(Cooper, Hoffman and Powell; Circle of Security International, 2018)

What you will learn

Welcome to Circle of Security Parenting: discover how we can see the world through our children’s eyes and understand their emotional needs underneath their behaviours.
Exploring Our Children’s Needs All the Way Around the Circle: learn to recognise the subtle cues that your child is sending you.
“Being-With” on the Circle: strengthen your child’s trust that you can handle their inner world and help them feel safe even when emotions get intense.
Being With Infants on the Circle: reconnect with your sense of delight in your children, even when they are older.
The Path to Security: separating reflection and blame so that we can learn and grow as parents.
Exploring Our Struggles: learning to choose security even when we don’t feel like it.
Rupture and Repair in Relationships: transforming parenting “failures” into opportunities for deepening trust and connection.
Summary and Celebration: going over anything that does not feel clear and reflecting on how you want to carry what you learned forward.

Circle of Security Parenting builds on over 60 years of attachment research, empowering parents worldwide to nurture emotionally secure children. Now translated into 13 languages, this approach helps parents to understand their children’s emotional needs and build strong, lasting relationships.

How it works

Here's what other parents said about Circle of Security Parenting

"The Circle of Security Parenting course was very supportive. It felt like meeting up with an old friend who helped me to find my own answers to some of my own worries around parenting. I found that it had a good balance of resources and space to think and feel. The course was both reassuring and helpful. I will be thinking about the content far into the future, as it is helping me to be the kind of parent I want to be for my daughter."

Mum of a 9-year-old daughter

"My husband and I joined Una's Circle of Security course when relations with our eldest of three sons became particularly challenging, for me especially. I felt I had read all the books on attachment theory and knew what I ought to be doing as a mother, but couldn't translate that into impactful action in practice. In Una and in the Circle of Security programme, we found a parenting resource that has actually facilitated a shift in consciousness for us both, with all of us benefiting from the greater harmony that has allowed for at home (and elsewhere in our lives). Through the course, we were able to not only identify what particular aspects of parenting we found triggering as individuals, but their root causes as well, enabling healing of those areas and - most importantly - a change in the way we parent our kids. Very simply, the Circle of Security model is profound and Una is a skilled and compassionate guide through the material, asking the right questions to help you look deeper. I am extremely grateful to her for introducing us to a resource that we will continue to use and revisit, for the early years of our boys' lives through to adolescence and beyond."

Franceska Jones

How it works

One-to-One

Length: 24 50-minute weekly term-time sessions (about 6 months)

Support in between the sessions:

Voice message support
Course workbook

Location: online, via Zoom

Start date: flexible

Payment: 6 monthly payments of £450

To book your place: submit the Client Agreement and set up monthly payments

Group

Course length: 24 weekly 50-minute sessions (term time)

Support in between the sessions:

Course workbook

Location: online, via Zoom

Course start date: Wednesday, January 7, 2026

Time: 10.30 - 11.20 am

Payment: 6 monthly payments of £95

To book your place: submit the Client Agreement and set up monthly payments

If you would like to explore how Circle of Security can help you, fill in the Getting to Know You form. As soon as you submit the form, you'll receive a link to my calendar to schedule a free no-obligation initial consultation where we can explore if this is the right fit for you. Click the link below to get started.

Open Getting to Know You form

You will also receive...

Leading attachment researcher Patricia Papernow suggests that nurturing secure attachment happens on three interconnected layers:

Psychoeducation - understanding the map of attachment and children's emotional needs.
Relational skills - putting this understanding into practice, meeting those emotional needs in day-to-day parenting.
Intrapsychic work - healing deeper wounds and patterns that can get in the way of connection.

The Circle of Security Parenting course covers the psychoeducation piece: you’ll learn the framework and language of secure attachment. To support you beyond the core Circle of Security Parenting framework, I’ve added two elements to help you integrate the learning at a relational skills and intrapsychic level.

Relational skills is about putting our understanding into practice is where the real work happens. That’s why after each session, you’ll receive a Reflection on Connection: a short guided reflection to help you stay focused on what we just covered, parent with intention and apply it in your day-to-day parenting. Usually, I send it via WhatsApp, so that you have it in your phone and can listen to it when you first reach for your phone in the morning.

• In one-to-one sessions, the reflections are tailored to your process and the unique patterns in your family.

• In the group course, you’ll receive weekly reflections based on what we explored together, so you can bring those insights straight into your parenting.

Intrapsychic work: sometimes, despite our best efforts, something gets in the way. It is often tied to the pain of our own unmet attachment needs. Our reactions may be shaped by experiences we haven’t had the chance to fully process. This is where Brainspotting comes in: a gentle, effective therapeutic approach that helps resolve trauma and deepen your emotional availability. When we tend to our own wounds, we free up more space to truly show up for our children.

• In one-to-one sessions, we can weave Brainspotting into your sessions as and when it feels helpful.

• In the group course, you’ll have the option to book additional 1:1 Brainspotting sessions if you’d like that extra support (£125 per 50-minute session).

Together, these three layers make your learning not just theoretical, but practical and transformational, creating change that lasts.

Frequently asked questions

What happens during the sessions?

There are three parts to each session:

Checking in about your week, your observations, reflections, wins and challenges.
Studying the course material: each session covers an essential piece of information about developing secure relationships. The content is delivered in a highly interactive and relatable way through videos of parents and their children, graphics and plenty of time for reflection and discussions that will help you to weave your insights into your day-to-day parenting.
End of session reflection offers an opportunity to decide what you would like to take away from the session and explore further during the coming week.

Do I need to do anything between sessions?

The most important thing is to keep your insights from the previous session in your awareness as you go about your day-to-day parenting. It’s not about doing more; it’s about doing differently.

What if I can't complete the course due to family/life circumstances?

Sometimes things come up that make it hard to finish the course in one go. Please know that you won’t lose what you’ve started. If you’re in the group course, you’ll have the option to join the next round. And if you’re working with me 1:1, we can simply pause and come back to it in a few months. This way, you can move through the course at a pace that works for you and your family.