When It Is Used
Use it during caregiver work when a child behavior or need needs to be understood within a caregiving relationship.
Circle of Security Diagram
Circle of Security Diagram is a shared practitioner-caregiver formulation tool. It helps practitioners and caregivers identify a child's attachment-related need, locate it in the caregiving cycle, and connect it to the caregiver's actual or typical response.
Annotate a sample Circle
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Tool guide
Learn more about this tool
Use this background section to understand when the tool fits, how practitioners use it, and what to consider before sharing it with clients.
Shared Roles
The practitioner facilitates and controls final wording; the caregiver contributes examples and responses.
Limits
The tool does not infer attachment status, diagnose, score severity, or prescribe intervention steps.
Is this a questionnaire?
No. The diagram is the organizing surface; the work is visual mapping with annotation, not questionnaire scoring.
What makes an annotation complete?
An annotation is complete when it includes the child need, its Circle location, and the linked caregiver response.
Can prior diagrams be reviewed?
Yes. Historical review may compare annotations descriptively across sessions without implying quantified change.
Can the demo use a real family example?
No. Public exploration should use fictional or non-identifying examples only.