Family Court Protocol

Attachment has long been considered relevant to care proceedings.

Nevertheless, its usefulness, as compared for example to medical evidence, has been limited by the diverse ways in which attachment is assessed, the different training of experts, and the lack of verifiable evidence upon which to base opinions.

In an effort to move from expert opinion to verifiable evidence, The International Association for the Study of Attachment (IASA) has developed a protocol for assessment and formulation of issues related to attachment. The purpose of the protocol is to act as a guide to good practice and to begin a process of improving the application of attachment to family court proceedings.

Because skill develops over time and is used for different purposes, IASA offers three forms of report:

  1. DMM-informed reports
  2. DMM-formulated reports
  3. DMM Family Attachment Reports


The components of the IASA Protocol are (1) a guide to using attachment assessments and writing reports to the court, (2) plug-in materials describing attachment at different ages, the DMM assessments, and providing skeleton report forms, and (3) a list of currently authorized coders of the assessments and professionals who can write DMM Family Attachment Reports.