Reassurance seeking can soothe briefly but may maintain uncertainty intolerance, anxiety, dependency cycles, and interpersonal strain.
Look for
Repeated checking questions
Patient language
“Are you sure?”
Formulation use
Reassurance seeking may show how anxiety is regulated interpersonally while uncertainty tolerance remains low.
Worry attempts to prepare for danger but may maintain anxiety by overestimating threat and under-testing coping.
Look for
What-if chains
Patient language
“What if something goes wrong?”
Formulation use
Worry may function as an attempted safety strategy that keeps threat active and uncertainty intolerable.
Attachment avoidance may appear as self-sufficiency, emotional distance, minimisation of need, or disengagement under relational stress.
Look for
Minimises distress
Patient language
“I do not need anyone”
Formulation use
Attachment avoidance may explain disengagement just when support, closeness, or dependency becomes clinically relevant.