Understanding the SEEKING System: Why We Move Toward and Away

A relational and neurobiological look at how curiosity, anticipation, and past experience shape what we move toward and avoid.

Something my supervisor and I spoke about recently has stayed with me, a psychological movement that seems to show up across much of day-to-day experience. As we talked it through, it felt both deeply familiar and largely unspoken, shaping what draws us in and what we find ourselves holding back from, often before there has been time to think about it deliberately.

Drawing on the work of Jaak Panksepp, experience is described as being organised around a basic movement toward and away from. His work on primary emotional systems suggests that the brain is constantly orienting in relation to what might meet a need and what may need to be avoided, which can be loosely understood as “I want” and “I do not want.” While this may sound overly simple, it begins to capture something fundamental about how experience is organised at a neurobiological level, where the mind and body are continually orienting toward certain things and away from others, largely outside of awareness.

A system organised around movement

Rather than beginning with thought or conscious decision-making, there is a continuous process of orientation taking place, where attention, feeling, and behaviour are subtly guided toward certain experiences and away from others. This movement is not deliberate, but ongoing, and it often only becomes visible when there is enough pause to notice it.

Within this, what Panksepp described as the SEEKING system is associated with curiosity, anticipation, and the capacity to move toward what might meet a need. When it is active, there can be a sense of interest or engagement that allows for movement, even in the absence of certainty. At the same time, what is approached and what is avoided is not neutral, but shaped over time through experience.

How experience begins to shape direction

From early on, the nervous system is learning what is available, what is not, what feels manageable, and what does not. These experiences do not simply remain as isolated memories, but begin to organise expectations in ways that influence how future situations are approached.

As a result, the sense of “I want” is not always a direct reflection of what is needed in the present moment. It can also reflect what has previously been missing, uncertain, or difficult to access. In the same way, “I do not want” is not always about an immediate threat, but may relate to what has once felt overwhelming, unpredictable, or too much to process. Over time, these tendencies can become established as patterns of orientation rather than conscious decisions.

How this shows up in everyday life

When this process is viewed more closely, it can be recognised in quite ordinary moments. There may be a pull toward checking something again, a hesitation before responding, or a sense of interest that appears without a clear reason. There may also be a quiet withdrawal from situations that, on the surface, seem manageable.

These movements are not random. They reflect an ongoing process of the mind and body orienting, often drawing on past experience to guide present behaviour. At times, this can create a sense of clarity, where something feels intuitively right to move toward or away from. At other times, the movement can feel less aligned, where the response does not fully match the present situation.

The role of anticipation

This is also where anxiety can begin to make more sense. The movement away from something is not always driven by what is happening now, but by what is anticipated. Something may be avoided not because it is currently unsafe, but because it carries the possibility of something difficult, or because it resembles something that has previously been challenging.

In a similar way, movement toward something can carry a sense of urgency that is not entirely about the present, but about what is expected or hoped for. These responses are not simply errors in thinking, but reflect how the brain prepares in advance, often before there has been time for conscious reflection.

Bringing awareness to the movement

From a therapeutic perspective, the aim is not to remove these responses, as they are a fundamental part of how experience is felt. Instead, the work involves noticing them as they arise, becoming more aware of what is being approached and what is being avoided, and beginning to consider whether these movements are connected to the present moment or shaped by earlier experience.

This kind of awareness does not immediately change the response, but it can begin to create space around it, allowing for a different relationship to develop over time.

A different relationship to “I want” and “I do not want”

As these processes become more visible, there can be a gradual change in how they are experienced. The sense of “I want” may become less driven by urgency and more connected to what is actually needed or meaningful in the present. The sense of “I do not want” may become less fixed, allowing for greater flexibility in how situations are approached.

These movements do not disappear, nor would it be useful for them to do so, but there can be more room to recognise them, and within that, more possibilities in how to respond.

Suggested reading

In clinical practice, many of these ideas are often worked with through more integrative approaches. The work of Daniel J. Siegel builds on a similar understanding of underlying brain processes, while focusing more on how experience, particularly relational experience, shapes how these patterns develop and how they can be worked with over time.

His book Mindsight is a helpful and accessible introduction to how the mind organises experience, and how bringing awareness to these processes can begin to create more flexibility in how we respond.