As the opposite of anxiety, security is a state of relaxed comfort in which an individual feels no apprehension, self-doubt, guilt, inadequacy, or any other emotional distress. People seek security as a result of the prolonged period of helplessness experienced in infancy.

A security operation is any interpersonal action or attitude (of which the person is often unaware) used in the attempt to abolish anxiety and to increase emotional ease.

A healthy security operation achieves its goal of diminishing anxiety and increasing security without interfering with the individual's interpersonal competence. On the other hand, an unhealthy security operation reduces anxiety, but with certain cost to the individual. Costs vary extensively. They may be limitations in the person's interpersonal capacities, or they may consist of some other emotional discomfort. Unhealthy security operations cause a large number of the states labeled as psychiatric illnesses.

Every security operation, whether healthy or unhealthy, is interpersonal in nature and occurs in the context of an individual's relationship with another person or with a group of people. It is never an unobservable mental process.

One of the most common and easily defined healthy security operations is sublimation. In sublimation, a person discharges uncomfortable feelings by giving them expression in interpersonally acceptable ways.

Often working in a healthy way, another security operation is selective inattention. Here, an individual simply fails to observe a stressful or emotionally repulsive event that is occurring. Although he/or she is not aware of the failure to observe, the stressor has simply been blocked from perception.

Another security operation, which may operate in healthy or unhealthy ways, was termed the "as if" process by Sullivan. In this security operation, an individual behaves as if he/or she were someone other than himself/or herself. The individual adopts and acts out a role; the role is false, but it nevertheless renders an otherwise painful interpersonal situation comfortable.

The Self-System:

The word "self-system" is more accurately conveyed by the term "self-protecting system". Composed of all of the security operations a person uses to defend against anxiety and to seek emotional security, the self-system is the entire arsenal of interpersonal devices for self-protection. Sullivan acknowledged that the self-system is not observable (the black hole), however, security operations are. Most people get along fairly well with others much of the time. Thus, Sullivan stated, there is a basic tendency toward emotional health and sound interpersonal functioning. If other things do not interfere, personalities tend to grow in healthy ways and interpersonal relationships tend to proceed in a sound manner.

Consensual Validation:

This is the process by which unhealthy interpersonal patterns are corrected. In consensual validation, a person arrives at a healthy consensus with one or more people about some aspect of his/or her feelings. Repeated experiences that emphasize its soundness validate this consensus.