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I think reaching out can be empowering simply as an action, and the anxiety surrounding it lessening over time may be an indication that it is therapeutic. It's not so much about the frequency of contacts in that case, but rather about what the contact accomplishes and its aftermath. Do you feel calmer, more settled and satisfied after the contact--it's probably therapeutic. For clients who feel reactive pressure to express every thought and emotion experienced in the moment, I suspect the aftermath doesn't feel satisfied, or not for long. The underlying need is intensified by the experience of what feels like only a taste of contact, and it fuels the need more than satisfies it.
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This makes a lot of sense to me! Surely if persons difficulty is or was that they never reached out to others when they needed to growing up then this might be a way of helping with that and as you say actually therapeutic?