KESTENBERG MOVEMENT ANALYSIS

Abstract

The present chapter provides an overview of the Kestenberg Movement Profile (KMP), a full body assessment instrument of dynamic movement and meaning. The KMP is an observational movement analysis tool that describes body movement patterns across nine different categories. It is employed in clinical fields such as dance/movement and creative-arts therapies, in developmental, clinical, social, and health psychology, psychiatry, as well as in embodied cognition research. The theory links these movement patterns to psychological needs, affect, temperament, learning styles, defense mechanisms, self-and other related feelings, simple and complex relations, interlacing movement, developmental, psychobiological, and clinical perspectives. Starting with a history of the KMP, the chapter provides summaries of the method, clinical use and empirical research applications of the KMP. Psychometric qualities, related applications, and links to the cognitive sciences and embodiment research are described. Kestenberg Movement Analysis has developed clear propositions regarding how body movement patterns are related to meaning thereby contributing to understanding the essence, function and psychological correlates of dynamic movement.

Full text

SABINE C. KOCH & K. MARK SOSSIN 95. KESTENBERG MOVEMENT ANALYSIS
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SABINE C. KOCH & K. MARK SOSSIN
95. Kestenberg Movement Analysis1
1. History of the Kestenberg Movement Profile (KMP)
2. The KMP System - a comprehensive overview
3. Psychometric qualities of the KMP and related instruments
4. Clinical and Research Applications of the KMP
5. Summary
6. References
Abstract
The present chapter provides an overview of the Kestenberg Movement Profile (KMP), a full
body assessment instrument of dynamic movement and meaning. The KMP is an observational
movement analysis tool that describes body movement patterns across nine different categories.
It is employed in clinical fields such as dance/movement and creative-arts therapies, in
developmental, clinical, social, and health psychology, psychiatry, as well as in embodied
cognition research. The theory links these movement patterns to psychological needs, affect,
temperament, learning styles, defense mechanisms, self- and other related feelings, simple and
complex relations, interlacing movement, developmental, psychobiological, and clinical
perspectives. Starting with a history of the KMP, the chapter provides summaries of the method,
clinical use and empirical research applications of the KMP. Psychometric qualities, related
applications, and links to the cognitive sciences and embodiment research are described.
Kestenberg Movement Analysis has developed clear propositions regarding how body movement
patterns are related to meaning thereby contributing to understanding the essence, function and
psychological correlates of dynamic movement.
1. History of the Kestenberg Movement Profile (KMP)
The KMP was developed by Judith Kestenberg (1910-1999), members of the Sands Point
Movement Study Group (Arnhilt Buelte, Hershey Marcus, Esther Robbins, Jay Berlowe, and
Martha Soodak), and other associates in the 1960’s and 1970’s (Kestenberg, Marcus, Robbins,
Berlowe, & Buelte, 1971; Kestenberg, 1965a, b, 1967, 1975, 1985; Kestenberg & Sossin, 1979;
1 We thank Susan Loman, Teresa Kunz and research grant 01UB0390A of the German Federal Ministry of Research
and Education (BMBF) for support in the preparation of this contribution.

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Lewis & Loman, 1990). Their systematic approach to differentiating, and considering the
interrelationships among, human movement characteristics was framed upon the movement
analysis works of Laban (1879-1958; Laban & Lawrence, 1947; Laban, 1960) and Lamb (1965),
especially those pertaining to Effort and Shape, and was integrated with Schilder’s (1935)
neurological and psychoanalytic considerations regarding the body (Kestenberg, 1985), and with
Anna Freud’s (1965) Metapsychological Diagnostic Profile.
Kestenberg was born in Poland, and trained in neurology, psychiatry and psychoanalysis in
Vienna, completing her psychoanalytic education in New York, where she moved in 1938,
settling there. Her interests in nonverbal facets of mother-child interaction were evident early on
(Kestenberg, 1946), and her increasing attention to infancy and early development underscored
the need for improved ways of identifying relevant nonverbal behaviors elemental in early
relating. Study of Labananalytic approaches to movement behavior with Warren Lamb (1965;
Lamb & Watson, 1987) and Irmgard Bartenieff (Bartenieff & Lewis, 1980) contributed to her
knowledge of movement processes. Over time, Kestenberg elucidated a comprehensive
movement-informed developmental model and an expanded metapsychology (Kestenberg, 1975;
1985). The clinical application in a primary prevention setting, The Center for Parents and
Children, on Long Island, NY, contextualized many years of further study.
Kestenberg was guided by a unifying concern for prevention of mental illness. The KMP
incorporates significant propositions, including embedded developmental and affect theories, and
an approach to personality assessment. Kestenberg and Buelte (1977) introduced conceptual and
developmental perspectives related to ongoing reciprocity and mutuality in the caregiver-child
dyad. They articulated the confluence between movement and psychic structural development,
underscoring the roles of empathy, trust and mutual holding. The KMP incorporates a classifica-
tory approach to movement patterns that finds intrinsic developmental and psychological
significance in specific movement patterns and their combinations. Kinesthetic empathy,
embodied knowledge and experiential learning have been central elements in movement analysis
from the beginning.
In the most thorough description of the KMP to date (Kestenberg-Amighi, Loman, Lewis, &
Sossin, 1999), the KMP is considered to be a descriptive research and clinically-informing tool,
relevant to everyday behaviors unfastened to a particularized psychoanalytic framework. Hence,
the KMP, as it has evolved, is several things at once: 1) a Laban-derived ethogrammatic tool for
human movement-process description; 2) an encompassing theoretical model offering psycholo-
gical understandings of the interface between dynamics and structure; 3) a basis for
developmental assessment; 4) a means of assessing personality; 5) a research tool for describing
and capturing individual and dyadic interaction patterns; 6) a basis upon which to frame and

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implement clinical interventions across disciplines, and 7) in distillation for nonprofessionals, a
framework for enhancing awareness of nonverbal behavior of self and others, offering
substantive ideas regarding child development and parenting.
In addition to the KMP, Laban’s school of thought has other derivatives, including Laban
Movement Analysis (LMA), Movement Pattern Analysis (MPA), the Action Profile® (AP), and
the Movement Psychodiagnostic Inventory (MPI). Some of the many important pioneers
contributing in the Laban tradition are Irmgard Bartenieff (1900-1981), Warren Lamb, Pamela
Ramsden, Marion North, and Martha Davis (Bartenieff & Lewis, 1980; Davis, 1997, 1970; Davis,
Lausberg, Cruz, Roskin Berger, & Dulicai, 2007), Kestenberg, 1975; Kestenberg & Sossin, 1979;
Kestenberg Amighi, Loman, Lewis, & Sossin, 1999; Lamb, 1965, Lamb & Watson, 1987; North,
1972).
2. The KMP System - a comprehensive overview
As described above, the Kestenberg Movement Profile involves both a systematic method
involving elaborations of Effort/Shape as developed by Laban and Lamb, especially amplifying
considerations of flow factors and qualitative differentiations among patterns with developmental
relevance, and an accompanying theoretical model for understanding meaning in movement
behavior. The tension-flow-effort system (System I) of movement qualities are differentiated from the
shape-flow-shaping system (System II). In the graphic presentation of the KMP, these are denoted as
two parallel columns, separate but interrelated. System II incorporates movement patterns that
give “structure” to the “dynamics” of System I patterns.
The KMP is a multi-layered instrument for describing and quantifying, nonverbal behavior,
specifically movement behavior. Originally based upon intensive case analyses (Kestenberg &
Sossin, 1979), the KMP has evolved during more than 40 years of observation (Kestenberg 1975,
Kestenberg et. al., 1971; Kestenberg & Sossin, 1979, Kestenberg Amighi, Loman, Lewis, &
Sossin, 1999; Sossin, 2002, 2007; Loman & Foley, 1996; Loman & Sossin, 2009). Kestenberg
linked the dominance of specific movement patterns with particular developmental phases and
psychological functions. Movement observations complement Kestenberg's (1975, 1976, 1980)
investigations of multiple aspects of development, including gender, pregnancy and maternal
feelings, trauma, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, with particular focus on the primary
prevention of emotional disorders.
Movement patterns in the womb have been considered from a KMP perspective (Kestenberg,
1980, 1987; Loman, 1994, 2007), describing prenatal attunement and continuities in rhythmicities

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from prenatal to postnatal stages. Historically, profiles of infants and parents were compared
with each other to yield information about areas of interpersonal conflict and harmony.
Summary of the KMP
The KMP contains nine categories of movement patterns representing two corresponding but
distinct lines of development, each starting with systems of movement available to the fetus and
newborn. System I, or diagrams on the left side of the graphically depicted KMP, start with
tension-flow rhythms, pertaining to inner needs and corresponding to developmental phase
organization.
The Kestenberg Movement Profile
System I System II

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Figure 1: Overview of the Kestenberg Movement Profile. The developmental sequence from top to
bottom of all profiles indicates a proceeding from early to more mature movement patterns. The
developmental sequence within the single profiles proceeds from first year to third year in the single rows
of the profiles.
Tension-flow attributes describe movement characteristics most readily associated with affect
and temperament (and pleasure/displeasure feelings). System I traces an evolution to pre-effort
and effort diagrams, reflecting more advanced patterns in response to learning modes and
environmental challenges. Pre-efforts bear correspondence to what have traditionally been
deemed defenses (and approaches to learning), while effort patterns are linked to adaptations and
masteries. Kestenberg linked effort patterns to ego-functions. System II, reflected by the
diagrams on the right side of the KMP, documents a line of development related to relationships

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to people and things. The top diagrams, bipolar and unipolar shape-flow, represent patterns
involving expansion and contraction of body contours. Bipolar shape-flow patterns (e.g.,
symmetric widening or narrowing) are linked to general experiences of comfort and discomfort,
while unipolar patterns (e.g., asymmetric widening or narrowing) bear upon reactions of
approach and withdrawal toward distinct stimuli. Shape-flow design represents movement
pathways towards and away from the body. Shaping in directions represents patterns that form
linear vectors, and finally shaping in planes represents elliptical designs within one or more spatial
planes related to the expression of complex relations.
The KMP graphically depicts up to 124 distinct movement factors (across 29 polar
dimensions) and includes a body attitude description and qualifying numerical data. With regard
to pre-effort, effort, shaping in directions and shaping in planes, distinctions are made between
patterns that are gestural and those that are postural (following Lamb, 1965), and separate
frequency distributions are made for gestures and postures. Each of the nine KMP diagrams
(Figure 1) refers to a specific movement pattern. Observational, developmental and interpretive
characteristics of the KMP’s movement patterns are summarized below. Fuller descriptions of
the KMP can be found in the literature (e.g., Kestenberg, Loman, Lewis, & Sossin, 1999; Loman
& Sossin, 2009).
Tension-Flow Rhythms
Tension Flow Rhythms are repetitive alternations of tension and relaxation in the muscle tone.
These alterations between free and bound flow are rhythmic, although irregular, in their intervals.
They are basic movement qualities that are expressive of needs. For example, the sucking rhythm
expresses the need to self sooth, the swaying rhythm to sooth others, and the jumping rhythm to
express joy. Ten rhythmic patterns are identified: each corresponding in pairs to five major
developmental phases: oral, anal, urethral, inner-genital and outer genital (Kestenberg, 1975),
each with an “indulging” or “libidinal” pole characterized by smooth reversals, and each with a
“fighting” or a “sadistic” pole characterized by sharp reversals.

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Tension-Flow Rhythms of the KMP
Baseline
Bound Flow
1b. Biting (oral)
2a. Twisting (anal) 2b. S trainin g-releas ing (a nal)
3a. Running/Drifting (urethral) 3b. Starting – Stopping (urethral)
4a. Swaying (innergenital) 4b. Birthing/Surging (innergenital)
5a. Jumping (outergenital)
Fighting, separating
Libidinös, sich hingebend
1a. S ucking (ora l)
Free Flow
5b. Spurting/Ramming
Indulgent, libidinal
Figure 2: Tension flow rhythms overview (adapted from Kestenberg Amighi et al, 1999)
Whereas all other movement categories/clusters can be readily “unwed” from psychoanalytic
theory, this does less apply to rhythms. The ten basic rhythms, and their according abbreviations
(Kestenberg Amighi, Loman, Lewis, & Sossin, 1999) are sucking (o), snapping/biting (os),
twisting (a), strain/release (as), running/drifting (u), starting/stopping (us), swaying (ig),
surging/birthing (igs), jumping (og), and spurting/ramming (ogs). At the height of each
developmental phase, we expect to see a notable increase in the proportion of rhythms typical for
that phase. All body parts can show all rhythms, and all rhythmic patterns are evident (to greater
or lesser extents) at all phases. Frequency distributions appear to reflect consistent individual
differences. In addition to the ten basic rhythms, there is great variety of “mixed rhythms,”
combinations of two or more rhythms. Combinations of mixed fighting rhythms signal a
potential for immediate aggression. Individual preferences for specific rhythms indicate preferred
methods of drive discharge.

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Figure 3: Tension flow rhythms notation: an example of a 2 ½ month old boy
Tension-Flow Attributes
Tension Flow is a manifestation of animate muscle elasticity. Bound flow is a restraining
movement pattern that occurs when agonist and antagonist muscles contract simultaneously.
Free flow is a releasing movement that occurs when a contraction of the agonist muscles is not
counteracted by the antagonists. Neutral flow refers to a limited range of flow observed in
limpness or de-animation.
Attributes of tension-flow intensity factors categorize tension changes along three dimensions:
even or adjusting; high or low intensity; abrupt or gradual. Tension-flow attributes pertain to
fighting or indulging patterns of arousal and calmness. Interpretively, tension-flow is linked to
affect regulation: bound flow and fighting attributes are associated with cautious feelings, while
free flow and indulging attributes are associated with lighthearted feelings. More subtle or
complex affect, especially as they pertain to safety/danger or pleasure/displeasure, are related to
combinations of tension-flow attributes.
Precursors of Effort
Precursors of Effort precede efforts in describing movement changes (including tension-flow)
in relationship to space, weight and time. Precursors of effort become motor indices of defense
mechanisms and styles of learning. The KMP denotes six pairs of precursors of effort:
channeling vs. flexible, straining and vehemence vs. gentle, and sudden vs. hesitating. Channeling

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keeps tension levels even to follow precise pathways in space; this has a fighting character. Its
opposite, the flexible precursor of effort, changes tension levels to meander around in space and
is thus more indulgent. Like defenses themselves, precursors of effort can be maladaptive or
adaptive; isolation, reflected in notable use of channeling, can be indicative of affective
disassociation (possibly amplified by neutral flow) or of objective thinking. Precursors of effort
are both body-oriented, in terms of bound and free tension-flow alternations, and reality-
oriented, in terms of space, weight and time; hence, they are intermediary patterns, between
tension-flow and effort.
Effort
Effort patterns are motor components of coping with external reality in terms of space,
weight and time (Laban & Lawrence, 1947). In space, direct and indirect are distinguished; in
weight, strength and lightness; and in time, acceleration and deceleration. Direct, strength and
acceleration are fighting effort elements, while indirect, light and deceleration are more
accommodating ways of dealing with space, weight and time. Effort elements are
developmentally linked (as per consonance) to specific precursors of effort and, even further, to
specific tension-flow attribute patterns. The individual's mature constellation of effort elements
shows, in relation to the polarities identified above, preferences in terms of attention, intention
and decision-making.
Bipolar Shape-Flow
Body contour changes in shape-flow express shifts in affective relations of the self with
objects in the environment. Bipolar shape-flow is the dimensionally proportioned growing and
shrinking of the body in response to internal or general environmental stimuli. In terms of
breathing, for example, we grow with inhalation and shrink with exhalation. Growing and
shrinking occur in three dimensions: horizontal (width), vertical (length) and sagittal (depth).
Bipolar shape-flow is especially expressive of affects of comfort and discomfort (e.g., with our
real or imagined surroundings). Self-in-the-world feelings are conveyed through bipolar shape
flow.
Unipolar Shape-Flow
In unipolar shape-flow, the body grows and shrinks in a dimensionally disproportionate
manner, expressing attraction to, or withdrawal from, discrete stimuli. Unipolar shape-flow thus
is directional approach and avoidance movement and occurs in three dimensions or axes:
horizontal (lateral vs. medial), vertical (cephalad vs. caudal) and sagittal (anterior vs. posterior).

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An individual’s body grows toward or away from others with unipolar shape flow allowing
inferences about the valence of the according stimulus.
Shape-Flow Design
Along with changes in body shape, body movement creates designs in personal space. These
movements are away from the body (centrifugal) or toward the body (centripetal). They are
classified in terms of their degree of linearity (linear or looping), amplitude (high or low
amplitude) and angularity (angular or rounded reversals). In notating shape-flow design the coder
traces a two-dimensional line with pen and paper, utilizing spatial/ directional parameters. Shape-
flow design patterns reflect an individual's style of relating and feelings of relatedness. They are
influenced by cultural conditioning, congenital preferences, developmental stages and situational
factors.
Shaping of Space in Directions
Linear projections of the body into dimensional space create directional movements, which
bridge distant objects with the self, as in the simple case of pointing. Directions in space include
moving across the body and moving sideways (horizontal), moving downward and moving
upward (vertical), and moving backward and moving forward (sagittal). Directional patterns give
relational structure to precursors of effort. They reflect ways in which individuals intersect space,
and are indicative of defenses against external stimuli and environmental learning responses.
Closed-shape directions create new boundaries by delimiting bodily access.
Shaping in Space in Planes
Movements employing shaping in planes configure space by creating concave or convex
shapes. The KMP principally draws upon Lamb’s (1965) defining work on Shape. Horizontal
shaping encloses or spreads; vertical shaping descends or ascends; sagittal shaping retreats or
advances. Each spatial plane includes a principal and an accessory dimension. In the horizontal
plane, the accessory dimension is sagittal; spreading and enclosing are used in exploration. In the
vertical plane, the accessory dimension is horizontal; ascending and descending are used in
confrontation. In the sagittal plane, the accessory dimension is vertical; advancing and retreating
are used in anticipatory actions. Shaping of space in planes expresses multi-dimensional
relationships with people and is linked to representational experience. The relative complexity of
patterns classified as shaping in planes corresponds to the complexity of relationships that are
internalized, held in mind, and experienced by the mover.
Relations between the Two Systems

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Affinities
The tension-flow/effort system (System I), shown by the diagrams on the left side of the KMP
(Figure 1), depicts developmentally changing patterns of dealing with internal and external reality.
The shape-flow/shaping system (System II), shown by the diagrams on the right side, depicts
developmentally changing patterns of spatial movement expressing growing complexity of object
relations. The two systems are interrelated: fighting tension-flow/effort patterns are affined (fit
well), with shrinking shape-flow and closed shaping; pleasant and indulging tension-flow/effort
patterns are affined with growing shape-flow and open shaping. Specific affinities between
System 1 and 2 are considered “matching” patterns and specific clashes between systems are
considered “mismatching.” When corresponding (same) patterns are used by two individuals,
they are designated as “concordant,” and when they show specific a specific clash they are
“discordant.”
Attunment
Tension-flow and shape-flow are fundamental in the experience and expression of affect.
Bound flow corresponds to inhibition and discontinuity whereas free-flow corresponds to facilitation
of impulses and continuity. Attunement in tension-flow (sharing of feelings) appears to be a key
manifestation of empathy between individuals, such as caregiver and child (Kestenberg, 1985).
Higher attunement is deduced from higher concordance of the tension-flow attribute diagrams
between two individuals (Loman & Sossin, 2009). This can be seen more directly in temporal
coding bearing directly on interpersonal contingencies. Dyadic up-regulation and down-
regulation are related to such contingencies. Partial attunement rather than complete attunment is
seen as being helpful to the parent-infant relation, serving individuation.
Kinesthetic Empathy
Tension-flow attunement and shape-flow adjustment are the foundations of empathy. Kinesthetic
empathy refers to an individual’s capacity and proclivity to know another’s actions, intentions, and
emotions through attentive (though often implicit) perception of his or her movement and bodily
experience. Such a capacity has been related to the mirror-neuron system (Rizzolatti & Sinigaglia,
2008). Synchronic KMP rhythms notations can directly operationalize kinesthetic empathy. The
use of kinesthetic empathy is central in descriptive and diagnostic processes in movement
analysis.
Additional Features of the KMP

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The KMP is statistically constructed in terms of frequency distributions, summarizing complex
movement processes, and casting an individual’s “profile” in terms of preferences, proclivities,
and repertoire. Raw notational data supplements the profile, especially pertaining to “phrasing,”
capturing patterns involved in introduction, main theme, and ending/transition segments within
sequentially unfolding movement. Only recently, have researchers using the KMP begun to
systematically explore sequential patterns more directly (e.g. Koch, 2007b; Reale, 2011; Shaw,
Sossin, & Salbod, 2010).
Movement can occur in gestures (e.g., in shaping in directions), using just one part of the body,
or in postures (e.g., in shape flow), involving the entire body (Lamb, 1965, Lamb & Watson, 1987).
Movement phrases can show the same patterns, first in a gesture and then in a posture, or vice
versa. These sequences are called posture-gesture merging (PGM; Lamb, 1965). Integrated merging of
gestures and postures, only occurring from adolescence on, is central in the works of Lamb and
Movement Pattern Analysis (Moore & Yamamoto, 2011) and of The Action Profile® system
(Ramsden, 2007). Empirical research has lent support to the link between PGMs and authenticity
(Winter, Widell, Truitt, & George-Falvy, 1989). In the KMP, postures indicate a more whole-
hearted involvement than gestures, since they require greater bodily participation with core
(torso) and periphery (extremities) unanimously involved. Actions influenced by conscience and
aspirations are likely to be evidenced in postural movements.
The load factor (LF) is a statistic that applies to all categories of movement except Tension
Flow Rhythms, reflecting the complexity of movements in each subsystem by indicating how
many elements are, on average, included in an action. The range of the load factor is between one
(33% LF) and three (99% LF) elements per action. Gestures and postures of the same cluster can
have very distinct LF’s.
The gain-expense ratio (GE) compares the number of movement elements (gain) per subsystem
to the number of movement flow factors (expense). The gain-expense ratio is interpreted in
relation to other subsystems, and indicates the relative degree of affective control (non-flow
movement patterns) vs. affective spontaneity (flow patterns) in each domain. This affective
component is further broken down into a ratio of free flow (ease) to bound flow (restraint) or a
ratio of growing (comfort) and shrinking (discomfort) in System I, or II respectively.
3. Psychometric qualities of the KMP and instruments derived from the KMP
Next to the line of (a) theory and method development (Kestenberg, 1965a; 1965b; 1967;
1975; 1995; Kestenberg & Borowitz, 1990; Kestenberg & Sossin, 1979), and the line of (b)
applications to fields of practice (e.g., Birklein, 2005; Hastie, 2006;; Kestenberg Amighi, 2007;
Lewis, 1990; 1999; Loman, 1998; Loman & Foley, 1996; Lotan & Yirmiya, 2002; La Barre, 2001;

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Sossin, 1999, Loman & Sossin, 2009), (c) the establishment of psychometric quality has been an
important issue in KMP research (e.g., Sossin, 1987; Koch, Cruz, & Goodill, 2002; Koch, 2006b;
Koch, 2007a for reliability studies).
Kestenberg (1975) reported success in initial efforts to validate the KMP system using the
external criterion of the diagnoses by Anna Freud in the 1960’s. Kestenberg – blind to Anna
Freud’s assessment -- diagnosed the same children as Freud on basis of the movement profile
and then compared her diagnosis to psychoanalytic diagnoses employing the Diagnostic Profile.
Such anecdotal reports laid a basis for further validational work (e.g., Koch, 2007a).
Whereas each study employing the KMP offers further steps toward validation (e.g., Birklein,
2005; Birklein & Sossin, 2006; Bridges, 1989, Loman, 1995, 2005), a more systematic approach to
investigating the validity of the KMP has been conducted by Koch (2007a; 2011) across a series
of experimental studies. In this work, single parameters from the KMP have been selected in an
attempt to crystallize basic dimensions of movement and to validate them step by step. However,
information resulting from these experiments mainly concerns the validity of single KMP
components, not combinations, sequences or complex interactions of movement parameters. To
start with a simple yet important set of movement parameters, Koch first tested the basic
dimensions of system I (tension-flow-effort system; indulgent vs. fighting movement), and of
system II (shape-flow-shaping system; open vs. closed movement), and then the combination of
both (interactions) experimentally.
In terms of economy, Bräuninger and Züger (2007) have suggested an abbreviated
observational version, and Koch has created a questionnaire format with 113 Items (Koch, 1999)
from the interpretive categories in Kestenberg Amighi et al. (1999). A German version of the
questionnaire was highly consistent (N=80; all Alphas > .80), and items had high discriminative
power (Trennschärfen), two exceptions were taken out. On the basis of this questionnaire, Koch
& Mueller (2007) developed the brief KMP-based affect scale (Koch & Mueller, 2007; Figure 4).
This scale is suited for experimental measures of movement-related affect as well as for evaluation
designs. It includes System I (Items in standard writing) and System II movement patterns (Items
in italics).
relaxed 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 tense
loaden, fighting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 joyful, excited
(aimless) drifting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 impatient, driven
comfortable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 uncomfortable
indulging 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 distancing
holding on, retentive 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 playful, coy
yielding 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 fighting
letting go 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 nervous
open 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 closed

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resenting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 taking in
approaching, curious 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 avoiding, refrain from
inclined toward 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 disinclined
peaceful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 aggressive
Figure 4: English version of the brief KMP-based affect scale (13 Items, Koch & Mueller, 2007)
4. Clinical and Research Applications of the KMP
Kestenberg pursued an enduring inquiry into the nature and significance of psyche-soma and
neuro-kinetic relations, as well as the manners and expressions of the body. Her work gave rise to
research by Eberhard-Kaechele (2007), Koch (2007a, b), Lotan & Yirmiya (2002), Bender (2007),
Sossin & Birklein (2006), and others. La Barre demonstrated the KMP’s relevance to
psychoanalytic psychotherapeutic process (2001, 2005) and, together with Frank (Frank & La
Barre, 2011), linked earliest developmental processes and adult psychotherapeutic process.
Recent studies have employed the KMP in embodied parental mentalizing (Shai & Belsky, 2011),
in autism (Loman 1995; Loman & Sossin, 2009), in depression (Koch, Morlinghaus, & Fuchs,
2007) and in research of interrelated patterns highlighting manners of stress transmission during
parent-child interaction (Birklein & Sossin, 2006; Sossin & Birklein, 2006).
Embodiment approaches (Niedenthal, Barsalou, Winkielman, Kraut-Gruber & Ric, 2005;
Koch, 2006a; Koch & Fuchs, 2011) based on phenomenology (Merleau-Ponty, 1962) and the
neurosciences, have helped greatly to tie the KMP to cognitive science research. Experimental
studies of the KMP have been conducted by Koch (2007a; 2011), highlighting dynamic
kinesthetic feedback on the individual level and haptic feedback from handshakes on the
interpersonal level, supporting the influence of movement qualities (system I) as well as
movement shapes (system II) on affect, attitudes, and cognition. Kinesthetic feedback from
movement qualities (rhythms and strong versus light efforts) has been shown to operate online,
i.e., in the situation (Suitner, Koch, Bachleitner, & Maass, 2011) as well as offline, i.e., from
memory (Koch, Hentz, & Kasper, 2011). Directional movement and meaning has been shown to
include KMP dimensions in the context of spatioal bias research (Koch, Glawe, & Holt, 2011).
The KMP has been employed as a theory to derive hypotheses on gaze behavior among men and
women in work teams (Koch, Baehne, Zimmermann, Kruse, & Zumbach, 2010), resulting in the
finding that women on average distribute their gaze in a more egalitarian way across all team
members (indirect gaze), whereas men on average gazed more dyadically (direct gaze), paying
attention to fewer team members.
KMP research has also examined sequential movement processes looking at verbal-nonverbal
parallel processes, indications of defensive employments (Koch, 2007b), and manners of
maternal communications of depression in mother-child interaction (Reale, 2011). Such

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investigations are in greater agreement with systems models of change processes (Fogel, Garvey,
Hsu, & West-Stroming, 2009), e.g. employing split-screen methods of microanalysis (Beebe et al.,
2010) applying the KMP as a tool in time-series analyses. Systems-framed studies of transmission
and sequential process suggest that combinatory movement patterns may be more robust factors
than singular patterns.
5. Summary
The chapter provided a comprehensive overview of the KMP as an observational movement
analysis system, and as an accompanying theoretical system pertaining to movement patterns and
their meaning. It introduced history, theory, method, highlighted development, validation, and
present use in clinical, developmental, and cognitive sciences contexts. Further information can
be obtained on the KMP website (www.kestenbergmovementprofile.org) and from the authors.
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