Figures of Motion: Integrating Movement Theories in Clinical Practice

In this paper the author summarizes and illustrates with case examples her theory of the clinical significance of nonverbal interaction and the usefulness of her integration of aspects of movement theory to facilitate its recognition and analysis. In this discussion, she reviews the concepts of kinetic transference and countertransference, the kinetic temperament, embodied history, kinetic therapeutic action and the kinetic text. Case examples illustrate the clinical importance of recognizing various aspects of movement, namely, the qualities of tension change, preferred movement dimensions, and body attitude, which come meaningfully into patient-analyst interaction.