The Kestenberg Movement Profile (KMP) is a complex instrument for describing, assessing and interpreting nonverbal behavior. Over many years, Kestenberg pursued an enduring inquiry into the nature and significance of nonverbal behavior. In the early 1950's, she devoted extensive study to Effort/Shape Analysis that is based on the work of Rudolph Laban's motion factors (Laban & Lawrence, 1947: Laban, 1960) and Warren Lamb's (1965) interpretation of their use and structure (Ramsden, 1973). By 1953, Kestenberg had begun longitudinal studies of the movement patterns of three children, who were each followed for 20 years. Later, Kestenberg's investigations into the role of nonverbal behavior in treatment and assessment were pursued further within the collaborative context of the Sands Point Movement Study Group. Kestenberg made important clinical and theoretical contributions through her observation of infants, children and adults. The original interpretation system underlying the KMP is Anna Freud's developmental psychoanalytic metapsychology (Freud, 1965).

The KMP evolved during more than 30 years of research by Kestenberg and her colleagues (Kestenberg 1975, Kestenberg & Sossin, 1979, Kestenberg Amighi, Loman, Lewis, & Sossin, 1999). Their findings have linked the dominance of specific movement patterns with particular developmental phases and psychological functions. Movement observation has complemented Kestenberg's (1975, 1976, 1980a, 1980b) investigations of gender studies, pregnancy and maternal feelings, and of obsessive-compulsive disorder. The dominant focus of much of this research has been the development of techniques for the primary prevention of emotional disorders.

The KMP's information about intrapersonal psychological functioning is applicable to all age groups; some patterns may even be studied in the womb (Loman, 1992). Any two or more profiles (e.g., mother and child) can be compared with each other to yield information about areas of interpersonal conflict and harmony. At the Center for Parents and Children, the profile was used to assess the interpersonal dynamics among family members, as well as to evaluate congenital movement preferences, levels of developmental achievement, levels of fixation or regression, and factors indicative of cognitive abilities.