Laban-Bartenieff movement analysis

Domain VIII · Creative & expressive arts therapies · Rudolf Laban, Irmgard Bartenieff

What it is

LMA is a framework, not a psychotherapy. It is a system for observing, describing, recording and changing human movement. It looks at what moves (Body), how it moves, meaning the mover's inner attitude (Effort), how the body changes form in relation to self, others and surroundings (Shape), and…

Format

• The sources give no fixed phase model, session count or session format for LMA as a clinical method. The structure below is put together from the clinical principles of Tsachor & Shafir (2017), the observation steps described by Tsachor & Shafir (2019), and the developmental logic of BF (Hackney…
• Phase A: Observation and baseline (typically sessions 1–3).

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Move on when: the client can find breath support and a sense of weight and grounding, and stays regulated during floor and whole-body work.
• End when: the client can self-select regulating movement qualities outside sessions.
• Version followed: the Laban/Bartenieff Movement System, which is Laban Movement Analysis (LMA: Body, Effort, Shape, Space, often called BESS) plus Bartenieff Fundamentals (BF). This is the system the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies (LIMS, New York) teaches in its Certified Movement Analyst (CMA) programme. The BF connectivity patterns follow Hackney (1998). Clinical emotion work follows Tsachor &…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• rhythmic reinitiation goes with happiness.
• the client's own felt sense outranks the theory.
• keep records confidential like any clinical note.
• keep tasks tiny. Non-completion is information, not failure.
• Collisions. Members advancing into others' space. Contagion of strong or sudden effort in agitated groups.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.