Movement Psychodiagnostic Inventory

Domain VIII · Creative & expressive arts therapies · Martha Davis · 1960

What it is

The MPI is an observational assessment instrument, not a therapy. It codes movement patterns linked to psychiatric disorder from video of a person in conversation. It was developed by Martha Davis, a clinical psychologist and Certified Movement Analyst (Laban/Bartenieff Institute). She built it in…

Format

• The short form had no published studies before a 2015 N=1 pilot. That pilot found similar patterns across a DMT session and a seated interview. It did not test validity, and its author calls for multi-rater, multi-participant research and published usage guidelines.
• Core idea. Global clinical terms such as "flat affect" or "psychomotor agitation" are replaced by fine-grained, operationally defined movement patterns that trained raters can code reliably. A person's profile (which patterns occur, how often, and when) adds information to clinical assessment, and…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• What it is. The MPI is an observational assessment instrument, not a therapy. It codes movement patterns linked to psychiatric disorder from video of a person in conversation. It was developed by Martha Davis, a clinical psychologist and Certified Movement Analyst (Laban/Bartenieff Institute). She built it in the 1960s from observing hospitalised psychiatric patients, drawing on research on nonverbal behaviour in…
• Professional frame. Full MPI coding requires formal observation training and extensive rater training, so the instrument must not be scored or interpreted without it. No regulator credentials the MPI itself. In practice it is used by credentialed dance/movement therapists (US: ADTA R-DMT/BC-DMT; UK: ADMP UK registration, since UK dance movement psychotherapy is not an HCPC-protected title), by movement analysts…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Practical meaning: treat MPI results as structured clinical observation that supports a formulation. They are not a stand-alone diagnosis, never evidence of abuse or trauma history, and not a forensic tool.

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 fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• 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

• solo coding without any reliability check.
• treating software output as more objective than the rater's definitions allow.
• setting goals the client doesn't share. It's working when the goals are named by the client and are observable in sessions.
• attributing medication effects to psychopathology, or the reverse. It's working when the profile explicitly lists the confounds you considered.
• team members quoting the profile as a diagnosis. It's working when the profile changes concrete plans, for example the DMT focus or what to monitor.

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.