This is the fourth of a series of articles concerned with the study of the postural behaviour of patients in analysis, primarily as research into the origin and development of motility. A secondary aim is to establish the prognostic value of changing postural configurations in analysis.

Posture, a concept which Deutsch uses in a wide and dynamic sense to include 'motor behaviour' occurring on the couch, is seen as the expression of the prevailing psychodynamic relationship existing between ego and id. Synchronized postural behaviour is the result of successful defensive activity on the part of the ego; asynchronous postural behaviour represents a partial loss of ego control; unco-ordinated movements are an expression of irreconcilable unconscious forces fighting for supremacy. In analysis postural patterns appear as signs and symbols which precede, take the place of, or accompany verbal expressions. Clinical material taken from five cases shows in detail how postural patterns can be interpreted and utilized in the analytical work.