patients were seen in successive interviews by a motherly woman psychiatrist, a male psychiatrist of the patient's age, and an older male psychiatrist. Recorded interviews were studied with parallel notations of postural and other nonverbal communications in an attempt to extend the accuracy of the evaluations. Clear-cut differences in verbal and nonverbal material occurred between interviewers, readily attributable to the transference role played by each. Evaluation of the nonverbal communications is supported by the verbal material and can be validated by comparative study of the three interviews. Nonverbal expressions are largely unconsciously determined; they express somatically transformed instinctual drives. The differences in nonverbal expression with three interviewers whom the patient sees quite differently, and the correlation of material from all three interviews, support the validity of utilizing nonverbal communications in the initial interview.