Heinz Kohut presented a series of seminars and led case discussions for staff at the Student Mental Health Clinic of the University of Chicago for the better part of a year, in 1969–1970. During this period, he was also completing his first book, The Analysis of the Self. Miriam Elson, who edited the tapes of these Student Mental Health Clinic sessions, has provided the reader with an opportunity to get a more intimate and associative view of Kohut's developing thoughts at that important juncture in his work. Most of the seminars are informal lectures and case discussions, so we can view aspects of Kohut's thinking elaborated through personal and clinical vignettes, gain a further understanding of his emerging ideas, and see the origins of thoughts