Central to Winnicott's work is his view of the self, especially the notion of a true and false self. This concept has become crucial for the clinical work of many contemporary analysts. Its association with ideas of aliveness, realness, and (in)authenticity speak powerfully to the struggles of many clients and therapists. Yet, despite its wide currency, its rarely a focus of critique. I argue that [1] to grasp his view of the self one needs to understand the ways he ‘radicalized’ Klein's approach to the psyche and [2] to understand the tensions and contradictions between his explicit concept of the self -integrated, independent, true/false—and an expansive view of the self from the vantage point of the psyche. I suggest that this “expansive” concept of the self can neither be reduced to some version of essentialism nor to a multiple-self relational model. For Winnicott, the psyche sustains continuity and identity even as the self negotiates varied situations. I speak of an implicit concept of a protean, cultural self in the work of Winnicott.