The purpose of this article will be to review some self psychological concepts and describe their commonalities and differences with system theories that have emerged under the umbrella of a dynamic systems framework. There are several important elements of self psychological language and theory that cohere with a systems vantage point. There are also elements that are not consistent with a dynamic systems perspective, such as the nuclear self. The concept of the nuclear self has the potential to galvanize psychoanalysts to look for the buried essence of structural properties and a preprogrammed design. It is our view that the language and underlying theory of psychoanalysis should be consistent with the fluidity, variability, and soft assembled nature of a systems viewpoint.