The author reports on the development of his understanding of and ability to use the modern psychoanalytic technique of following the patient's contact. The analyst in training traces that process in his experience at a field placement site, working with a patient with aphasia. That near-total inability to speak was, of course, a particular challenge in forming a therapeutic relationship in a treatment process that is known as the talking cure. The author examines how, early on, he misunderstood and misused the technique of following the contact. Applying ideas from attachment theory and the concept of play, he explores his development inside and outside the treatment room that enabled him to follow the patient's contact more effectively, which led to the formation of a therapeutic relationship.