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In his book, The Self and the Ego in Psychotherapy, N. Gregory Hamilton seeks to elaborate on and reemphasize the concept of ego function in object relations theory. He uses an understanding of ego function as an aid to strategy in psychotherapy. In addition, he uses concepts from self psychology and ego psychology to broaden his theory but suggests that his approach in an object relations model avoids significant difficulties with these other theories. This is primarily a book on technique, but Hamilton uses many clinical examples to elaborate his ideas about psychoanalytic theory as well. Each chapter contains transcripts from sessions with various clinicians and patients. Some are patients with medical disorders and severe psychiatric disorders that impact on ego functioning. Each example is interspersed with technical and theoretical discussion. A number of other theorists, including Luborsky (1984), have written about applying concepts from structural psychoanalytic theory to psychotherapy. Hamilton writes about