First, there is a prefatory section on the narrative construction of “the experienced self”; then, an account of both taking and including pleasure in the experienced self and the impediments to doing so; following which, an exploration of how these impediments are grounded in the internal world, where the conditions of pleasure can be disrupted by problematic relations with bad objects and conflicting identifications and standards. Attention is paid throughout these explorations to technical issues, particularly those centered on the interplay of transference and countertransference.