One of the main hallmarks of self psychology, both in theories of development and in psychotherapy theory, is its focus on the critical importance of affect. Kohut's (1971, 1977) conceptualizations of selfobject functions and the method of sustained empathic inquiry underline the affective dimension of self-experience. Kohut viewed the integration of affect states as central to the development of self-regulatory capacities and to the structuralization of self-experience. Several authors have later made important contributions to the field of affect