The Introduction to Volume 8 elicits the key concepts Winnicott was developing in 1967-68, beginning in January 1967 with his talk on his own theories of development at the ‘52 Club, citing those who influenced him and those from whom he acquired ideas. The author proceeds to examine ‘The Use of an Object’, viewed by Claire Winnicott as the culmination of his thinking, a talk given at the NYPSI in November 1968. There is comment on Winnicott’s approach to observation and the scientific method, on culture and playing, and a fuller picture of friends and interests from the 1967 IPA conference. Failures in early development are explored but the main focus is the emergence of the self as real and the recognition of a real object that can be used (from ‘Mirror-role of mother and family’ to ‘The use of an object’) and the parallel between the early mother-infant relationship and the analyst-patient relationship. Thoughts on technique conclude the paper.