Table Of Content“This volume highlights a transtheoretical approach to psychotherapy, most
relevant to therapists of all orientations, and deals with the importance of needs
in influencing how patients think, feel, and act. At the core of this approach is the
role that the satisfaction of a person’s interpersonal and intrapersonal needs plays
in psychological well-being. The interventions described are not school-based in
nature, and are richly illustrated with clinical material that brings to life key
conceptual issues that speak to therapists of varying theoretical orientations.”
Marvin R. Goldfried is a distinguished professor of Psychology at Stony Brook
University, Stony Brook, New York, USA
“A truly integrative model of psychotherapy from conceptualization through
treatment! With illustrative case studies, Dr. Meier and Ms. Boivin’s developmental
model of Self in Relationship Psychotherapy goes beyond symptom management,
guiding therapists to a deeper understanding of their clients’ presenting issues,
enhancing their ability to help make meaningful lasting change. This book will be a
frequent reference for our team!”
Dr. Rebecca Moore is a clinical psychologist and director of the Kanata Psychology and
Counselling Centre
“This is a truly refreshing and remarkable piece of work. The Self-in-Relationship
Psychotherapy approach identifies core unmet self, relational and physical
intimacy needs as the root of psychological dysfunction. It is a developmental
and relational approach to psychotherapy that integrates complex theories to
promote an understanding of how early developmental relationships and
experiences impact later adult functioning. The theory underlying the approach
provides clinicians with an effective lens to conceptualize and treat the most
difficult cases presented in therapy. Of the numerous approaches I have learned
throughout my career, the Self-in-Relationship Psychotherapy approach has been
game changing in my academic, supervision and clinical practice.”
Shelley Briscoe-Dimock is a clinical professor and supervisor based in Ottawa,
Ontario, Canada
“When I started graduate studies in psychotherapy, I was curious about
understanding the client’s struggles in-depth whilst having a structure in place
that is rooted in theory and is easy to grasp. This book came at the right time, and
I can confidently say that it has been extremely helpful in grounding me in
addressing clients’ core struggles with a special focus on clients’ core needs. In this
way, this book helped me look beyond behavioral challenges and aided me in
addressing the heart of the matter in a timely manner. I highly recommend this
book, as a must read, to clinicians and to graduate students in psychotherapy.”
Sogol Kafi is a Ph.D. candidate at Saint Paul University, Ottawa,
Ontario, Canada
Self-in-Relationship
Psychotherapy
In this innovative book, the authors set out their theory of Self-in-Relationship
Psychotherapy (SIRP), advocating for the integration of relational, self, and
physical intimacy needs in the conceptualization and treatment of psychological
problems, placing human needs at the center of treatment.
This marks a shift in how psychological and relational problems are
understood, currently being perceived in terms of affects, cognitive
processes, and behaviors. Using numerous illustrations from their own
clinical practice, Meier and Boivin contend that this understanding
overlooks the pivotal role that needs play in all aspects of peoples’
personal lives and relationships. Children, adolescents, and adults do not
live primarily from feelings and thoughts, but from basic psychological and
relational needs, such as wanting to be in a meaningful relationship, having
the autonomy and freedom to make decisions about their lives, experiencing
being competent, being regarded as a significant and important person and
experiencing emotional, intimate and sensual and/or sexual contacts. By
taking such an approach, this book stands out among other books on
psychotherapy theories.
Authored by two seasoned psychologists, who have provided therapeutic
services to children, adolescents, and adults for 40 years, this book comprises
the foundational theory for practicing Self-in-Relationship Psychotherapy,
making it of interest to graduate students, clinicians in training, and practicing
psychologists, social workers, and psychotherapists alike.
Augustine Meier is a certified clinical psychologist, individual, couple, and
family therapist, researcher, author, and Professor Emeritus at Saint Paul
University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He is the founder of the Institute for
Self-in-Relationship Psychotherapy.
Micheline Boivin is a certified clinical psychologist, child, parent, and family
psychotherapist, researcher, and author based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She
is a board member of the Institute for Self-in-Relationship Psychotherapy.
Self-in-Relationship
Psychotherapy
A Complete Clinical Guide to
Theory and Practice
Augustine Meier and
Micheline Boivin
Cover image: Anna Efetova; gettyimages
First published 2022
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Augustine Meier and Micheline Boivin
The right of Augustine Meier and Micheline Boivin to be identified as
authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Names: Meier, Augustine, 1933- author. | Boivin, Micheline, 1950- author.
Title: Self-in-relationship psychotherapy: a complete clinical guide to
theory and practice / Augustine Meier and Micheline Boivin.
Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge,
2022. | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2022002478 (print) | LCCN 2022002479 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781032224121 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032224152 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003272502 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Self psychology. | Psychoanalysis.
Classification: LCC BF175.5.S44 M45 2022 (print) | LCC BF175.5.S44
(ebook) | DDC 150.19/5--dc23/eng/20220120
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022002478
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022002479
ISBN: 978-1-032-22412-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-22415-2 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-27250-2 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003272502
Typeset in Times New Roman
by MPS Limited, Dehradun
This book is Dedicated
To our Parents
Leopold Meier & Rosa Meier, née Bineider
Raymond Boivin & Rita Boivin, née Tremblay
Contents
Acknowledgments xviii
Introduction xx
PART I
Theoretical Aspects 1
1 Theoretical Foundations 3
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) 3
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory 4
Conscious and Unconscious Continuum 4
Motives – Instincts 4
Psychic Organization 5
Personality Development and Its Dynamics and Stages 7
Freud’s Theories of Affect 8
Psychosexual Stages of Personality, Fixations, and
Regressions 9
Psychopathology 9
Treatment 10
Melanie Klein (1882–1960) 11
Theoretical Constructs 12
Instincts and Human Motive 12
Inner World of Phantasy 13
Good Mother and Bad Mother and Splitting 13
Division of World into Benevolent and Malevolent
Objects 14
Projective Identification 14
Developmental Positions 14
Greed, Envy, and Gratitude 15
