Self-in-Relationship Psychotherapy (SIRP) is a therapeutic model developed by Augustine Meier and Micheline Boivin. It’s built around the idea that core self, relational, and physical-intimacy needs – not just affects, cognitions, and behaviors – influence how clients think, feel, and act.
Both books on this page come from the model’s own creators. SIRP is recent enough that there’s no independent research literature on it yet, outside the institute Meier founded to teach and certify it.
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Self-in-Relationship Psychotherapy: A Complete Clinical Guide to Theory and Practice
Augustine Meier & Micheline Boivin, Routledge, 2022
This is the foundational text laying out SIRP itself.It covers the theory behind treating core self, relational, and physical intimacy needs as central motivating forces. Alongside that, it includes assessment procedures, a dedicated SIRP assessment form, and psychodynamic case formulation built around the model.
The authors present it as transtheoretical, meaning it’s meant to sit alongside a therapist’s existing orientation rather than replace it entirely.
Meier is a certified clinical psychologist and professor emeritus at Saint Paul University in Ottawa, where he founded what’s now the Institute for Self-in-Relationship Psychotherapy. Boivin is a certified clinical psychologist specializing in child, parent, and family work and sits on the Institute’s board.
This is the model’s origin point, so it’s the one to start with. The companion volume assumes you already have this book’s theoretical grounding.
Self-in-Relationship Psychotherapy in Action: Individual, Couple, Family and Child Psychotherapy
Augustine Meier & Micheline Boivin, Routledge, 2024
This book was published two years after the theoretical guide.It applies the SIRP model directly across four clinical contexts: individual, couple, family, and child psychotherapy, rather than adding new theory. Each section works through how the same framework of core needs plays out differently depending on who’s in the room.
Both authors bring the same institutional grounding as the first book: Meier’s decades of clinical research and practice at Saint Paul University, and Boivin’s specific focus on child, parent, and family therapy informing the sections on younger clients.
This is the practical companion to the theoretical guide above, not a standalone introduction. Read the first book before this one if you’re new to the model.