The Scottish Institute of Human Relations (SIHR) was an organisation founded in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, in 1972, to promote a broader understanding of mental health and training in

Talking therapies Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome prob ...

. Its origins go back to the practice of Dr W.R.D. Fairbairn, the Scottish psychoanalyst, and the return to Scotland in 1968 of Dr

J. D. Sutherland John Derg Sutherland (23 April 1905 – 14 June 1991), also known as Jock Sutherland, was a Scottish physician, psychoanalyst and theorist, notable also for his role as Medical Director of the Tavistock Clinic. Life and career John "Jock" Derg Su ...

, one-time medical director of the

Tavistock Clinic The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health trust based in north London. The Trust specialises in talking therapies. The education and training department caters for 2,000 students a year from the United Kin ...

in London. Other founding contributors included T. Drummond Hunter, a senior NHS administrator, the educationalist Alan Harrow, the philanthropist Sheila Oppenheim, the

Kirk Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning "church". It is often used specifically of the Church of Scotland. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it. Basic meaning and etymology As a common noun, ''kirk'' ...

minister and son-in-law of

Lord Reith Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

, Murray Leishman, and the psychiatrist, Dr J.

Douglas Haldane (Johnston) Douglas Haldane MBE, FRCPsych (born 13 March 1926 in Annan, died 19 July 2012 in St. Andrews) was a pioneering Scottish child psychiatrist, who established Great Britain's first department of Child and Family Psychiatry in 1960 in C ...

. The Institute ran conferences and courses, modelled on the multidisciplinary and

psychoanalytic PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might be ...

thinking of its sister organisation in London. It was, however, entirely independent with the benefit of having connections to members of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, government and enterprises in Scotland and its own independent educational and judicial systems. In the 1990s it opened an office in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

to broaden its reach in Scotland. It ran successfully for 40 years. Due to insolvency, it was obliged to wind up in 2012 and was finally dissolved in 2014.

References

External links

Human Development Scotland

Scottish Association of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapists
(SAPP)
Edinburgh University Social Work Department connection with SIHR on its 2018 centenary
1972 establishments in Scotland 2014 disestablishments in Scotland Former mental health organisations in the United Kingdom Organisations based in Edinburgh Defunct organisations based in Scotland History of Edinburgh {{psychology-stub