Who we are

For the past 100 years psychoanalytic, psychodynamic and systemic thinking has given us some profound understandings of people and how they relate to each other.  SIHR aims to make this body of knowledge available to all professions through postgraduate programmes and services, and encourages its application across the community.  The work aims to facilitate growth in individuals: in their sense of themselves, in their relationships, their workplaces, and cultural environments.  It also works to promote healthy relationships in the family and in organisations.

Founded as an education trust in 1971, The Scottish Institute of Human Relations (SIHR) is a national resource that provides educational programmes and services.  A national charity, it has premises in Edinburgh and Glasgow, with a wide network of practitioners and members.

Understanding human relationships is central to emotional health and well-being, but sustaining and applying that understanding in the work of promoting mental health or social well-being is very demanding.  SIHR, in its role as an educational charity, develops and delivers courses and services for people who respond to such demands in their professional lives.

Our courses and services translate psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, and systemic ideas into practical tools for professionals in the health service, voluntary and faith organisations, and education and social services.