Dr Birch's life was cut short at 53 in a tragic car accident in October 2000. Jim was born in 1947 at Oakham, in Rutland. He trained at Charing Cross Hospital and graduated MBBS (London) in 1970. After taking up a number of posts in psychiatry — adolescent, forensic and adult — he started training to be a psychotherapist. He gained the DPM (England) in 1973 and the MRCPsych and the Dip Psychother (Leeds) in 1976.

Jim then moved to Carmarthen in West Wales where he worked at St David's Hospital, taking a course in Welsh and starting to show an interest, which was to be developed later, in family therapy. He subsequently moved to Sussex but a few years later moved back to Wales and then spent 2 years in Torquay as a clinical assistant. In January 1985 the family emigrated to Australia where Jim worked as a family therapist at the Bouverie Family Therapy Centre in Melbourne. Another spell followed at the Dulwich Family Therapy Centre in Adelaide before his return to the UK in 1988 to the Newcastle area.

This was a man who liked variety, enjoyed travel and was ever enthusiastic about some project or other. He had a childlike interest in life, which never waned and he was innately curious with a practical bent. He had quite an aversion to dogma or rhetoric and was certainly not of the bow tie or monocle brigade. He was a staunch supporter of the Green Party and had even stood for local election.

He will be remembered for many things, not least of which were his love and respect for children; he took a genuine interest in them as equals, joining in their games or interests, from flying a kite to a computer conundrum. He was friendly, outgoing, not people-shy, interested in others: excellent characteristics for a family therapist.

He read widely and liked to know about alternative philosophies of life. He was particularly interested in the meditation aspect of Buddhism. He is survived by his wife Maggie and children Emma, Dylan, Kean and Rosamonde.