About us

Georgian National Gestalt Institute (GNGI)

Accredited by the European Association for Gestalt Therapy (EAGT), the Georgian National Gestalt Institute (GNGI) is the first professional institute in the field of psychotherapy in the Caucasus to receive international institutional recognition and become integrated into the European professional community.

In 2016, the Institute's graduates became the first psychotherapists in Georgia and the Caucasus to receive European Association for Gestalt Therapy (EAGT) accreditation in psychotherapy, marking a historic milestone for the region (www.eagt.org).

The founder and director of the Institute is Professor Dimitri Nadirashvili, Doctor of Psychological Sciences, recipient of the Dimitri Uznadze Scientific Prize, and an EAGT-accredited Gestalt therapist. Professor Nadirashvili introduced and promoted the Gestalt therapy method in Georgia, established its teaching at both institutional and university levels, and authored the first Georgian-language textbook on Gestalt therapy, Existential Gestalt Therapy (2007).

The second textbook was published under the auspices of the Georgian National Gestalt Institute. It was co-authored by Professors Dimitri Nadirashvili and Tea Gogotishvili. As the first EAGT-accredited psychotherapists in Georgia and the Caucasus, they have played a leading role in bringing the achievements of the Georgian school of psychology and Gestalt therapy into the international professional community.

The history of the Georgian National Gestalt Institute is closely connected with Dimitri Uznadze's 'Theory of Set' and the Georgian school of psychology that he founded.

In 1943, Dimitri Uznadze established the first scientific research institute of psychology in the Soviet Union, later renamed the D. Uznadze Institute of Psychology. Since the 1990s, Professor Dimitri Nadirashvili has headed the Department of Clinical Psychology at the Institute. Together with his research team, he has investigated the psychological mechanisms of social attitudes in psychotherapy, including Gestalt therapy.

During the 1990s, Professor Nadirashvili incorporated the theory and methodology of Gestalt therapy into the educational programs of the D. Uznadze Institute of Psychology. Until the establishment of the Georgian National Gestalt Institute in 2011, he taught Gestalt therapy at the Tbilisi Psychological Training Institute and later at the Institute of General, Applied and Clinical Psychology. Graduates of these institutions, accredited by the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, introduced the Gestalt approach into organizations, schools, healthcare institutions, and other professional settings, contributing to the steady development of Gestalt therapy throughout Georgia.

In 2011, with the aim of introducing European professional standards in the field of psychotherapy in Georgia, Professor Nadirashvili founded the Georgian National Gestalt Institute, where he began teaching Gestalt therapy in accordance with international standards.

Since its establishment, the Institute has enrolled new groups of students each year who wish to study psychotherapy and obtain a European professional qualification in Gestalt psychotherapy. The Institute delivers the EAGT-standard training programme, and upon successful completion, graduates become eligible to receive EAGT accreditation and gain international professional recognition.