A Site Visit to Georgia
Helping Countries Assess the Mental Health Status and Needs of their Populations
Welcome to Tbilisi: Meeting the Georgian Team
From June 8 – June 11, 2025, we had the enormous privilege to work directly with our Georgian colleagues in Tbilisi. On the first day, we met with the entire team at the Foundation Global Initiative for Psychiatry – Tbilisi (GIP). GIP is a non-profit organization, led by our colleague Nino Makhasvili, that supports NGOs, governments, universities and international agencies to improve rights-based mental healthcare. Over the past eight months, we have been working with GIP closely on the implementation of the Flexible Interview for ICD-11 (FLII-11) in Georgia. The development of the FLII-11 has been led by our Center, and this was an important and rare opportunity to meet in person after nearly a year on Zoom and to gain a better understanding of their important work in implementing the assessment on the ground. GIP is conducting a national survey of the mental health status of the adult Georgian population, with a special emphasis on internally displaced persons.
WHO Country Office in Georgia
We also had the opportunity to meet with officials at the WHO country office for Georgia to discuss how they can best collaborate with and support GIP in the implementation of this important project.
Club Synergy
One highlight of our trip was our meeting with the team behind Club Synergy. Club Synergy is an amazing organization associated with GIP that provides mental health services to young people and their families free of charge. Their services include individual and group therapy for emotional and behavioral disorders, interpersonal challenges and addictions. Since its inception in 2019, Club Synergy has served over 2500 clients. Club Synergy was selected to receive WHO funding for a smaller project in support of its efforts to use the FLII-11 in this population to improve service provision. We were particularly struck by how beautiful the space was, making it a warm and inviting place to receive care.
Team Bonding
Over the week, we enjoyed several dinners together as a larger team where we were able to relax and unwind over delicious Khinkali and other Georgian delicacies.
FLII-11 Interviewer Briefing
On our last day, we had the chance to meet with the interviewers who will be administering the FLII-11 in the field. This was a valuable opportunity to clarify questions and ensure that the study was ready for implementation before data collection began immediately after our visit. We were impressed and gratified by how engaged the interviewers were and are excited to see the results of the data collection in the coming months.
Until Next Time, Georgia!
Our trip to Tbilisi was made incredibly special by the warmth and hospitality of our collaborators, the excitement we share about this project, and the beauty of Georgia itself. We hope to be back soon!