Virtual-reality self-transcendence (Isness-D)

Domain VII · Transpersonal, psychedelic & altered states · Glowacki, Roebuck Williams, Wonnacott · 2020

What it is

What it is: Isness-D is not a psychotherapy or a manualised treatment. It is a research VR framework (and, through aNUma, a commercial group experience) designed to induce self-transcendent experiences (STEs) without drugs. Participants in different places share one virtual space in which each…

Format

• Session structure in the published study (one session; the methods describe the three phases as an experience of about 50 minutes, while the discussion gives about 70 minutes):
• Group size: 3–5 participants per session (usually 4) plus a facilitator, each participant at a separate node, connected via cloud servers (London, Frankfurt and the Washington DC area in the study); 29 sessions ran across 14 nodes in the San Francisco Bay Area, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Bristol and…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Core idea of change (the developers' account): drawing on Yaden and colleagues, the authors treat an STE as having two ingredients, a dissolving of self-boundaries and a relational sense of unity, and argue both are best produced in a multi-person setting. Because STEs and connectedness have been linked to therapeutic benefit (e.g. lower depressive symptoms) and are reliably occasioned by psychedelics, they propose…
• Regulatory status: Isness-D uses consumer VR hardware and no drug. In the sources used it is a research platform and a commercial wellness/supportive-care product; no regulator approval as a medical device or treatment is reported. A clinician using it is delivering an unvalidated adjunct, and consent should say so.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• grief surfacing; note it for integration.
• pressure to disclose in a group of strangers; offer the option to name it silently.
• lag or frame drops (raise cybersickness risk and break immersion; consider stopping).
• your own urge to 'improve' the experience; the study design relies on light guidance.
• minimising of seizure history; clients seeking a 'psychedelic substitute' to escape acute distress (a reason to defer).

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.