Enosis Therapeutics has collaborated with Swinburne University and the Psychedelic Society of Belgium to carry out the study – finding that the use of virtual reality (VR) during psychedelic treatment improves therapeutic outcomes.
One of the major challenges faced by psychedelic therapists and patients is the elusive nature of psychedelic insights. Having tools available that can reconnect patients with insights from their experiences gives therapists the capacity to support and guide the process of integrating them into tangible, real-life outcomes.
Enosis, a medical technology and psychedelic research company, is focusing on leveraging VR for the contextual modulation of psychedelic therapy to improve treatment outcomes.
The company’s patent pending neuro-psychological treatment mechanism works by utilising multisensory VR stimulation to anchor elusive psychedelic insights and peak emotions in order to reinvoke them later during the integration process.
Enosis says this enables a deeper, more profound exploration of those potentially life-changing experiences.
To investigate this idea, Enosis has completed the world’s first study on the synergistic application of VR and psychedelics. The study was led by researchers and co-founders of Enosis Therapeutics, Agnieszka Sekula and Dr Prash Puspanathan, and was conducted in the Netherlands.
Primary results from the study showed that Enosis’ bespoke VR scenarios, combined with a guided psychedelic experience within a supportive psychotherapeutic framework, generated high levels of acceptance and satisfaction, as well as reduced pre-session anxiety during the preparation session and increased the recall of psychedelic insights in integration session.
Sekula commented: “The results of our inaugural study are an important first step in scientifically validating the use of VR scenarios in order to anchor key insights and emotions generated during the psychedelic therapy process.
“High levels of satisfaction, combined with therapeutic efficacy, paves the way for an increased focus on innovating context and environment in therapeutic protocols and shows that the implementation of VR may be an appealing solution for therapists, clinics or psychedelic companies.”
The study used the State of Mindfulness and Affect Checklist scores – which represent participants’ transient introspective capacity and intensity of emotional response – finding the scores to be matched and surpassed during the non-drug enhanced integration session with Enosis’ bespoke VR scenario, AnchoringVR.
According to Enosis, the two measures reached over 90 per cent of their maximum scores, both on the dosing day as well as on the VR integration day, suggesting that targeted VR designs can first anchor and then evoke psychedelic-induced psycho-emotional states without the need for repeat dosing. An awe-evoking control VR scenario has not generated this effect.
The study undertook face to face interviews with participants and confirmed the quantitative data suggested. With repeated application of VR, participants were reminded of their psychedelic-induced insights, which they had started to forget even one day after the dosing session.
Dr Puspanathan commented: “Enosis is rooted in evidence-based research that rigorously examines how technology can allow push the boundaries of what is considered possible in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.
“In contrast to passive scene-setting environments or interactive gaming-based scenarios, our data shows that by prioritising a patient-centered experience design combined with carefully constructed clinical protocols, clinicians, scientists, therapists and institutions can utilise VR as a powerful new tool in their efforts to transform patients’ lives.”
Enosis will now begin building on these results to develop and lead the world’s first clinical trial of VR and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, expected to commence in Q4 of 2022.
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