Beyond description: Developing a measure of the awe experience in psilocybin-assisted therapy
Abstract
Scholars suggest awe, an experience characterized by vastness and a need for accommodation, mediates the positive effects of psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT). We aim to develop a mechanism to identify moments of awe. We analyzed video data from a Phase 2 open-label study of psilocybin-assisted group therapy in patients with cancer and depression. We report on two cycles of codebook refinement to illustrate insights provided by each round. Our account claims that awe in PAT requires vastness, and may be ineffable or disrupt cognitive frameworks. This suggests awe is an identifiable feature of PAT and offers ways to measure its expression.
Primary Faculty Mentor Name
Maija Reblin
Status
Undergraduate
Student College
College of Arts and Sciences
Program/Major
Political Science
Primary Research Category
Clinical
Beyond description: Developing a measure of the awe experience in psilocybin-assisted therapy
Scholars suggest awe, an experience characterized by vastness and a need for accommodation, mediates the positive effects of psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT). We aim to develop a mechanism to identify moments of awe. We analyzed video data from a Phase 2 open-label study of psilocybin-assisted group therapy in patients with cancer and depression. We report on two cycles of codebook refinement to illustrate insights provided by each round. Our account claims that awe in PAT requires vastness, and may be ineffable or disrupt cognitive frameworks. This suggests awe is an identifiable feature of PAT and offers ways to measure its expression.