This randomised neurophenomenological study (n=50), conducted by the University of Liege, aims to explore the possibility of inducing a mystical experience through hypnosis.
The trial is recruiting participants aged 18 to 60 who have a good understanding of French and no psychiatric or neurological history. The study involves two groups: the control group, which receives a reading of a mystical experience suggestion without hypnosis, and the experimental group, which undergoes a hypnotic induction followed by a suggestion of a mystical experience.
Various psychological assessments, including the Mystical Experience Questionnaire and the Elkins Hypnotizability Scale, will be conducted to measure outcomes such as mystical experience, hypnotizability, ego dissolution, and altered states of consciousness. The study also evaluates changes in mood, cognition, emotion, and behaviour, and participants will be followed up three months after the experimental session to assess any observed changes.
The estimated study completion date is January 2025, with an enrolment target of 50 participants.
Trial Details
Mystical experience is described as an experience that is unique to everyone, potentially transformative and leaving a mark for many years or even a lifetime. It is characterized by: a loss of self/ego, being with the whole/nature/universe, transcendence, a loss of spatio-temporal reference points, ineffability, peace and joy, a sacred character, and a noetic quality. The mystical experience is one that occurs in the context of non-ordinary states of consciousness such as meditation and the consumption of so-called psychedelic drugs, for example. It would seem, in fact, to correspond to the transformative mechanism of the psychedelic experience. The goal ofthis study is to investigate the possibility of a mystical experience through hypnosis.NCT Number NCT06017388