A self-assessment of your relationship with non-ordinary states of consciousness
The GPCA V8 maps your current competencies across fourteen dimensions of psychonautic experience, organized into three tiers. It measures not just what you have done, but how you navigate, integrate, and understand the territory of non-ordinary states of consciousness (NOS).
There are no right or wrong answers. This instrument is a tool for self-knowledge — not a test you pass or fail. Its value comes entirely from the honesty you bring to it.
A note on honesty: Research consistently shows that people tend to rate themselves slightly higher than their demonstrated performance. Where you feel uncertain between two levels, consider anchoring at the lower one — it produces a more useful map.
The GPCA is organized into three concentric tiers — Experience, Function, and Knowledge — each of which can be administered and scored together or independently.
New in V8, the assessment opens with a short demographic section (Tier 0) before the main questions.
Biological sex (required): We ask about biological sex rather than gender identity because sex-based biological differences — hormones, body composition, metabolism — can influence how non-ordinary state experiences unfold and how they are processed and integrated.
Psychonautic profile (optional): A brief multi-select where you can describe how you relate to your practice (Scientific, Therapeutic, Indigenous/Traditional, Biohacker, Neo-Shamanic, Recreational/Social, Spiritual/Existential, Research/Clinical Participant, Religious). You can choose as many as apply.
These responses are used for cohort analysis only. They do not affect your assessment score.
You may pick a single option, or if you feel that multiple options are applicable, you can pick all that apply and even assign a confidence. If no confidence is assigned, it will be assumed to be 100%. Your output from that item will be the weighted average.
Scoring: Each option is scored A=1, B=2, C=3, D=4, E=5. If you select a single option, your score for that question is its value. If you select multiple options with confidence levels, your score is the confidence-weighted average across your selections.
The assessment is divided into fourteen dimensions across the three tiers, each accessible from the tab bar at the top of the page. You can move between dimensions freely at any time — your answers are never lost when switching tabs.
Tip: There is no time limit and no penalty for pausing. Taking breaks between tiers, especially before more demanding dimensions, can meaningfully improve the quality of your reflection.
Questions are written in four formats to keep the assessment varied and access different aspects of your experience:
Each question is tagged with one of three meta-tracks, allowing your results to be broken down by competency type:
You don't need to do anything with these tags while completing the assessment — they contribute to your results report automatically. Your results will show separate indices for each meta-track, in addition to your overall and per-tier scores.
Each question has a Feedback button in the top-right corner of its card. If you find a question confusing, ambiguous, or worth flagging for any reason, click it and leave a note. Your feedback travels with your submission and helps us refine future versions of the instrument.
Examples of useful feedback: "Unclear what 'titration' means here," "Options C and D feel like the same thing," "This question doesn't apply to my type of practice," or any other observation that would help improve the wording.
This is not a performance. Nobody is watching your score, and a higher score isn't the goal — an accurate one is.
Future versions of this assessment will include an invitation to record a short verbal reflection at the end. This will be entirely optional and used only for qualitative research, with your explicit consent.
When introduced, audio recordings will never be used for scoring. They will contribute only to qualitative research conducted by Sensoria Research, and only with your explicit consent.
Estimated time: 45–75 minutes, depending on whether you take time to consider multiple options and assign confidence levels per question.
Structure: 14 dimensions organized into 3 tiers, navigable in any order from the tab bar.
Saving progress: Your answers and feedback are saved automatically as you go. Use the Resume button on return to jump directly to where you left off.
Environment: Complete this somewhere quiet, without time pressure. The quality of your results is directly proportional to the quality of your attention.
Confidentiality: Your individual responses are confidential and will not be shared outside of the Sensoria research team without your consent.