That reminds me of a doctor at my old flight school who had me act as "chaperone" on his IFR flights in his Bonanza. First, he was WISE to do this, understanding that they don't call the V-tail the "forked tail doctor killer" for nothing. You can venture off into IMC the same way, with an experienced instrument pilot/instructor at your side. You can block your view of the GPS with a piece of cardboard, while allowing for the extra precision and redundency of the GPS to be in view of your backup pilot. Use the autopilot ONLY enough to become familiar with it.
This pays big dividends, for example: a couple of days ago, I unexpectedly had to fly with the company president/check airman on a part 91 flight with the airplane owner. I had to hand fly the jet 100%, no autopilot up to FL 260 and shoot an ILS in instrument conditions. Not a tall order, but I had just watched six different captains setting and using the autopilot for several months. To say that my instrument scan and skills had deteriorated is an understatement. Lesson: there is no substitute for raw data on a regular basis. I'm going to schedule myself for a dozen or so hours of sim training before I consider a type rating or my ATP practical ride.
Back to the doctor: he had a habit of clamping a Garmin handheld onto the yoke of the Bonanza, even during training flights. He was addicted to the picture. Friends, if you want to be good instrument pilots, you must develop the ability to visualize your position in your MIND, using the nav data to construct a "situational awareness" picture in your head. I fear for this guy the day he doesn't take along one of the working instructors at my old field, goes into IMC, and has this GPS unit go belly-up.
"keep your scan moving...."