Content area
Full Text
Hypnosis has applications for at-risk African American high school students. Sapp (2004b), Sapp and Hitchcock (2001), and Sapp and Hitchcock (2003a, 2003b) have presented extensive group and individual data on hypnotizability with African American college students, but there are not articles that describe applications of hypnosis with at-risk African American high school students. This article explores applications of hypnosis with at-risk African American high school students, and it expands the multicultural application of this procedure. (Sleep and Hypnosis 2004;6(2):93-99)
Key words: hypnotizability, African American high school students, adolescents, at-risk
INTRODUCTION
This article discusses applications of hypnosis with at-risk African American high school students. This paper is divided into the following sections: Hypnosis With European High School Students, Test Anxiety in Academically At-Risk African American College Students, Test Anxiety with At-Risk American High School Students, Hypnosis with African American College Students, Hypnosis: Applications for Academically At-Risk African American High School Students, and Conclusions.
Hypnosis With European High School Students
Several studies have reported applications of hypnosis with European high school students. Hart (1) reported the effects of hypnosis used in a group context to manage examination anxiety. Twenty-eight British students, between the ages of 13-17, attending an examination anxiety workshop received 30 minutes of hypnosis, and students at a 4-month follow-up reported that hypnosis was helpful in controlling anxiety before and after the examination. Nath and Warren (2) used hypnosis as an adjunct to cognitive-behavior therapy and a stress management program for anxiety and stress with of high school students in England. Students reported less anxiety after the program, and their neighbors reported changes in these students.
Stanton (3) examined the effectiveness of a 5-step self-hypnosis technique in reducing test anxiety with 40 Australian high school students. Students were matched on gender and scores on the Test Anxiety Scale and were randomly assigned to an experimental and control group. Students in the experimental group learned self-hypnosis. Follow-up data after 6 months found a significant reduction of test anxiety for the hypnosis group but not for the control group. Benson (4) described how hypnosis could be used by school psychologists in England, and she provided several case studies of how hypnosis could be applied within a high school setting. Stanton (5) reported the effectiveness of...