In the past year I presented to more than 40 psychology classes
about hypnosis as an altered state of consciousness. I also entertained at after prom and all-night
graduation parties hosted by nearly 20 schools in the Washington, DC area. My guess is I’ve hypnotized more than 500
high school students.
This is a whole lot of time spent with teenagers, which
afforded me the opportunity to have some interesting and insightful
conversations about their views about the world. Here are three take-aways from those
conversations:
1. Kids are
super-stressed and, in many instances, it is self-induced. There is credibility in everything you’ve probably
read about
teen stress.
I have been
consistently caught off guard by the level of anxiety high school students have
personally shared with me.
It’s the usual
suspects – academics, athletic performance, after school activities and peer
relationships.
It is an easy out to
blame social media.
My view is that it merely intensifies the
real problem.
Like many of us, teenagers
create an expectation of perfection.
That pursuit sets a person up for failure and disappointment.
2. There is a high
level of interest in strategies and tools for health. Rather than accepting stress and anxiety, many
of the high school students I have spoken with are proactive in learning about
approaches to take ownership of their wellness.
I consistently field thoughtful questions while on campus or at an
event. Readership on this blog ticks up
after every one of my on-campus presentations.
3. Teens are
intrigued about hypnosis -- what it is (and isn’t). When performing for adults, I often combat
long-standing misconceptions about hypnosis.
That’s typically not the case with high school audiences who come to a
presentation much more open-minded.
Hypnosis isn’t the right tool for every student and some are
skeptical. However, often they are willing
to listen and consider.
Here are links to a three-part series of articles with
verbatim feedback from students at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, MD about
my presentation on hypnosis for health and wellness:
 |
| Teens try hypnosis at Montgomery Blair High School's After Prom party in May 2019. |
