Marty Sapp
Professor
Department of Educational Psychology
Marty Sapp teaches courses and does research in clinical hypnosis, counseling research, counseling theories, and anxiety and stress disorders. He is a licensed psychologist, a fellow of the American Psychological Association, and a member of the Society of Clinical Hypnosis. His primary areas of interest are cognitive-behavioral theories of counseling, adapting counseling theories to African Americans, multicultural counseling, psychological hypnosis, and research methods. He recently completed several studies that standardized hypnotizability measures with African-American college students. With respect to research methods, his interests lie in psychological measurement, effect sizes, confidence intervals, and research designs.
Sapp is the author of "Hypnosis, Dissociation, and Absorption: Theories, Assessment, and Treatment." He also writes and makes presentations about cognitive-behavioral interventions (Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy, REBT) for at-risk and special education students, test anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and guided imagery. He wrote "Psychological and Educational Test Scores: What are They?" This book is designed for quantitatively phobic readers who are forced to interpret test results or scores. He earned M.Ed. and Ed.D. degrees at the University of Cincinnati.
Current Research/Projects
Sapp's current research team, consisting of 8 students ranging from first- through fourth-year doctoral students, is pursuing three projects. The first of these is a study of psychological interventions for the treatment of adults with type 2 diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes has increased, posing an increased risk of cardiovascular disease that tends to shorten lifespan. The literature suggests that combining hypnosis with the standard educational management of type 2 diabetes may be helpful to sufferers. Second, Sapp's research team is investigating the use of hypnosis to improve academic self-concept in college students. The literature suggests that academic performance is positively correlated with academic self-concept,and qualitative literature suggests that hypnosis is an effective means to increase ego strength. The purpose of this study is to use randomized trials to evaluate the effects of hypnosis on college students with respect to academic self-concept and related constructs. The third project examines the anger response of male African-American adolescents. When male African-American adolescents do not reach their goals, they tend to experience damning anger states and trait anger. The purpose of this study is to use an experimental design to test the effects of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy in reducing state and trait anger with male African-American adolescents.
Professional Service (Editorial Boards, Offices)
Editorial Consultant, The Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy and Hypnosis; Executive Associate Editor, Multicultural Learning and Teaching; Editorial Boards - Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, Journal of Counseling and Development, The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Journal of Rational Emotive and Cognitive Behavior Therapy; Ad Hoc Reviewer - Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, The International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning.
Honors
President-Elect of The Society of Psychological Hypnosis, Division 30 of the American Psychological Association; UWM School of Education Faculty Research Award, 2005; Best Applied Paper, Division 30 of the American Psychological Association, 2005; Distinguished Alumnus, University of Cincinnati, College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services, 2004.
Selected Publication
Articles
Ling-Lun C., & Sapp, M. (2012). Classical test theory and item response theory for Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility with African American college students. Sleep and Hypnosis.
Sapp, M. (2012). Reliability, validity, effect sizes, and confidence intervals in multicultural teaching and learning research and scholarship. Multicultural Learning and Teaching, 7(2), 1-19, Article 8.
Sapp, M. (2010). School counseling for African American adolescents: The Alfred Adler approach. Multicultural Learning and Teaching, 5(2), 60-72.
