Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common genetic disease in African-Americans, characterized by recurrent painful vaso-occlusive crises. Standard medical therapies for controlling or preventing crises are limited because of efficacy and/or toxicity. Published studies focus on the frequency of acute pain crises resulting in emergency department use and a number of hospitalizations. However, few studies focus on pain manifestations outside the typical healthcare delivery system. Furthermore, the proportion of patients who are able to self-manage their crises at home without accessing healthcare professionals is unknown. Adjunctive approaches using psychosocial interventions may be effective in further reducing and/or preventing painful crises, as well as in improving quality of life and reducing health care utilization. Recent evidence suggests that learning a cognitive-behavioral intervention centered on self-hypnosis for pain management may be helpful in modulating pain frequency, improving sleep quality, and decreasing use of narcotic pain medications in patients with SCD.