Preventive Counseling: VFR's Focus
“Good risk management is about making small corrections early rather than large corrections later.” -FAA
“Safety is not the absence of accidents. It is the presence of systems and practices that prevent them.” -Chesley Sullenberger
You can’t expect to be a perfect pilot flying a perfect aircraft. Instead, you perform preventive maintenance, run a preflight check, and train for an emergent situation. Your expectation and plan should be the same for your mental health. Sometimes when conditions are satisfactory (VFR conditions) we can do a lot to prepare for any difficult conditions we either see coming or ones that catch us unaware. Preventive counseling at VFR wellness teaches you the same strategies you would use if you were treating a psychiatric diagnosis. That way you can avoid mental health concerns ever arising to that level. If life happens and you find yourself in the mental health equivalent of a storm, you already have the well-trained skills to help you safely navigate it to come out on the other side.
Focus areas for Preventive Counseling
Anxiety and Stress Resilience
Emotional Wellbeing
Recovery and Processing Difficult Experiences
Fatigue and Sleep Difficulties
Alcohol and substance use patterns
Communication and Relationships
Cognitive Performance
Career and Professional Development
Burnout and Work-Life Balance
Chronic Pain and Illness
General Wellbeing
How Preventive Counseling is different
Traditional Therapy
- Treatment begins with assessing for psychiatric conditions. Once a diagnosis is given, treatment focuses on its treatment.
- Uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques applied to the specific diagnoses identified.
- Focuses on managing and/or decreasing the psychiatric condition.
- Can move into traditional therapy if agreed upon by client and provider.
Preventive Counseling:
- Treatment skips a diagnostic assessment and instead focuses on the whole picture and what matters to you!
- Uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques flexibly applied to your values and goals to increase general wellbeing
- Focuses on maintaining wellbeing and performance and avoidance of future issues.
- Can move into traditional therapy if agreed upon by client and provider.
Special consideration for Pilots and Controllers
FAA medical applications ask pilots to report counseling visits only when they relate to a psychiatric or substance-use condition. VFR Wellness preventive counseling for reasons such as stress management, life transitions, or maintaining balance, but not psychiatric conditions. If you wish to explore whether or not you meet diagnostic criteria, let your provider know and that service can be provided in a traditional therapy setting. If the focus of preventive therapy arises to the level of a likely psychiatric condition that needs to be addressed, your VFR Wellness provider will refer you to the appropriate traditional therapy service to diagnosis and address this issue. A diagnostic evaluation will not be provided unless agreed upon by both client and provider.