Aviation Articles

Deciding to go is the easy part. Finding a therapist for pilots who has read the FAA's rules is where most aviators stall out. Here is what the credentials mean, which questions to ask on the first call, and the answers that should end it.

FAA psychiatric evaluations, psychological evaluations, and neuropsychological evaluations are three different credentials with three different specification documents behind them. Booking the wrong one is one of the most common and most expensive mistakes a deferred pilot makes. An aviation psychologist explains how to tell from your letter which one the FAA is asking for.

Pilots who freeze on a checkride are rarely the ones who skipped the studying. They are usually the ones whose flying had become automatic and then got interrupted by the sound of their own supervision. Here is what the research shows, what the ACS counts as a bust, and what the work to fix it looks like.

Yes, controllers can go to therapy, and the FAA's May 2026 guidance names you specifically. The medical standard is the same one pilots hold. The reporting rules are not, and the differences matter. An aviation psychologist explains.

A childhood ADHD diagnosis or an old prescription doesn't end a flying career before it starts. The FAA sorts ADHD histories into a Fast Track and a Standard Track, and the difference between them is one interview versus days of testing. An aviation psychologist explains who qualifies for each, and why the order you do things in matters most.

A DUI, a positive test, or an honest answer on Item 18 can put a pilot in the FAA's HIMS program. It's not the end of a career. An FAA/HIMS trained aviation psychologist explains the evaluation, treatment, monitoring, and special issuance steps, and what a substance abuse evaluation actually looks at.

Pilots can fly on certain antidepressants. The FAA's Antidepressant Protocol has a short list of approved medications, a stability period, and a defined evaluation path. An aviation psychologist walks through what it involves and what to do before you fill the prescription.

Yes, pilots can go to therapy, and as of May 2026 the FAA says it wants you to. What actually has to be reported, what doesn't, and how to walk in with your eyes open, from an aviation psychologist who used to fly.

For years, pilots hired life coaches because a psychologist felt like a risk to the medical. That was a rational response to the system. In May, the system changed.