ABSTRACT
We’ve looked into the problems you’ve been having with your motor vehicle sir, and we’ve discovered that the problems lie somewhere between the steering wheel and the seat
(Automotive service director, Edinburgh)
This book looks at a number of issues concerning pilot mental health, and in particular the prevalence, assessment and impact of such issues on effective and safe operation of aircraft. In this chapter I will explore how insights into the psychological functioning of pilots can be gained using the process of clinical interviewing. The background for this and its place in an array of assessment techniques are already covered, so this chapter will focus purely on the process and techniques of a key element in assessing pilot mental health – the clinical interview. There does not seem to be much coverage of this topic elsewhere, either clinical interviewing as such, or its application to aviation. Robert Bor has written of its place in a comprehensive assessment of pilot mental health (Bor, 2006), and Ray King goes into detail on the process and techniques for clinical interviewing in his book on aerospace clinical psychology (King, 1999). Much of what follows is based on my own experience of interviewing direct-entry captains and first officers for a major international commercial helicopter operator, although the techniques described are equally applicable to ab-initio assessments and obviously to those for the fixed wing population. In covering clinical interviewing I will also discuss the outcome from the process, looking at formulation and reporting, as clinical interviewing is a means to an end – exploring the mental health of pilots – and that end needs to influence the process and techniques employed, as well as being key topics in themselves. As a result there are three sections to this chapter:
UÊ the process of clinical interviewing UÊ techniques UÊ formulation and reporting.
