Hypnotherapy and performance coaching for air traffic controllers
Do you find it hard to switch off after a busy session, or to sleep before an early? Is a recent incident or an upcoming assessment playing on your mind? Hypnotherapy can help you stay calm and focused on position, and rest properly between shifts.
Hello, I'm Susannah. I am a fully qualified clinical hypnotherapist and performance coach with 20+ years of experience, offering clinical hypnotherapy in the City of London, near Liverpool Street, and online. I help air traffic controllers at every stage, from trainees heading for validation to experienced controllers, OJTIs and watch managers. I offer a discreet, confidential service, and online sessions by Zoom can fit around your roster. Contact me to find out more or book your initial consultation.
How can hypnotherapy help air traffic controllers?
Hypnotherapy can help air traffic controllers by lowering the stress that builds up over busy shifts, so you feel calm and focused. Controllers often tell me they're great under pressure at work, then wired at home, lying awake and replaying the day. In hypnosis, we work with your subconscious to calm your mind and improve your sleep and focus.
How does performance coaching fit into the sessions?
Performance coaching can help air traffic controllers work on confidence, assessment nerves and how they respond to pressure. We start with a situation you want to handle differently, such as a validation, a return to position or an OJTI assessment. I combine coaching with hypnosis where it suits you, so we can work on both your goals and the anxious responses getting in the way.
What are the benefits of hypnotherapy for air traffic controllers?
The benefits of hypnotherapy for air traffic controllers include feeling calmer on position, sleeping better and enjoying your days off. Hypnotherapy can help you:
- stay calm and clear-headed when the traffic builds
- hold the picture through a busy session
- take a handover in your stride
- switch off when you get home
- fall asleep easily before an early
- sleep well in the day after nights
- feel confident in a validation, check or assessment
- feel settled on position after an incident
- enjoy your days off and time with family
Meet Susannah Saunders: Clinical Hypnotherapist in London
Susannah Saunders is a clinical hypnotherapist with over 20 years’ experience, helping clients with anxiety, sleep difficulties, phobias, confidence and unwanted habits.
She founded City Hypnotherapy Centre in London in 2003 and previously worked for two years as an assistant clinical psychologist within NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. Her qualifications and professional registrations include:
- BSc (Hons) in Psychology
- Senior Qualification in Hypnotherapy Practice (SQHP), General Hypnotherapy Standards Council
- Hypnotherapy Practitioner Diploma (HPD), National Council for Hypnotherapy
- Registered with the General Hypnotherapy Register (GHR). Registration number: 3034
- Registered with the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC). Registration number: CNHC10269
Your appointment
£198Including VAT · approximately 50 minutes
- Individual sessions tailored to you
- Your initial consultation includes hypnosis
- A personalised hypnosis recording included
- Time to discuss your goals and review your progress
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Who does air traffic controller hypnotherapy help?
Air traffic controller hypnotherapy can help controllers at every stage, from trainees at college to experienced controllers, OJTIs, supervisors and watch managers. It suits tower, approach and area controllers, whether you work at a busy centre like Swanwick or Prestwick or a regional airport. It can also help others in aviation who work shifts, such as air traffic service assistants and engineers.
Is air traffic control a stressful job?
Air traffic control can be a very stressful job, because you're keeping aircraft safely separated with everyone on the frequency relying on you. Most controllers love the buzz, and staying calm under pressure is part of the skill. The trouble starts when stress keeps building and there's too little time to recover between shifts.
Photograph by Magda Ehlers on Pexels: control towers at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.
Why is it so hard to sleep before an early shift?
It's hard to sleep before an early because you're going to bed before your body clock is ready, and you're worrying about the alarm. The harder you try to sleep, the more awake you feel, as you watch the clock tick round. Hypnosis and the personalised recording can help you relax and drift off, even with an early alarm set.
Can hypnotherapy help with air traffic control training?
Yes, hypnotherapy can help trainee controllers stay calm and focused through college, simulator training and on-the-job training. Training is intense, with new skills to learn fast and regular assessments along the way. Hypnotherapy can help you feel confident, sleep well and perform at your best when it counts.
Can hypnotherapy help after a critical incident at work?
Hypnotherapy can help you work on the anxiety, sleep difficulties and loss of confidence that can follow a critical incident, alongside your employer's peer support or CISM programme. We talk about how the event is affecting you and agree an approach that suits your needs. Your unit's support team and aeromedical examiner can guide any operational or medical questions.
What hypnotherapy techniques help air traffic controllers?
Hypnotherapy techniques for air traffic controllers include deep relaxation, positive suggestion, anchoring and ego strengthening, chosen to suit you. I also teach you EFT, or tapping, and self-hypnosis, which you can use at home or on a break. Where helpful, we finish with mental rehearsal, picturing a busy session, an assessment or a restful night going well.
What happens in a hypnotherapy session for air traffic controllers?
Each hypnotherapy session combines a solution-focused chat with time in hypnosis, while you sit back with your eyes closed. Your first session is the initial consultation, which includes hypnosis, and later sessions start with what's gone well since we last met. After each session, you have the personalised recording to listen to at home.
What related support can I explore?
Read more about stress, sleep difficulties, anxiety, confidence, presentation nerves, nervous system regulation, executive mindset coaching.
For support across your team, explore my corporate wellbeing workshops and employee services.
What would you like to know about hypnosis and performance coaching for air traffic controllers?
Pressure on position and switching off after work
Air traffic control can be a very stressful job, because you're keeping aircraft safely separated with everyone on the frequency relying on you. Most controllers love the buzz, and staying calm under pressure is part of the skill. The trouble starts when stress keeps building and there's too little time to recover between shifts.
Stress for air traffic controllers comes from heavy traffic, complex situations, bad weather and the responsibility for keeping everyone safe. Long sessions on position, shift work, training and assessments all add to it. Life outside work counts too, because it all fills the same stress bucket.
Losing the picture is when your mental map of the traffic starts to slip and you fall behind. It's an awful feeling, and the fear of it can follow you home long after the shift. Hypnotherapy can help you stay calm, so your mind stays clear when it's busy.
Feeling on edge before a busy session can happen when you start anticipating everything that might go wrong. Your heart races, your stomach churns and your mind jumps ahead to the worst traffic of the day. Hypnotherapy can help you walk into the ops room feeling calm and ready.
Taking over a busy sector means building the picture fast while your colleague talks you through the traffic. When you're tired or stressed, it can feel overwhelming, and you worry about missing something. Hypnotherapy can help you feel calm and focused, so you take each handover in your stride.
You feel wired after a shift because your body is still on high alert, full of adrenaline from hours of concentration. A EUROCONTROL article on stress and fatigue notes that a stressful job combined with shift work can make it harder to switch off. Hypnotherapy can help you come down after work, so you can relax and enjoy your time at home.
You replay the traffic at night because your mind is trying to process the day and check you got everything right. It can feel like you're still on position long after you've gone home, especially after a tricky session. In hypnosis, we help your mind settle and file the day away, so you can rest.
Yes, stress can affect your performance on position by making it harder to concentrate, keep information in mind and think flexibly. You might find yourself second-guessing decisions you would usually make confidently. Hypnotherapy and performance coaching can help you work on feeling calmer and more focused.
Yes, hypnotherapy can help if a fear of making a mistake is following you onto position. Controllers hold themselves to very high standards, because the job demands it, and that can tip into constant worry. In hypnosis, we calm that worry, so you can trust your training and think clearly.
Yes, hypnotherapy can help if nerves make you stumble over your R/T, rush your transmissions or go blank on the frequency. It often happens when you're being assessed, or when the frequency is busy and everyone's waiting for you. Calm breathing and anchoring can help you speak clearly and confidently, even when it's busy.
Feeling snappy at home is a common sign that your stress bucket is full. After hours of staying calm and professional on the frequency, there can be very little left for your family. Hypnotherapy can help you empty your stress bucket, so you feel more patient and present at home.
The summer season is usually the busiest time in air traffic control, with more flights, delays and thunderstorms to work around. Day after day of heavy traffic can leave you running on empty by the end of August. Hypnotherapy before the summer can help you go into it feeling calm, rested and ready.
Yes, experienced controllers can feel anxious too, even after years of handling busy traffic with ease. Anxiety can creep in after an incident, a change of sector or system, a return from leave, or a stressful time at home. It's very common, and hypnotherapy can help you feel calm and confident on position again.
Yes, hypnotherapy can help you feel calm and confident when your unit brings in new systems, procedures or airspace. Learning a new way of working while still handling live traffic can feel unsettling, even for very experienced controllers. Where helpful, mental rehearsal lets you picture yourself working the new set-up smoothly.
Sleep, earlies, nights and fatigue
It's hard to sleep before an early because you're going to bed before your body clock is ready, and you're worrying about the alarm. The harder you try to sleep, the more awake you feel, as you watch the clock tick round. Hypnosis and the personalised recording can help you relax and drift off, even with an early alarm set.
Sleeping after night shifts is hard because daylight and your body clock are telling you to be awake. A dark, cool, peaceful bedroom helps, and so does a regular wind-down routine when you get in. The personalised recording can help you switch off and fall asleep in the day.
You feel sleepy in the early hours because your body clock is at its lowest point, around 3am to 5am. Staying alert can be hardest when the traffic is light at that time of night. Hypnotherapy can help you rest well before your nights, so you feel more alert on position.
Signs of fatigue can include lapses in attention, slower reactions, forgetfulness and finding it harder to keep track of the traffic. Notice changes in your own performance and use your unit's fatigue-reporting procedures promptly. Your supervisor, occupational health team or aeromedical examiner can help you agree the right next step.
Yes, stress can affect your focus, because an anxious mind finds it harder to concentrate. Worries from home, a bad night's sleep or an upcoming assessment can all draw your attention away from the traffic. Hypnotherapy can help you feel calm and clear-headed, so you can give the traffic your full attention.
Hypnosis can help you work on the stress and distracting worries that affect your focus. Hypnotherapy takes place off duty, when you can sit back safely and give the session your full attention. Performance coaching can also help you prepare for the situations in which you want to feel calmer and more confident.
Switching off after a shift is easier with a routine that tells your mind the working day is done. Some controllers use the drive home, a walk or a shower as a line between work and home. I also teach you a quick self-hypnosis technique to calm your mind before bed.
Relying on caffeine is very common in shift work, especially on earlies and nights. Too much can make you jittery and keep you awake when you want to sleep, so the cycle continues. As your sleep improves, one or two coffees at the right time often feel like plenty.
Your days off can disappear into catching up on sleep because a run of shifts builds up sleep debt. By the time your body clock settles, it's time to go back in. Hypnotherapy can help you sleep and recover more easily, so you have energy for the things you enjoy.
Hypnotherapy can help with the stress and difficulty switching off that make sleep around a roster harder. The personalised recording is for off-duty use, when you have time to rest properly. We can work on your sleep alongside the fatigue-management and medical support available through your unit.
Training, validation, checks and returning to position
Yes, hypnotherapy can help trainee controllers stay calm and focused through college, simulator training and on-the-job training. Training is intense, with new skills to learn fast and regular assessments along the way. Hypnotherapy can help you feel confident, sleep well and perform at your best when it counts.
Hypnotherapy can help you stay calm for your validation by lowering your stress beforehand and building your confidence. Validation can feel like everything you've worked towards comes down to this moment, which puts huge pressure on you. Where helpful, we use mental rehearsal, so you can picture yourself working the traffic calmly and confidently.
You can go to pieces when you're being assessed because being watched can set off an anxious response, even when you know the job. Your hands get clammy, your mind goes blank, or you start second-guessing calls you'd make easily on your own. Hypnotherapy can help you feel calm with an assessor plugged in beside you, so you can show what you can do.
Yes, hypnotherapy can help you feel calm before competence assessments, simulator checks and emergency training. Even experienced controllers can feel nervous before a check, especially when it's been a while since the last one. Hypnotherapy can help you go in feeling prepared and confident in your skills.
Yes, hypnotherapy can help OJTIs, who carry the pressure of the traffic and a trainee's progress at the same time. Letting a trainee work the traffic while staying ready to step in takes calm, patient focus. Hypnotherapy can help you stay relaxed, sleep well and keep your own stress bucket low.
Yes, many controllers doubt themselves at times, especially during training or after a difficult session. You might worry that colleagues think you're struggling, or that you only got through by luck. Hypnotherapy can help you quieten your inner critic and trust your skills and training.
You keep replaying an incident because your mind is trying to make sense of it and protect you from it happening again. You may have watched the radar replay and the report is in, but your mind keeps playing it on a loop. Hypnotherapy can help you process what happened, so you can think about it calmly and move forward.
Hypnotherapy can help you work on the anxiety, sleep difficulties and loss of confidence that can follow a critical incident, alongside your employer's peer support or CISM programme. We talk about how the event is affecting you and agree an approach that suits your needs. Your unit's support team and aeromedical examiner can guide any operational or medical questions.
A critical incident is any event at work that leaves you with unusually strong stress reactions. SKYbrary's guidance on CISM says it's defined by how it affects you, whatever the size of the event. So a loss of separation that ended safely can still stay with you, and that's very common.
Feeling nervous going back on position after an incident is very common, and it shows how much you care about the job. You might feel on high alert, double-check everything or dread the same situation coming up again. Hypnotherapy can help you rebuild your confidence, so you feel like your calm, capable self again.
Yes, hypnotherapy can help you feel calm and confident going back to work after parental leave, a career break or time away. Getting back up to speed on a busy sector can feel daunting, even with years of experience behind you. Where helpful, mental rehearsal lets you picture yourself back on position and enjoying the job.
Hypnosis, appointments and confidentiality
Air traffic controller hypnotherapy can help controllers at every stage, from trainees at college to experienced controllers, OJTIs, supervisors and watch managers. It suits tower, approach and area controllers, whether you work at a busy centre like Swanwick or Prestwick or a regional airport. It can also help others in aviation who work shifts, such as air traffic service assistants and engineers.
Air traffic controller hypnotherapy works by lowering your stress, so the calm, clear-thinking part of your brain stays in charge. In hypnosis, we work on the negative stories, thoughts and beliefs at the root of the problem, like worrying you'll lose the picture. Then, where helpful, you mentally rehearse a busy session going well, sleeping soundly and switching off after work.
The stress bucket is a way of picturing how stress builds up over time. Every worry, busy session and short night adds to it, while sleep, rest and support help you recover. We use it as a simple way to talk about what is adding to your stress and how hypnosis can help you feel calmer.
Hypnotherapy techniques for air traffic controllers include deep relaxation, positive suggestion, anchoring and ego strengthening, chosen to suit you. I also teach you EFT, or tapping, and self-hypnosis, which you can use at home or on a break. Where helpful, we finish with mental rehearsal, picturing a busy session, an assessment or a restful night going well.
Anchoring links a calm, focused feeling to a small action, like pressing your thumb and finger together. We create your anchor in hypnosis, and you can use it discreetly before you plug in or on a break.
Each hypnotherapy session combines a solution-focused chat with time in hypnosis, while you sit back with your eyes closed. Your first session is the initial consultation, which includes hypnosis, and later sessions start with what's gone well since we last met. After each session, you have the personalised recording to listen to at home.
The personalised recording is the audio of your hypnosis session, for you to listen to at home between sessions. It's ideal before an early, after a night shift or whenever you need to unwind after a busy day. Listening regularly helps reinforce the positive changes we make together.
People usually finish hypnosis feeling calm and refreshed, and we allow time for you to feel fully awake and settled at the end of your appointment. Arrange sessions and recordings for off-duty time, when you can sit or lie down safely. Before driving or returning to safety-critical work, make sure you feel fully alert and follow your unit's fitness-for-duty procedures.
Calm breathing on a break can help you settle and feel refreshed. I teach self-hypnosis for off-duty use, when you can relax safely and allow time to feel fully alert afterwards. At work, follow your unit's approved break and fatigue-management procedures.
Hypnotherapy and performance coaching for air traffic controllers are private and discreet, with confidentiality explained when we begin. Appointments are arranged directly with me. My ICO registration number is ZB654528, and my privacy policy explains how I look after your information.
Yes, air traffic controllers can have hypnotherapy online by secure, encrypted Zoom, which can make it easier to fit around your roster. You join from home, so you can relax straight afterwards. My online hypnotherapy page has more detail.
The number of sessions varies from person to person, depending on what you'd like to work on. We talk it through at your initial consultation, so you know what to expect.
My fees for hypnotherapy are listed on my prices page, and I'm happy to answer any questions before you book. You can contact me to book your initial consultation.
Research, credentials and performance coaching
Safety bodies like EUROCONTROL recognise stress and fatigue as real challenges in air traffic control, especially with shift work. A 2024 study in the journal Aerospace looked at how rosters affect controllers' sleep quality, alertness and mental workload.
Research suggests hypnosis can help with stress, anxiety and sleep. A 2019 review of studies found hypnosis helped reduce anxiety, and a 2020 trial found group hypnosis, with recordings for home, helped reduce stress. A 2014 study in the journal Sleep found a hypnosis recording increased deep sleep during a nap in women who respond well to hypnosis.
Choose a hypnotherapist with recognised training, clear professional standards and an approach you feel comfortable with. You can ask about qualifications, registrations, insurance, confidentiality and fees before booking. I hold SQHP and HPD qualifications, have practised since 2003, and am registered with the GHR and CNHC.
I'm Susannah Saunders, a clinical hypnotherapist who founded City Hypnotherapy Centre in 2003. I have a BSc (Hons) in Psychology and spent two years as an assistant clinical psychologist in NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. I'm registered with the General Hypnotherapy Register, and I help people in high-pressure roles stay calm, focused and well rested.
Performance coaching can help air traffic controllers work on confidence, assessment nerves and how they respond to pressure. We start with a situation you want to handle differently, such as a validation, a return to position or an OJTI assessment. I combine coaching with hypnosis where it suits you, so we can work on both your goals and the anxious responses getting in the way.
You can work with me as a performance coach and clinical hypnotherapist, with the sessions tailored to what you want help with. Coaching gives us time to explore your goals and how things are going at work; hypnosis lets us work with the thoughts, feelings and subconscious responses connected with those situations. We agree the approach together.
Coaching can help when you know the job but keep second-guessing yourself by working on the worry and self-doubt behind it. We can look at when it happens, how you talk to yourself after a difficult session and what would help you trust your judgement again. Hypnotherapy can be part of that work, particularly when the reaction feels automatic.
Performance coaching can help watch managers and supervisors with confidence, difficult conversations and switching off from the responsibility of the watch. You may be supporting colleagues, managing a busy roster and handling pressure from several directions. We focus on the situations you want help with and your own wellbeing alongside the role.
Hypnosis and coaching sessions can be arranged around your roster, subject to appointment availability. Online sessions by Zoom let you join from home, and we can discuss a suitable time when you enquire. Choose off-duty time with enough space afterwards to feel settled and fully alert.
Your aeromedical examiner or AeMC is the right person to ask about your Class 3 medical, any change in medical fitness and the reporting requirements that apply to you. I can explain what hypnotherapy and coaching sessions involve so you can discuss them with your examiner. We can then plan support with those requirements in mind.
You can check my professional registrations through the CNHC register and my General Hypnotherapy Register profile. My CNHC registration number is CNHC10269 and my GHR registration number is 3034. I hold a BSc (Hons) in Psychology, HPD and SQHP qualifications, trained with CPHT, and founded City Hypnotherapy Centre in 2003.
We review progress against the changes you want to notice in your own life. You might be sleeping more comfortably before an early, replaying the shift less at home, or feeling more confident before an assessment. We discuss what has changed at each appointment and use that to guide our work together.
Where can I read the research and check your registrations?
Page reviewed by Susannah Saunders, clinical hypnotherapist (SQHP, HPD) and performance coach, November 2026.
How can I book my consultation?
Contact me to find out more about hypnotherapy and performance coaching for air traffic controllers, or book your initial consultation.
