By Bert Botta

For those of you who love to fly, you know that once “it’s in your blood,” the passion for flight never leaves. As a retired TWA and NetJet pilot, the passion for flight was still there so I recently began training pilots in aircraft simulators to fly in instrument weather conditions and to get hired at the airlines.

During one of my training sessions, I met a fellow pilot who told me about Gilbert Kliman, M.D. and his wish for a co- pilot to support him in his far-flung travels.

It appears that Gil and I seemed pre-destined to meet, one might even say serendipitously, around some combination of aviation and psychology from the get-go since I am also a Licensed Professional Counselor, in addition to my professional piloting career.

The Meeting and The Man

Gilbert Kliman, M.D.I met Gil at his home in San Francisco recently to interview him for this article. Up to that point we had flown together a few times, with me as his co-pilot and he as the pilot in command.

As I drove over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco to meet him, years of memories from being raised in “The City” flooded through my mind as I pulled up in front of his beautiful home on Divisadero Street, in one of the most beautiful and stately neighborhoods in San Francisco.

Gil lives in a beautiful, totally remodeled, tri-level Victorian home that he and his wife have creatively set up as both home and office where, in addition to running the daily affairs of the Children’s Psychological Health Center, they each see patients on a separate level from their home.

From the first time I met Gil, I knew there was something special about him. His measured, concise, clear manner of speech and lively sense of humor conveyed to me his attention to detail and his deep commitment to and love of his work.

Gil has a “mentoring” quality that I immediately felt and connected with. This is something that is in short supply in most modern day men. It’s something that, as a man, I treasure and most often unconsciously seek out.

Before we started the interview in the lower level cubbies that serve as his agency’s Executive Director’s and video editing offices he leaned over and, true to his pilot persona, gave me a “pre-takeoff briefing” on the importance of protecting the privacy of his clients and the necessity for the strictest confidentiality during our interview.

The seriousness of his tone and his commitment to his clients’ privacy came through to me in somewhat of a contrast to my own, more relaxed code of confidentiality when I was in private practice as a professional counselor. I was impressed and immediately felt a respect for this man that would continue to grow the more I spent time with him.