Being a ship's counselor does not make one strictly the resident shrink. It is an important position that helps keep everyone, from the captain down to the lowest enlisted man, doing his best for the ship and crew. Duties include counseling individual crewmen; providing periodic performance reports for each crew member; and offering advice on command decisions. Additionally, counselors are also unofficial morale officers, striving to provide ways to keep the mood up on the starship or space station. Morale boosting is a vital duty for counselors serving aboard more battle-prone star ships, such as the Fifth Fleet USS Andorian.

Who makes a good counselor? Anyone with a desire to closely interact with other personnel and who has the ability to make objective evaluations of a given situation. Personal prejudices have no place in a counselor.

Does a counselor have to be empathic or telepathic? No. Although Commander Deanna Troi of the USS Enterprise, an empathic half-Betazoid, has made an indelible impression on the corps of counselors following in her footsteps, one must realize that her skill as a psychologist was not based solely on her ability to read emotions. Indeed, counselors who are empathic and/or telepathic have a more difficult path to follow.

For instance, an empathic counselor is in the recreation area just as a young man walks in who just broke up with his girlfriend. The man is angry, hurt, and possibly feeling worthless. The counselor picks up on this, but must be able to decide if intervention is required. In most cases, it is not. These feelings are typical and natural reactions to a sudden termination of a relationship. A counselor who queries every crewman about every extrasensory perception the counselor intercepts borders on harassment, and is of value to no one. Additionally, just knowing what the person is feeling isn't enough. A counselor must then know how to deal with these feelings.

So while a counselor with extrasensory perceptions may seem to have a leg up on one who does not, it is not so. The quality of the counselor depends on the counselor's training and dedication to his or her position.

And nothing less than a quality counselor is adequate for any ship in the Fleet.