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Seeing the counselor -ATTN CNS-

Posted May 5, 2022, 2:05 p.m. by Ensign Lyndzie Angel (Doctor, Sub-DH Xeno Biology) (Christopher Logan)

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Vanessa Slade (CNS) in Seeing the counselor -ATTN CNS-

Posted by Ensign Lyndzie Angel (Doctor, Sub-DH Xeno Biology) in Seeing the counselor -ATTN CNS-

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Vanessa Slade (CNS) in Seeing the counselor -ATTN CNS-
Posted by… suppressed (75) by the Post Ghost! 👻
As the ensign come by after her shift was done in sickbay, she then chimed the counselors ringer. She then stood there to await a response.

Ensign Angel

“Come in,” Vanessa called clicking off the com call she had spent the last hour bantering about with the person on the other end. It wasn’t official business but let over details from previous cases she had worked. She would continue the call after. Standing up from her desk, Vanessa moved across the floor to greet the person entering her office. She always did this the first time she met with someone.

Vanessa Slade CNS

The ensign walked in and saw the CNS. She the. Said “hey. Uh we talked in sickbay when I was helping you out. There was something that I was wanting to discuss with you.” She said to the CNS.

Ensign Angel

“Absolutely,” Vanessa gestured to the seating area in her office. There was a couch and two chairs all arranged so that no matter what seat someone chose, everyone could see each other and converse. Since there was only one person, Vanessa sat in one chair. That allowed Angel to pick either the couch or the chair next to Vanessa.

“So what can I do for you Ensign Angel,” she asked relaxing back in her seat.

Vanessa Slade CNS

“Well counselor. There’s something that has been on my mind for so long and I have had a crush but she left me. And I’ve felt like no one would ever be with me. I’ve been wondering have you ever been feeling like that you aren’t loved by anyone?” She asked.

Ensign Angel

“Sentient beings almost universally need some sort of connection to others. Tell me about your connection to,” Vanessa left the sentence open-ended hoping Angel would fill in a name. Having a name made it more personal. Vanessa wasn’t sure if it was an esoteric question or if Angel really was wondering what happened in her connection to the other person. Only time would let Vanessa know which one it was.

Vanessa Slade Counselor

“Well to be honest counselor, the one who it was their name was Jasmine.” She really missed her so much.

Ensign Angel

“So tell me about her,” Vanessa stated. The key to a successful session was getting the client to do the talking. Hopefully, the more Angel talked about Jasmine, the more Vanessa could help the ensign.

Vanessa Slade counselor

“Well counselor. She was nice, beautiful, someone who cared. She is one of those lovable type people that cared about the one she was with. I was too. But somehow I was at class and she was in bed asleep. Her class schedule was a whole lot different then mine and so she was killed in her sleep. I don’t know how she was just gone.” She said as she was about to break down in tears.

Ensign Angel

“The loss of someone is devastating and that much more so when it comes so unexpectedly. This happened at the academy,” she let her voice raise slightly encouraging Ensign Angel to talk more. Slade didn’t care if it was about Jasmine or the relationship between Angel and Jasmine or even if it was about the day. If she could get Angel to open up, they would be able to explore whatever was on the ensign’s mind and start the acceptance process.

Vanessa Slade

The ensign nodded. “Yes CNS. It was during the academy. I lost her it’s something I never really wanted to mention anything cause it is super hard for me to open up CNS.” She didn’t know what to say cause it was super hard for her to open up.

Ensign Angel

Ensign Angel was definitely going to need much more rapport-building before they started to get to the heart of the issues. Moving off the topic of Jasmine, Vanessa reclined back in her seat. “Tell me why you like being a doctor and not just the I want to help people line. That is a cop out. Everyone says that. Why do you get up and out of bed everyone morning saying yes I am so glad to go to work today.”

Vanessa Slade counselor

“Well CNS. Being a doctor inspired me yes to help people out and everything. But I feel like that being a doctor that helps can be something that all starships need. Heck, starfleet command needs doctors cause they can heal wounds bring people back to health.” She said.

Ensign Angel

“Yes but what made you want to be a doctor,” Vanessa tried to narrow down the questions. She wanted Angel to talk about herself so that Vanessa could find out more about the woman and try to help her. “Tell me about you.”

Vanessa Slade

“Well I am a very lovable person. I’m someone that wanted to go starfleet and be an officer on board. I’m glad that I am one cause I wanted to serve.” She said.

Ensign Angel

“What else have you wanted to do,” Vanessa asked the Ensign. This was exactly what she needed from the ensign. She wanted to learn more about Angel.

Vanessa Slade

“Well counselor to be honest I don’t know cause there’s a lot that I want to do. The reason why I say that is cause stuff hasn’t been going so well. With being in sickbay, it’s been super quiet and with nothing to do.” she said.

Ensign Angel

“Well let’s try to define stuff,” Vanessa said in a warm tone. “At times it can seem so overwhelming. Name one thing that hasn’t been going so well,” she suggested.

Vanessa Slade counselor

“Well uh let’s see relationships.” She said. Cause she hasn’t really thought of anything else that hasn’t gone super well.

Ensign Angel

“Personal or professional and give me a specific example of how it is not working the way you would like it to and an example of how you would want it to work out.”

Vanessa Slade Counselor

“Well counselor that’s the thing I don’t know how to make anything work personally cause no one wants to work it out. Honestly, to say, it’s hard to fit into anything right now. Due to the fact I’m working in sickbay and being a sub Department head in the science field in the science labs so it’s hard for me to do anything with myself. Like having some free time or something.” She said.

Ensign Angel

“Let’s break this into two parts. Let’s start with your statement about no one wants to work it out? What do you mean by that,” Vanessa shifted in her seat and tucked her feet up under her. There were two issues here Angel spoke of. She would start with one and move to the other.

Vanessa Slade

“I don’t think that I ever said no one wants to work it out. What I said was I don’t know how to work it out.” She said to the counselor. She was a little confused and doesn’t know what to say at all cause the ensign is a very confusing person.

Ensign Angel

Vanessa took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was not mad at the ensign but just wanted to help her only they were getting no where. “Okay so on counseling it’s a time for you to talk and me to listen. You need to be a clear as you can without what you want. Then i Can give suggestions or ideas on how we can solve the issue together. That means I am going to ask open questions like “do you like eating at the mess hall but you need to give me more than just a single answer of yes. So let’s forget everything and start over,” Vanessa said smiling. “Let’s start with give me 10 sentences to describe Jasmine. Tell me why she was special in ten sentences and expand in the idea nice. Don’t just say nice,” Vanessa tried to help the ensign focus on what Vanessa needed to help her. “Tell me she is nice but also what she did that was nice. For example. The xo is a really nice guy. He made me coffee. Can you tell me in ten sentences why Jasmine was nice?”

Vanessa slade

“Well counselor my parents for one. I uh haven’t seen or heard from them in years and I feel like that they were either killed or MIA. I don’t know.” She said to the counselor as she didn’t really want to talk about it. But it was something she had too.

Ensign Angel

“We are free to talk about both but what do you want to talk about first your parents or Jasmine,” Vanessa asked.

Vanessa Slade CNS

“Jasmine first if that’s okay with you counselor.” As she mentioned to the counselor. Though she was really afraid to talk about her cause it was a little painful to talk about but she wanted to talk it out.

Ensign Angel.

“That is perfectly okay,” Vanessa relaxed back into her chair. “It is okay to be afraid to talk about things but tell me exactly where you both met. Not at school or at work but set the scene for me. Can you answer these three questions? Where did you meet her? What was she doing the first time you met her? When did you meet her?

Vanessa Slade

“We met somewhere I don’t remember. She was looking at me cause she thought that I was super hot and what not and that’s what happened. Time was like around midnight if I remember corrected I think. I don’t remember. It was so long ago.” She tried her best to explain. “It is hard to say cause of the time period Counselor.” She said.

Ensign Angel

“Tell me what do you mean it is hard to say because of the time period? What specifically was going on then,” Vanessa asked.

Vanessa Slade CNS

“Well counselor the thing is we were being super flirty that we um you know and uh yeah. So after I graduated from the academy I thought she’d be there but she wasn’t and I was hoping she’d be there for me. But she never was.” She said as she was never wanted to say it.

Ensign Angel

“People let people down all the time but you can’t let them keep you down,” Vanessa said in a confident tone. “If she does not see you for all your wonderful assets and accomplishments then you don’t need her. I will prove it. Name one thing you have done since the academy.”

Vanessa Slade CNS

“Possibly nothing. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I don’t need her. I don’t need her at all.” She said to the counselor. “She was someone that I loved but then afterwards I thought that it wasn’t right.” Looking at the counselor.

Ensign Angel

“Your inner gut is usually right about most things. We just tend not to listen to it. So tell me something about you,” Vanessa said.

Vanessa Slade Counselor

“Yes counselor. Of course. But like what though?” As if she wasn’t aware of the counselor meant by telling something about herself. She wasn’t someone that would normally do that.

Ensign Angel

“Any thing you want,” Vanessa said. “You know this is the first time I met you. I know nothing about you so tell me something you want to share?”

Vanessa Slade Counselor

“Well I am a very nice person and I’m just sad that I don’t have the one that I love with me is all that’s why. I don’t know where my parents went.” She said.

Ensign Angel.

“Tell me ten things about your parents that you remember,” Vanessa said.

Vanessa Slade CNS

“I don’t remember anything about them is the issue. They left after everything. And they aren’t to be found.” She said to the counselor.

Ensign Angel

“When is the last time you saw them,” Vanessa asked.

Vanessa Slade CNS

“The last time I saw them was before I went to the academy.” She said as she was looking a little sad about it.

Ensign Angel

“Tell me more about that,” Vanessa said. She didn’t know if Angel was uncomfortable talking to her or not but she needed to get the woman to tell her more than a single sentence if Vanessa was ever going to understand what was going on.

Vanessa Slade CNS

“Counselor. It’s hard for me to talk about this stuff. I know it’s hard for me to open up. They didn’t want me to go to the academy cause they thought that it would go against their wishes. Which it did. So they just went up and left.” She said.

Ensign Angel

“Well, maybe one day you can reach out to them one day. People change. Have you tried to contact them?”
Vanessa Slade CNS

“Counselor. I don’t want to ever talk to my parent’s again. They hate me and I hate them. I don’t want anything to do with them.” She said.

Ensign Angel

“Fair enough,” Vanessa said slightly confused by Angel’s reaction and words. The woman had brought up her parents twice but each time she then said she wanted nothing to do with them. “So what do you want to talk about?”

Vanessa Slade CNS

“Honestly I don’t know counselor. It’s very hard for me to think without thinking about Jazmine.” She said tot counselor as if she didn’t want to talk about Jazmine.

Ensign Angel

“Okay then tell me about her?” Vanessa felt slightly confused herself. The conversation seemed to just be spinning in place with statements rather than questions that she could help the Ensign work through.

Vanessa Slade CNS

“What do you want me to say? All I remember is that she was a very nice person and that we had a crush and started to date. But something else before she died, when I left to be assigned to a ship, she cheated on me with another girl.” She said while looking away.

Ensign Angel

Vanessa took a deep breath. Times like this were hard. How to balance the needs of someone that wanted to talk but not ready to talk. “I don’t want you to say anything,” Vanessa said in a neutral tone. “Sessions are designed so that you,” she pointed at Angel, “are able to come in and talk about anything and everything you want to. It’s okay if you aren’t ready to share though. Hell, we don’t even have to talk. We can sit here and drink coffee.” Vanessa was bubbly and fun and silly but she could also be firm when needed. “My job is to support you and listen. You job is to talk, share, vent, heal....basically feel whatever you want. My job is to listen.” Leaning back in her seat, Vanessa took a long sip of her coffee and got comfortable. Peppering the ensign with questions was not therapy. It was an interrogation technique. If sitting and drinking coffee with Angel for ten-sessions was what was needed to build rapport then that was what Slade would do until the Ensign started leading the conversation instead of being a passive participant in it.

Vanessa Slade

“I’m sorry counselor. I shouldn’t have lashed out like that. I just miss her so much I don’t know what to do and I’m all alone without her.” She said.

Ensign Angel

“It’s nothing to be sorry about Ensign. That is why you are here. You however have a choice. You let it dominate your life or you dig deep, change your focus and grow from the experience.” Vanessa was more of the tough love kind of therapist. She did not see the point in dwelling past a customary grace period. Once that was over it was time to make changes. The question was how long was Angel going to dwell in the past and not move forward.

Vanessa Slade

“Counselor. I need help. How can I move past from all of this?” She asked as she was looking away. She was afraid that she might end up letting affect her time on board and not focus on work.

Ensign Angel

“Well, the first step is accepting the reality of the situation. That doesn’t necessarily mean things will always be this way with you or with the other person but it does mean understanding what is happening and accepting it. How do you see your reality right now?”

Vanessa Slade

“Well I do accept the reality of everything. I don’t want it to let it affect me at all. I just want to be a fresh person where I don’t have to worry about this at all. I just need it to go away.” She said to the CNS.

Ensign Angel

“Well it is not going to just go away but let’s explore the affecting you aspect if what you mean by it affecting you is depression. I am not a psychiatrist so I can’t prescribe anti-depressants but the CMO can,” said Vanessa. “Medication is not a bad word. It can help people at times move through things and still function.” Pharmaceuticals were a very personal choice. Vanessa had some clients that did well on them and others that seemed to have no effect with. She would be remiss if she did not even broach the subject.

Vanessa Slade.

“Of course. Anti-depressants could help. I’m probably gonna go and talk to the CMO once I go on shift in sickbay and talk to her about it.” She said. She smiled at the CNS and was very happy.

Ensign Angel

“Losing someone is one of the hardest things anyone has to go through. It makes you feel inadequate and leaves you doubting everything about yourself. It makes you question who you are? The harder part is seeing them with someone else. You go through so many non-productive thoughts. What if I was skinner? What if I was taller? What if I made more money?” Vanessa did not hold back. Everything she said was everything people asked after a break-up. The only people that didn’t were the ones breaking up with you however later those people had their own questions to answer.

“It’s natural to have these thoughts but these thoughts are pointless. Someone is always going to be more attractive and richer than you. No one can change their height. You can lose weight or make more money but if that was why they were with you then you are lucky that other person cut and run.” Leaning in slightly, Vanessa looked at Angel. It was a tough love time.

“The person that really loves you loves you when you are at rock bottom, not when you are at your best. They love you when you screw up and have to come to them on bended knees to ask forgiveness or have been sick with the Levodian flu and they sit next to you and hold a box of tissues for your runny nose. The person that loves you and really loves you does not cut and run when things get hard. They stick their hand out and say I am not going anywhere. They are proud to be with you in public and tell everyone and anyone that you are the person that holds their heart and soul. That is the person you search for.”

Vanessa Slade

“Counselor. What if I was with someone on board here and I can’t stop thinking about them, for instance if I wanted to be with someone like you. But also not sure if I want to say it but want to.” She said to the counselor.

Ensign Angel

This was not the first time someone has expressed something like that to her in a session. “This space,” she gestured about, “creates a lot of misplaced emotion. It is okay to express it and in this case, while I don’t normally state my opinion one way or another, I do think honesty is the only way to establish rapport. It is unethical for me to have anything but a professional therapist-client relationship with a client.” Having answered Ensign Angel’s question in a firm but neutral tone she moved on. “Tell me about your assignment here. Do you enjoy the work and find it fulfilling on a professional level?”

Vanessa Slade CNS

“I do actually enjoy my work. Being both JO of being a doctor and a Sub-biologist oh being a some what of department head but not entirely is really fun cns. No doubt it is something that I enjoy the positions ever.” She said. “It does take my mind off of Jasmine quite a bit and my parents. So it helps.” She mentioned.

Ensign Angel

“Where do you see yourself in the next say five years,” Vanessa asked.

Vanessa Slade CNS

“In the next 5 years counselor, I see myself more as captaining my own starship one of these days.” She said to the counselor.

Ensign Angel

“Excellent goal. I am sure with hard work you will well on your way to making that happen. What do you see as your top-quality to becoming a captain and what quality is the weakness,” Vanessa asked.

Vanessa Slade CNS

“Well to be honest counselor, I’d like to have a good crew under me and what not so that way I know that they are willing to do something that I ask them to do and follow orders well enough. Some of the weakness I see is that the fact that I am afraid that I’d fail as a commanding officer than anyone else.” She said to the counselor.

Ensign Angel

“Everyone is human and makes mistakes. So what makes you willing to do anything Captain Marius asks?” Vanessa asked.

Vanessa Slade CNS

“Well I’d do anything that the captain asks. I wouldn’t want to not disobey an order.” She said.

Ensign Angel

“So why do you think someone would disobey an order if you were a captain?”

Vanessa Slade CNS

“Well counselor, I know if someone were to disobey an order if I were a captain, I know that they wouldn’t like what I’d say. Sometimes I’m afraid that they’d argue with my orders. Counselor.” She said.

Ensign Angel

“Okay, lets play that out. You pretend you are the captain. Give me an order,” she said. Role play in therapy was one technique that helped people realize both their strengths and weaknesses.

Vanessa Slade CNS

“I uh. Never have done it this way counselor. It’s the first.” She said. As she sort of hesitated.

Ensign Angel

“Yes and even Captain Marius puts his pants on one leg at a time. He also had a moment where he had to give his first order. Be a Marius,” she said encouragingly. “Now give me an order,” Vanessa said continuing the role play therapy.

Vanessa Slade CNS

“Yes counselor.” She said. “Counselor give me a status report.” As she gave a roleplay order.

Ensign Angel

“All departments are reporting no issues. The ship’s engines are running within normal limits,” she replied. “Give me another order.”

Vanessa Slade CNS

“Now I just don’t know what to say. That was the only one I could think of.” She said. “This is something I wasn’t expecting.”

Ensign Angel

“Well that happens when you are a captain or a department head. Things come up all the time that are unexpected. That is why we were doing this exercise. It helps to visualize your goals and objectives. Trust me, everyone wearing that uniform at one time or another looked in the mirror and said ‘You got this’ to themselves. Confidence is a huge part of leadership. If you don’t believe in yourself no one else will. Wanna try again,” she asked Ensign Angel.

SLade CSN

“Counselor I don’t know.” She replied.

Ensign Angel

“That’s okay. Our hour is almost up,” Vanessa smiled and relaxed back in the chair. “Anything else you want to talk about for the last ten minutes?”

SLade CNS

“No. Not at this time counselor.” She said to the counselor.

Ensign Angel


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