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Check-in with Mika - All About That Psychology

Posted May 25, 2023, 5:59 p.m. by Lieutenant Tandra Mika (Chief Mental Health Officer) (Lucas Foxley)

Posted by Lieutenant Séan Iven (Counselor) in Check-in with Mika - All About That Psychology

Posted by Lieutenant Tandra Mika (Chief Mental Health Officer) in Check-in with Mika - All About That Psychology

Posted by Lieutenant Séan Iven (Counselor) in Check-in with Mika - All About That Psychology
Posted by… suppressed (14) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Having recently landed on Oed V and having passed through customs, Séan moved with a easy loping gate towards the Starfleet Complex. He was informed that the people he needed to check in with were over that way. He was dressed in his uniform and carried a large duffel bag over one shoulder. Who should he visit first though? Probably be best to see his direct report and then the Centurion’s CO. With destination in mind and easily gotten directions he soon found himself in front of the Chief Mental Health Officer’s office. He reached forward and pressed the chime.

Counselor Iven

The door opened to a decently sized office with two arm chairs central to the room and a desk in the corner. The arm chairs were a soft fabric in a neutral colour with plush seats, large enough to recline in. The desk’s surface was mock-neat, like she tried to keep it neat, but simply didn’t have time. A PaDD sat open in front of a short woman with wavy brown hair to her shoulders who read the PaDD’s screen with interest, poking her lip with the back of an old style pen.

Behind her, on the wall, was a row of photographs of people, across various ships. In the first, Mika stood next to another human woman, grinning happily, wearing a medical Cadet’s uniform. The other woman wore a science Cadet’s uniform. In the second was Mika and a betazoid woman of the same short stature as Mika, who wore a medical Cadet’s uniform. However in that one, Mika had the pips of a Junior Lieutenant.

There was an image of Mika and a blonde human woman with bilateral cochlear implants on a second ship, and then a few more photos of Mika as a Cadet with various other Cadets. Next was a more recent photo of Mika and the betazoid, on another new ship, except in that photo the betazoid wore a junior lieutenant’s uniform and Mika, a full Lieutenant.

And finally, a photo for which the frame looked brand new of Mika and the same betazoid, but here on Oed, at what looked like a Klingon wedding. All of the photos were on display, as if she were proud of them.

A bookshelf lined with several medical and psychological texts sat against the far wall, in the corner. Some of the books looked new, some older.

Mika looked up… And up, and up some more. Okay, this guy was tall! He had to be a full foot taller than her! She stood and smiled a friendly smile. “Hello! Can I help you? I didn’t think I had anyone scheduled… I set aside time for paperwork today.”

~ Mika, CNS

Séan smiled back softly as he moved into the office and let the door slide shut behind him. “Sorry for the unannounced visit. My shuttle to Oed V had been delayed by a couple of days and I’ve only just arrived.” He said with a low rumbly voice. His bright green eyes swept over the desk, the various photographs, and then took stock of the woman sitting at the desk. He moved towards the desk before he unslung the duffel bag and set it down with a dull thud, then he reached a big hand about halfway between them as he introduced himself. “I’m Lieutenant Séan Iven and I’ll be one of your new counselors.”

Counselor Iven

Did this planet have no concept of time?! One counselor showed up weeks early, the other days late. There was a hint of annoyance, but it quickly vanished. She wasn’t annoyed with him, after all, more the lack of resources in general. She reached out, her hand small and petit, and even smaller looking against Séan’s. Her handshake was firm but quick.

“Lieutenant Tandra Mika, I’m the chief counselor here.” She smiled again and gestured to the chairs. “Have a seat.”

~ Mika, CNS

“Thank you.” Séan said as he took the seat. “I thought I would stop in with you first before seeking out the Centurion’s CO and then heading to wherever my quarters are. I must admit I’ve never been stationed on a planet though I had a bit of time in Earth orbit at the starbase there. Is there anything that I need to know first and foremost for getting acclimated with the various people?” He shifted to get a bit more comfortable in the chair as he rest his hands in his lap.

Counselor Iven

“Oed is… Much larger than anything you’re probably used to,” Mika said with a chuckle. “We work together with civilian staff to serve a population of four million. With your addition, my team is filling out a little better, but we still don’t have enough staff or resources to serve that large of a population.”

She smiled, a stressed and stiff look this time, and shook her head, “But I don’t mean to scare you. It’s really a lovely place. There’s a lot to do. It’s very different from a ship though, so adjusting can be… A little difficult, so if you have any problems or questions feel free to ask me.”

Mika pulled his file up on her PaDD, giving a very quick read through. “What do you think you’ll get out of your posting on Oed?”

~ Mika, CNS

Mika’s reading of his record would show that he had four previous postings with one of them being as CNS and the other as Chief of Psychiatry. The reason he had left the last ship was for a medical reason, more specifically he had almost lost a leg when a patient attacked him. The recovery had been quick physically but he had been advised to take time to recuperate mentally. He followed the advice and took almost a year off.

“I’m hoping to get out of this posting what I hope to achieve anywhere I go and that is to help people. There is so much hurt in the galaxy and I find it very difficult to see someone hurting and turn a blind eye to it. So even if we find an action simple or innocuous, it can mean the happiness of someone who is hurting or ready to give up. I find great value in my life by being there for others.” Séan said with a calm and steady voice.

Counselor Iven

Mika nodded thoughtfully. “I think you’ll find Oed a good fit then. There are many who could use our help. With another experienced counselor, I can cut wait times to be seen down further.” Mika was on the ‘trouble adjusting’ side of that spectrum. She said there was a lot to do, but besides the air garden in her Fleet issued quarters, she had taken advantage of virtually none of the offered amenities or activities.

Mika preferred ships. She was in it for the exploration, to broaden horizons. It was part of the reason for her switch from Medical to Counseling. She was already a great doctor, though there was always more to learn. Now she could augment her understanding of people through her psych training, too. But Oed, so far, had been a difficult assignment for her.

“I see you took a year off due to an… incident with a patient. You felt you were ready to return to duty?”

~ Mika, CNS

“Absolutely.” Séan answered while he easily maintained eye contact. “I did some soul searching during my leave and came to the conclusion that while the, incident, shook me up a bit my motivations hadn’t changed. I think we all know of the possibility of violence towards us in this line of work but at the end of the day no one is actually prepared for it to happen. I wasn’t anyway. I’m not going to let that stop me from doing my job though. As foolhardy as it might be tempt the fates by putting myself into similar situations where it can happen again, I refuse to be motivated by fear.”

Counselor Iven

Mika smiled. He sounded confident and sure, and she liked that. “It is always a possibility, especially when you’re working in a hospital setting, which you will have to do here. Oed is unfortunately not without its crime and we do our work out of Sacred Heart, the civilian hospital.”

Personally, in that aspect, Mika found being a doctor harder. She was both, still certified and licensed as a physician and had previously served as CMO several times, now trained in psychology and completing a specialty in psychiatry.

As a doctor, there was the same possibility of patient violence, but also a higher possibility of catching something dangerous from a patient, as had happened to her several months ago, before she arrived to Oed.

“I have always liked to ask this question when I conduct these personnel interviews,” Mika said. It had been one of her standard questions since she had been a CMO on the Academy’s Challenger, welcoming year four cadets aboard. “What motivated you to join Starfleet? Where do you see your career going?”

~ Mika, CNS

Séan smiled softly in reminiscence as he replied. “A mentor of mine took me under his wing when I was a child. I had anger issues during that part of my life and he recognized that I was either going to get myself hurt or grievously injure someone else. So he trained me in martial arts with the purpose of my learning both control of my body as well as discipline on when to not use it. He was retired Starfleet and when I became of age he gave me a recommendation to join the Academy. I joined as a way to pay back his good intentions for me and because I didn’t have any other plans for my life. My dad was a small freighter Captain for all of my life and I could not envision that as what I wanted to do. Neither did I want to stay on some outpost and only see him every four months though, so at the time Starfleet seemed like a great alternative.”

“I practice martial arts too. I think it can be relaxing but it’s also great exercise,” Mika commented. “It sounds like it was lucky you had someone like that in your life.”

He thought about the next question as he brought a hand up to stroke his chin. “I don’t know that I’ll ever want a command position. The administrative tasks seem like they’d take away from my ability to do some good. I get that it’s important and someone has to do it for ships to continue functioning but best to leave that to other people. I would not be surprised if someone tried to talk me into it though. I know of several people who were talked into it despite not wanting to take the jump in position and rank. I have headed the counseling and psychiatry departments on a couple of ships already, so doing that again would be comfortable to step back into. I was offered that option before I chose to come here.”

Counselor Iven

Mika nodded. “Choosing Oed over a department head position on a ship gives you more opportunities to do good.” She figured that meant he was unlikely to want to leave, which would be good for keeping experienced staff around. He was more experienced than she was as a counselor, she could tell that from his file. “We are definitely glad to have you here,” Mika said, smiling again. “Let me officially welcome you to Oed.” Then she looked at him, “Do you have any questions for me before I let you on your way?”

~ Mika, CNS

“Thank you.” Séan said with a smile in return. Then he addressed her last question, “Yes.” Séan started to say as he leaned forward a little with interest. “Do you have any recommendations on where to get some good food? The replicator on the shuttle was out of order and they only offered ration packs. Those are frankly unpalatable, so I could really go for a local delicacy.”

Counselor Iven

Mika grinned and then started laughing, a light, tinkling laugh. “I was expecting something… A smidge more serious,” she said, composing herself. “Well, um… If you don’t mind food trucks I know of a few good places in the square by the government building. Otherwise… Jul’thek’s Bistro was pretty good. I took a date there once, about a month ago.”

~ Mika, CNS

“I’m happy to subvert expectations then.” Séan replied with a grin of his own. “I like food trucks and bistros, so either are good. What would you choose though if you’d been on a shuttle for five days with nothing but rations? Something that you just had to have.”

Counselor Iven

“Well, I’ve never been much of a foodie, so…” Mika gave it some thought, and then went with her first decision, “I think my favorite is the Sandwich Shack food truck. I get lunch there pretty often. Does that help?”

~ Mika, CNS

“Sandwich Shack, alright I’ll give them a try.” Séan made a mental note and nodded with thanks. “That helps wonderfully. I’ll let you know how I find it. Now I need to decide if I’ll get my check in with McBride finished first so I’ll have the rest of the day to myself and lunch, or get that sandwich first and devour it on the walk over.”

Counselor Iven

“That one is going to have to be up to you,” Mika said with a laugh and then stood from her chair. “I look forward to working with you. When you start your first official duty shift I’ll meet you in my office to get you set up with some work to do.”

~ Mika, CNS


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