Psychological evaluation

Posted on 11/12/2020 @ 9:17am by Lieutenant JG Siobhan Richards PhD
Edited on on 11/20/2020 @ 5:18pm

Mission: S3E1: Time of Change
Location: Counsellor’s office
Timeline: Day 80 at 1145

Kiara paused outside the door of the counselling office, in the last year she’d seen more of the inside of counselling offices than she’d ever imagined. Now here she was facing another and she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to go over events again. She took a deep breath, reached out her hand and pressed the chime.

Siobhan glanced at the chronometer. It was time for the scheduled visit with the new member of the crew. She stood up, walked around the desk to stop in front of it. She tucked on her uniform to make sure it was perfect before she called. "Enter." And she released the door lock.

Walking inside Kiara offered a polite smile as she looked at the Counsellor. “I’m Kiara Rahl. I’m here for my psych evaluation.”

"Welcome aboard Lieutenant." Siobhan greeted the newcomer and pointed at the sofa and two armchairs arranged around the coffee table. "Please, take a sit. Would you like something to drink or eat?"

“No, thank you” Kiara smiled. “I had something back at my quarters.” She walked across to the sofa and took a seat. During her recovery she’d had quite a few counselling appointments so this wasn’t anything new.

"So Lieutenant. I noticed that you also are joining in our crew. As a diplomat." Siobhan said moving toward the sofa. "How did you become the diplomat?"

“I followed in my mother’s footsteps” Kia smiled as she relaxed back in her seat. “My parents are both Starfleet Officers so it seemed to make sense for me to become one too.”

Siobhan nods.
"Yes, parents have that influence." She said. "So, do you feel anxiety recently? Overwhelmed by your fears? Restless? Or having troubles sleeping?"

Kiara nodded. “Just about all of them, just not all at once. I’ve seen more counsellor’s in the past year than I’ve seen in the entirety of my life!” She offered a brief smile. “You’ve probably got a mile long list of reports from my appointments. Being kidnapped, tortured and almost raped, plus killing a man has seriously been hard to work through.

Siobhan smiled kindly sitting down on one of the armchairs.
"Yes, quite a list." She confirmed. "But my approach is always to try to make the first meeting without bias of reading about the person. I am sorry that it happened but as you probably learned, talking about them in a safe environment helps." She raised her hands slightly putting them apart. "Here, with me, this is safe environment and whatever you say here will never leave this place and I will never judge you." She paused putting her hands on her knees and crossed her legs. "Coming back to those emotions I asked. In any of those states you mentioned, do you have hard time breathing? Are you trembling? Do you lose control, either emotionally or physically? You do things against your will?"

Kia nodded. “Sometimes, no actually more than sometimes. I still have nightmares, not as often as I used to but I tend to wake up in a panic.” She clenched her hands together. “I struggle to breath at first until I realise it’s just been another nightmare, then I just sit and cry about it.” She shrugged he shoulders. “The nightmares are getting less frequent but I’d prefer it if they weren’t there at all.”

"It will, with time they subside and will be gone." Siobhan said softly. "But it might take some time. Does it happen only during the night? Or do you have similar experiences also on duty?" Siobhan asked. If that latter was happening, she would need to put the lieutenant on light duty, to avoid her endangering herself or other.”

“No it’s only at night. During the day I have people around me to keep me company, at night I’m alone. It seems to be more when I’m alone, all something has to do is fall over and I leap out of my skin!” She shook her head. “I hate it, I’ve always been an independent woman but now ... I hate being alone. That’s one reason why I wanted to return to my duties, it’ll give me some sense of normality back. I’ll have my Diplomatic duties and I’m part of your department too, I’m the new Counsellor.”

Siobhan smiled.
"Yes, I was notified about it. However, for the time being I will give you only light duty as the counselor. I do need to learn myself about the extent of how your past trauma is affecting you currently." She said with the business like tone. Siobhan suspected that Rahl would understand being a counselor herself. It was just a matter of Siobhan being responsible, for Rahl but also for other crew members.

"Of course, I understand." Kia offered a smile. "One bright point for me is that my best friend Leonie's husband is Captain of this ship. I didn't know Cian was here until I got my orders. It's made me feel more ... Reassured about being onboard ship, I've moved around a lot in the past trying to find a place that feels right for me. I think I might have finally found that place."

"I hope so. It seems that you need such place to fully heal inside." Siobhan commented. "What happened to you is something that leaves deep wounds and even when it scars, it never be the same for you but it will be under control." She said softly. "But that you probably know yourself being a counselor."

"So about those nightmares. How often are they happening? Are there actions you take to avoid having them? Medications? Alcohol?" Siobhan continued the evaluation.

“I used to have nightmares every night, several times a night but now it’s down to a few times a week and not all night long. I’ve been practicing directed dreaming, setting myself some control to remind myself it’s a nightmare and let myself escape. It’s working on an off.” She paused. “As for actions I generally get up, get a calming drink, nothing stiff just a hot milk or something and le myself calm down. I was offered medications but I refused them. I want to face it head on, not drown it out with drugs.”

"I see, does it mean that you are tired after nightmares? Does it affect your work, following such strenuous night?" Siobhan asked.

“Sometimes” Kia nodded. “But I try and catch up when I can. As for work this is my first assignment since then so I intend not to let lack of sleep interfere with my duties.”

"Are there any other issues I should know about?" Siobhan decided that for now there were no indication to deny the psycheval unless there was something else. She would need to keep a close eye on the lieutenant though.

Kiara shook her head. “None that I can think of.” She offered a smile. “Thank you for helping me to feel more at ease. If I have any problems I’ll let you know, in the meantime I intend to enjoy a little me time while the crew are on shoreleave.

"Then I think we are done here." Siobhan concluded with a smile. "I am giving you a positive psychological evaluation, though with a temporary recommendation for avoiding away missions. I will set up regular sessions to just talk and see how you are settling up on the ship." She extended her hand offering a shake. "Again, welcome aboard and I am looking forward to work with you, lieutenant."

A post by:

Lieutenant JG Siobhan Richards, Ph.D.
Chief Counselor
USS Crazy Horse

Lieutenant JG Kiara Rahl
Chief Diplomatic Officer
USS Crazy Horse