The Caring Professions - Counselling and Chaplaincy

Posted on 24 Feb 2015 @ 3:47pm by Lieutenant Prudence Devin Ph.D. & Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy & Lieutenant JG Ethan Walker M.D., Ph.D & Lieutenant JG Dorian West & Verity Thorne

2,811 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Episode 07 - Sojourn
Location: USS Galileo, Deck 3 - Counseling Office
Timeline: MD 44 - 14:00

ON:

Prudence was glad she had set up this meeting. It wasn't really formal either...so she had made sure there was refreshments out. Coffee, tea, soft drinks, finger sandwiches, sushi...things she remembered from her civilian life, for when they would have meetings to discuss patient care. And in a sense, this was it too. Out of her dress uniform and into her normal one, she took a moment to survey the room. Truth was, she had always found that counsellors and chaplains had a lot in common. Both took care of the spirit and mind. Good communication between the two would only benefit the crew.

When Dru had received the invite, she had been very tempted to send her apologies, sitting in a room full of counselors slash counseling type people was her worst nightmare right now. What if they picked up that something was wrong...worse what if they tried to get her to talk about it.

As she moved up the corridor to the counseling officers, the counselor still had her doubts but realised that not turning up would look even more suspicious. It was perhaps better to get this over and done with.

Painting a smile on her lips which still didn't hide the bags under her eyes, Drusilla entered the room and quickly saw that it was just Prudence there yet. "Hey Ma...Prudence. Am I early?"

"Not at all," Prudence smiled gently, watching the other woman for a moment. She dismissed it though, it was not any of her business. She was holding a Japanese cup of tea, her hand carefully wrapped around the smoothness.

Giving a smile of relief, Dru moved over to the drinks selection but settled on just water for the moment. The tea and coffee would have caffeine which she did want to risk and trying to isolate a non-caffeine blend just felt like hardwork right now.

"How are you finding getting settled in and getting to know the crew?" Dru filled the gaps with small talk, trying to prevent an awkward feel from building.

Prudence smiled gently, taking a deeper breath. "Well, it feels a bit...all over the place. Not in a bad way, but now that we are on the ship it all seems very different than being on the starbase seeing one or two of the Galileo's crew.

Smiling lightly, Dru took a sip of her water before continuing, "On a starbase everyone can avoid the counsellors as they wish to enjoy themselves but once back on the ship, especially a ship so small; they can't avoid us anymore."

"I feel like we should be able to use drugged darts on them...catch them as they walk past the office," Prudence said with a playful raising of her eyebrows.

For the first time in hours, Dru's eyes lit up as she genuinely smiled at the comment. "Take it in shifts to stalk the halls? Our deck would probably become a ghost town very quick when it's caught onto what we are doing."

"Perhaps. We would have to take care of the evidence," Prudence pointed out before nodding, looking over at Walker who walked in.

Father Walker, despite having met a few of the crew already, was still having some trouble understanding where he fit in the machine that was the Galileo but he was starting to make some progress. He answered in the invitation today by arriving promptly the find only two people there. He smiled patiently at them and helped himself to a drink (water) from the small station.

"Just us three?" he asked, returning to the group.

"Not for long, I am sure," Prudence said and offered her hand to him with a pleasant smile. "I am Prudence Devin, the Chief Counsellor. You must be Walker. It's a pleasure."

"Eaten everything yet?" Dorian West teased as he moved into the room, laughing softly as he made his way to a chair. He dropped down, sliding his PADD on to the tabletop before reaching out to pour himself coffee. "I'm impressed by the restraint. When I worked with security, you had to get to a meeting half an hour early to get any of the refreshments."

"Don't worry, no starvation tactics around here," Verity Thorne chuckled as he moved to get to his own seat. The Chaplain reached for some tea, taking a moment to enjoy the aroma before sipping it with satisfaction. There were some things he missed from England. Proper, good quality tea was one of them.

"I'm glad you could all come," Prudence said with a small smile, watching them all. "As our two professions work hand in hand more often than not, I found it a good idea to bring us all together. So that we know each other and are able to refer people to each other should a troubled soul need counselling, or a patient actually need a Chaplain more than a counsellor. I am Prudence Devin. I come from a civilian background before joining Starfleet about ten years ago."

As Prudence introduced herself, Dru followed her lead as she took a seat with the group and cradled her water between two hands. "Drusilla, or Dru, McCarthy. I think once or two of you already know me from the last time I was onboard. I think I'm the baby in this group...the youngest here." The counselor went slightly white as she mentioned the word baby but quickly took a drink from her cup.

Dorian chuckled softly at the words, leaning to Verity and lifting a hand to partly obscure his face as he stage whispered. "I think we just got called old..." he said in an overly loud whisper for all to hear.

"Speak for yourself," Verity shook his head with a half smile, sipping his tea slowly to enjoy it properly. "I'm Verity Thorne, I'm a Chaplain and I joined Starfleet after years of working in London."

"Well. I have to say this is the first time I've served with another Chaplain." Father Walker replied brightly, looking to his counterpart. "Ethan Walker." he smiled, offering a hand to the man. "Freshly transferred from the Ardeshir, but before that I spent a few years with the Pontiff's delegation to the Kai on Bajor."

Verity shook his hand with a warm smile, nodding gently. "Good to have you aboard. You've found yourself a great group of people to be around."

"It is good that everyone have diverse backgrounds," Prudence said and smiled warmly. "Hopefully, we will be able to care for the minds and spirits of all the crew on this ship. I noticed quite a few children on the manifest as well, which always adds to the general workload. Worried parents and children who have a million questions."

Looking around at the people gathered, Dru narrowed in on Verity whom she's known from her last time serving in the ship. "Mr. Thorne, am I right in guessing that you are the longest serving on the ship out of all of us here? Can you help give us an insight into how the crew are in general? Any events which may have impacted everyone enough for us to need to know about?"

Verity sat back as he mused over the question, tapping his hand on his knee in thought. Well, there was plenty to pick from he supposed. "I would say the Borg had a massive impact. Not only did we find a fellow Starfleet ship destroyed and some members taken by them, we had to fight them and lost some of our own crew to them also. We managed to mount a rescue mission, but those recovered were in various states of...assimilation. It was deeply traumatic for all involved," he said quietly, not enjoying being the bearer of bad news. "There was also our last mission where we came to something near a stand off with the Cardassians. We have some crew members who have memories of the war and maquis, and I think the mission brought a lot of that to the forefront of their minds during that time. Also, a team of our people were trapped underground on that mission. They had to fight...things that have since been described as walking dead. There were many injured and there was a lot of stress left over from the whole ordeal."

Prudence listened, her eyes gentle before she nodded. "I think it is important for us, as the newcomers, to be supportive to the crew. But also realise we cannot pretend to understand the situation that you have all been in," she said to Verity.

"A lot of it is rather...unique," Verity gave a half, almost apologetic smile. "Even the Borg are more unusual a threat now. A monster in the dark from the past."

"Those monsters are usually the most vicious, in my experience." Father Walker replied casually, "They hide well and strike without warning - making the healing process all that much harder." he frowned, knowing his own mind and how some of the more haunting experiences of his life seemed to come back of their own accord at random intervals.

Rubbing her fingers across her forehead, Dru remembered Markus' earlier mention of the borg attack and his personal experience. "Perhaps we should look at doing a checkup with the whole crew? It might take a bit of work but if the five of us were able to divide it up we could make it work."

"I believe we should only do those that are due one, apart from the new crew," Prudence said and met her eyes, holding them. "Our doors are open, if people wish to drop by they can. But we cannot just spring on checkups on people out of the blue. It would be too..." she searched for the word before sighing. "Controlling. We must trust that the medical teams are keeping an eye on those that suffered and referred them to Mr West and the previous counsellors."

Dipping her head away from Prudence's almost prying eyes, Dru nodded her head in agreement. Either option worked, she just genuinely hoped that noone was missed as the ramifications of such psychological issues was comprehensible and didn't bare thinking about.

"Not only that." Ethan chimed in, "But you risk loosing them completely on the issues if you try to force it. It's hard enough for most people to talk to a Doctor, Counselor or Priest. Come at them trying to do it, and you may lock them down so tight they never open up... until it's too late." he warned, "Presenting a warm, friendly and open appearance has always worked best for me." he smiled.

"Well...that has never worked for me...but then again, I believe I am less open and warm looking," Prudence said with humour, raising her eyebrows playfully at the words. "Perhaps it is the accent."

Sinking back into her chair, Dru sat on her hands as she fought an instinct to chew on her thumbnail. Perhaps sometimes it was better to be a wallflower as she didn't have a right to lecture about past experiences and counselling with her track record. "Actually there's another question you might be able to help with Father. Apart from the counsellors room, can you recommend any other parts of the ship for meeting patients in a relaxed environment? I know their own quarters might be problematic with roommates and all."

"Do we have an arboretum of any sort?" Father Walker asked curiously. It was always his favorite place on his last assignment.

Nodding her head, Dru remembered the area all too well but wondered how much it may have changed since the last time she visited. "It's an on going science experiment as ecology and such use it for test samples and monitoring how different variants of planets grow but at certain times of the day, it's enough to find a quiet area."

"The arboretum is a nice choice," Verity assured with a small smile. "I even run the book club from there. We also have three eat and drink places. The mess hall, the lounge for more of a casual drink, and then the Callisto bar now that is more like a real bar. It has real alcohol and food in stock, but there's a limit on serving real alcohol. It might be small, but it has captured that real bar atmosphere."

"Quite. I have had the pleasure of going to the arboretum. It is stunning," Prudence said and smiled gently, looking at Verity. "And the bar has a great atmosphere. We should go there together sometime, all of us."

"Is that safe?" Dorian asked softly with a laugh, his eyes shining with the idea of it. "You know we're the worst for bad behaviour...do as I say, not as I do and all that jazz."

Looking at Prudence in surprise, Dru wasn't quite certain how to respond to that idea herself. There was the small fact that she now couldn't drink alcohol to be contended with. "Do they do a music night? I don't drink but I'd be willing to join for the company and the atmosphere."

"Oh they serve synthahol and soft drinks too," Verity touched the table close to Dru's arm in reassurance, smiling warmly to her. "You don't have to drink. And they do music. There's a small stage there. We're rehearsing the music groups for some turns and people can volunteer to perform whenever they fancy. Actually, that might be something to consider for people who need some help or treatment....performing can boost confidence and give them something to focus and work towards, something like music which is relaxing and away from the stress of work."

Dru smiled her appreciation at Verity before coughing to try and hide an even bigger smile. "Just as long as you don't think to have us start our own band to encourage the rest of the crew."

"I was thinking more in therapy for patients, don't worry," Verity laughed softly, shaking his head. "I actually already run a band. A popular music band and an orchestra. I hoped the activity groups would be a way of boosting morale and bringing crew members closer together."

"It is always good to be more social with people...let them see we are not monsters meant to torture them," Prudence said with warmth, shaking her head. "I am glad we had time to do this. Also...having passed our inspection, we can relax to our usual high standard."

West nodded in agreement. He'd been totally bemused when medical had poured drinks to celebrate doing well in an inspection....that shouldn't have been something to celebrate, doing well should have been completely normal for a smooth running department. "All part of the job," he said softly with a half smile.

Verity nodded with a slight chuckle, glancing around. "Just to...remind you counsellors. When people come and speak to me as a Chaplain, what they say to me is confidential. Even from you guys. I can't be telling you anything that a patient might have come and shared with me, unless, of course, I feel that they are a danger to themselves or someone else or ship security."

Looking over at Verity, a frown crossed Dru's face for a moment. "I think that that would be understood Father Thorne. We would just ask that if you feel a person needs help beyond what you may not be able to offer that you don't hesitate to ask them to seek out myself or Lieu...Prudence."

"I always remind them the counsellors are here," Verity admitted softly with a small smile. "I...also would ask to be called either Chaplain or Petty Officer, or just plain Thorne or Verity. I'm not a Father anymore."

Blushing slightly, Dru clasped her hands in her lap. "My sincerest of apologies Verity." The counsellor went with first name as her boss preferred first name for herself and at least it kept it all in order.

Verity shook his head quickly, smiling warmly to her and tapping the table. "Not at all, don't worry about it. It's an easy assumption."

Prudence smiled gently, nodding as she watched them. "We understand...importance of confidentiality for Chaplains. We will never ask you to compromise that," she said almost bluntly. "It's not our place." And with that, the gathering was concluded. With all that was going to happen, it had been good to get everyone together.

OFF:

Lieutenant Prudence Devin Ph.D.
Chief Counsellor
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy
Assistant Chief Counsellor
USS Galileo

LT JG Dorian West
Counsellor
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]

PO1 Verity Thorne
Chaplain
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]

Lieutenant JG Ethan Walker
Chaplain
USS Galileo

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