Posted by Ensign Viyara Nazeen (Scientist) in Counsellor’s Office - Nazeen’s psychological evaluation

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Janna Kingston (Assistant Counsellor) in Counsellor’s Office - Nazeen’s psychological evaluation

Posted by Ensign Viyara Nazeen (Scientist) in Counsellor’s Office - Nazeen’s psychological evaluation
Posted by… suppressed (6) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

“We all make mistakes, don’t we?” Viyara asked by way of an answer, looking Janna straight in the eyes. Shifting her position ever so slightly, so that she was resting more against the left armrest, and crossing her legs at the knee, she continued, “When I make a mistake, I’ll admit it, apologise if necessary, fix it if possible and move on. And I will have learned from it. Also, I find that especially in chemistry and biochemistry you learn more from an experiment going wrong, than if it goes right the first time you do it.”

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

Janna nodded. “That is very true. And also very true of life in general. Tell me about the last mistake you made and how you handled it,” she asked. Would Viyara give her a real scenario with real outcomes, or would she make up something. She’d experienced both in sessions before and generally could tell the difference, but different variables could make that tricky.

~Janna Kingston, ACNS

Tilting her head slightly to the side, it didn’t seem to take her long to think of her last mistake. “I went rock climbing on the holodeck very recently with one of the new Security officers. We had met on the Starbase while we were both waiting for the Athena to return. They had never been rock climbing before, so part of my focus was on them. To the point where I made a rookie mistake: I looked down to them to make sure they were okay while I continued to climb. The handhold I reached for wasn’t safe. A rock loosened and I slipped slightly. I probably cursed in that instant. But I quickly regained a stable position and afterwards either checked on my fellow climber or continued climbing myself,” she recounted, leaving out the fact that the safeties had been turned off as usual. After all, she didn’t consider that a mistake. Unwise, when going climbing with a newbie, but not a mistake. After all, there are no safeties in the real world either and her fellow officer had been secured by ropes and all.

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

Janna let there be silence for a few moments before she responded. “How did your climbing companion respond?” There were perhaps multiple answers or ways to interpret the question, but she left it simple and as open as possible on purpose.

~Janna Kingston, ACNS

“They were a little startled and worried for a moment. And of course they asked if I was okay,” Viyara replied simply. “I told them that I was and we both continued upwards.” She nearly mentioned that she got a couple of bruises and scratched the palm of her hand. But then the counsellor would know that the safeties had been, which - she assumed - would lead to questions she didn’t want to answer. So she left it at that while smiling charmingly at Janna.

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

“But it was the holodeck, correct? So the stakes were relatively low for both of you,” Janna commented. She didn’t say anything further and simply observed Viyara while she waited for a response.

~Janna Kingston, ACNS

“Oh yes,” Viyara replied with a nod and left it at that. She didn’t want to outright lie, but she also didn’t want to be told off or even reprimanded. Again. Though after a short pause she added, “I would love to go climbing on real mountains, but the holodeck is a good substitute.” She winked and then leaned a little further back in the armchair.

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

Janna gave a nod and smiled. “Yes, it definitely can be.” Everything so far seemed okay. Even people with previous discipline issues didn’t need to be assumed to have brought that with them to their next assignment, but Janna was cautious to keep an open mind when she and Viyara interacted next. “Well then. Getting settled can take some time and on a big ship like the Athena can be overwhelming. If you have any issues adjusting or settling in, we’re here and someone is always on call. Please do make use of us if you need to.”

“Thank you Counsellor,” Viyara replied with a warm smile. As always she felt certain that she wouldn’t set foot into the office of any of the counsellors on board till she had to. But she felt no need to tell her that.

“Do you have any questions or concerns you want to bring up?”

~Janna Kingston, ACNS

Viyara shook her head, “No there is nothing I can think off.” After all Janna had asked for things she wanted to bring up and there was absolutely nothing that fell into that category. She wanted to get up right away, but thought better of it. After all, she was glad that this evaluation had been so short and she’d rather not risk Janna changing her mind because she seemed to try to run away.

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

It wasn’t uncommon for people who disliked counsellor’s to be slightly on edge or want to retreat to what they felt was a safe place as soon as possible. And so Janna wasn’t going to press given that at least everything she could see in this small time with Viyara spoke to someone who needed time to settle in. She was not telepathic nor prescient, so if there were things to be dealt with, inevitably they would arise and be dealt with in their own time. No use pushing that to happen right this minutes. It wouldn’t serve either of them at all right now. “Alright then, you’re dismissed. Have a good rest of your day, and remember to call if you need anything.”

~Janna Kingston, ACNS