Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Janna Kingston (CNS) in Holosuite 3 - Therapy In Unusual Places

Posted by Ensign Viyara Nazeen (Scientist) in Holosuite 3 - Therapy In Unusual Places

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Janna Kingston (CNS) in Holosuite 3 - Therapy In Unusual Places
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snips)

Janna grinned. “Computer, generate a simulation of the track along the Giant’s Causeway heading to Ballintoy, Northern Ireland, Earth. Prtly cloudy weather, twenty-two celsius with a light to moderate varying breeze. Start us ten kilometres outside of Ballintoy and at the entrance of the village, have a small one story stone cottage to fit the heritage of the area, with two bedrooms and one bathroom. A cottage-style garden out front with a metal gate and a small back garden in a similar style with stone patio, and a metal bistro table and two chairs.”

And suddenly they were standing on the Causeway Coastal Route. Janna looked around and grinned. “Nice choice, Viyara,” she said with a nod. “It’s just what we need. And we’re both very fit so I say we can make the ten-kay hike in about an hour and a half or so.”

“It really is a beautiful place,” Viyara nodded as the smile on her face widened. Closing her eyes for a moment she deeply inhaled the salty air, her face tilted towards the sky, even though the sun was partly hidden behind the clouds.

“Computer generate two day packs, each with a 500 millimetre bottle of water. Make one pack turquoise in colour and have a bag of green seedless grapes and another bag filled with a mix of various nuts and dried fruit, plus chocolate covered pretzels.” She put her hand to the side of her mouth and whispered, “I do love chocolate,.”

“The other pack should be…” Kingston gestured to Viyara.

~Janna Kingston, CNS

“Dark purple in colour with two, no three Nicola apples, a small bag each of blueberries, salted almonds and mild cheddar cheese cut into small squares. Oh and a small back of sherbet lemons,” Viyara replied without hesitation. Looking at Janna, she added, “Chocolate is great, but somehow I don’t feel much like it today.”

“Do as you will,” Kingston said, glad to Viyara making choices. It could be easy to be swayed in a situation like the one they were in where some of her choices and control had been taken away for her own safety. The trick was not to throw up your hands and give up entirely, but Viyara was motivated to do the work so Janna knew that there was a chance for really good things to come out of this. In the mean time, it was likely to get rough.

As soon as the two backpacks materiales in front of them, Viyara reached for the purple one and placed her journal safely inside. It wasn’t till the backpack was on her back and properly adjusted that she realised that something important was missing. Wiggling her bare toes she said a little sheepishly, “And a pair of hiking socks and hiking boots, size 39.”

Janna surveyed Viyara and grinned. “It had occurred to me just a moment before you mentioned it.”

A moment later those materialised as well and Viyara knelt down and quickly put them on. Standing up again, she took another deep breath and said, “I guess I’m ready to go.”

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

Kingston slipped her pack on and turned to Viyara. “Okay, but first, some ground rules. This is an assessment. I’ve picked up on enough points of concern that I feel, based on my professional training and experience, that for the moment you are safer with someone who is experienced at dealing with patients facing significant difficulties. For the next forty-eight to seventy-two hours, you and I are going to do a lot of talking while we also have some fun. But in order to get the information I need to frame your situation clearly and correctly, I need you to try to not hold back. That’s not to say I want you to pretend everything is easy, but if we hit moments of discomfort, we’re going to sit with it, like you’ve already done so bravely today. Because not only do I want you to have information about yourself so you can understand why you think and feel and act the way you do, but I want you to have tools at your disposal to help overcome those challenging moments and impulses. Okay?”

Feeling her heart beat pick up a little, Viyara took a couple of deep breaths and squeezed the tension ball tightly for a moment before nodding. “Okay,” she said softly. Did she like the idea of spending more time witting with her discomfort? Not particularly. But she had come to trust Janna. Maybe not blindly, but more than most anyone else in her life. That alone was a surprise to her and she had a feeling that Janna would probably tell her that it was a big step forward.

Janna gave a moment for Nazeen to digest that bit before she added the qualifiers. “This time we spend together is vital. It also comes with some caveats. For the time being you will remain on the holodeck. You cannot leave. Safeties are fully engaged and you will not be able to change that. Anyone trying to contact you will go through me. I have some questionnaires we need to work through and after our hike and a break we’ll tackle some of those. If you decide you want to bow out of our conversation at any point, it’s a big holodeck program. You can go for a walk. You can run off anywhere you want to, but you won’t be able to leave the holodeck or change its parameters beyond fulfilling basic needs. In the meantime, we chat as we have been. There will be times, I can almost guarantee it, that you be frustrated and angry with me. You’ll want to shout and scream and throw things at me”-she held up a finger with a stern expression-“don’t throw things at me- I guarantee you it’ll be the fast rack to Sickbay. Same goes if I feel at anytime you are at risk for harming yourself. Straight ticket to Sickbay. Undeerstood?”

As Janna began to list the things she could and couldn’t do, Viyara wrapped her arms around her midriff. It wasn’t long till she began to softly gasp for air, but unlike moments ago she managed to stay in the here ad now.

Janna’s expression softened. “Feel your emotions Viyara, practice identifying and naming them. And we’ll figure this out together, alright? I’m on your side even if there might be times you think I’m the spawn of evil,” she said with a grin. But despite that grin she had maintained her gaze on Viyara, watching to see how all of this landed.

~Janna Kingston

Blinking a few times, Viyara moved her arms, bracing her hands on her knees, and bent slightly forward as she tried to take deep breaths and calm herself down. At the same time she repeated in her thoughts, ‘You are not in danger. You are safe.’ She really, really hated the idea of not being able to leave. Of basically being imprisoned on the holodeck. And discomfort wasn’t even beginning to to describe what she was feeling right now.

~Viyara Nazeen

Janna stepped closer, bending forward and bracing her arms much like Viyara was. “I know. It’s a lot to take in, and there’s no requirement for you to process this all in this moment. But we’re taking big and difficult steps here, and I know you are up to the challenge.” Janna’s voice shifted, becoming more emphatic and determined. “You’re a fighter, Viyara. Fight the fear, and the doubt and the voice in your head that tells you sit down and shut up and not make a fuss. Make a fuss! This is your battle, but you’re not alone. I’ve got your back.”

It felt like an eternity to her when in reality it was only a few moments later that Viyara had managed to regain some semblance of control over herself. The fear and discomfort weren’t gone, but she no longer felt like she was at the very edge of a panic attack when she straightened up again. Fixing Janna with her heterochromatic eyes, the hint of a smile even tugged at the corners of her lips. “Thank you,” she said softly.

Taking a step backwards, Janna extended a hand. “What do you say? It’s your trail. Are you ready to take the lead?”

~Janna Kingston, CNS

Taking Janna’s hand, Viyara nodded. “Yeah, I think so. But before we start the hike towards Ballintoy, we should go down to the Giant’s Causeway. It’s a really interesting natural rock formation and there is some folktale about a giant who build a bridge all the way over to Scotland,” she said as she led the way down a narrow path towards the edge of the cliff.

Once there Viyara nodded towards the steep, staircase that went all the way from the top of the cliff to the Causeway. “Or would you rather we stay up here? It takes some time to get down and then up again and if I remember correctly the wooden steps are a bit slippery at times.” While they couldn’t make out the exact details from the top of the cliff, the rock formation was still visible enough.

OOC: This is pretty much their view right now: https://trailhiker.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/causeway-top-view_9357.jpg

~Viyara Nazeen