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 (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snips)

For a few moments Viyara stood there, shifting her gaze a couple of times between the Causeway beneath them and the small trail to their right. One way seemed to be leading forward, the other back and down. Metaphorically as well as in all actuality. It would be easy to simply turn towards the path ahead. Yet she knew that there were things that she needed to face if she ever truly wanted to move forward. Did she have to climb down a long and steep staircase for that? No, but in that moment it felt like the right path. So after taking another deep breath, she started to descend the stairwell.

With a smile, Janna followed Viyara, only a step behind her.

After a few steps Viyara said, “I don’t remember the names of the giants involved, but I think the legend says that there were those two giants. One here in Ireland. The other a cross the see in Scotland. The Irish one felt threatened by the Scottish one. So he build a bridge all the way over there. Only to realise that the Scottish one was much bigger then he. So he quickly hurried home. But the Scottish one followed him. To protect him, the wife of the Irish giant disguised him as a baby. And when the Scottish giant saw him, he believed that the baby’s father must be gigantic. How else could a baby be that huge? So he fled and destroyed most of the causeway behind him as he went.”

~Viyara Nazeen

Kingston laughed. “Ahh, I love good folk stories. Always interesting ways at getting at the root of something, don’t you think?” She was glad she had made the weather to include the light clouds. It made it easier to see, since the ocean wouldn’t be reflecting so much light into their eyes.

“I’ve never thought about it that way,” Viyara mused. “But I think I can see what you mean.”

As they continued, Janna was mindful of her steps, making sure her feet were properly under her before she committed her weight each time. “So… homework. Tell me about your finding,” she said lightly.

~Janna Kingston, CNS

Viyara was silent for a few moments as she thought about that question. Or rather, as she thought about how to put things into words that made sense. As she did so, she tilted her head backwards, fished the elastic out of her pocket and pulled her hair back into a ponytail; resulting in her basically walking blindly down a few steps. And yet her footing was perfectly secure the whole time.

With her eyes fixed on the ocean Viyara finally said, “I’ve noticed that my mood keep shifting swiftly. I’m not used to that. I mean, sure I had mood swings now and then. But that’s normal, isn’t it? Nobody’s mood stays the same all the time.” She peered over her shoulder at Janna and gave a small shrug.

“But lately … I don’t know … the smallest things sometimes upset me and I snap at people,” Viyara continued as she turned her gaze back towards the ocean. Her voice suddenly became very low as she admitted, “I basically snapped at the Admiral who is currently on board and then stormed out of the lounge. I was really upset and thought about going to the Holodeck. But I went to the science lab instead. I fed Scales and ran into Commander Madison. We talked about and he then taught me how to fence. That really helped…” Her voice trailed off and she pondered how that would sound to Janna.

~Viyara Nazeen

Janna grinned. “Doing something physical when our emotions are intense can help us process them. Did you know, neurobiologically, that in most humanoids, emotions actually only last seconds? Maybe a whole minute or so, at most. It’s our reaction to those emotions that allows them to be re-energized instead of dissipating they way they would if we did nothing but let the moment pass,” she said, stopping there to see if that resonated with Viyara or not.

~Janna Kingston, CNS

“Huh,” Viyara tilted her head, looking surprised. “I didn’t know that, but it makes sense, I guess.” The idea of jsut sitting with any emotion was not exactly a pleasant one as she had always tried to push most of her emotions to the very back of her mind. But with that not really working anymore, she had to admit to herself, however reluctantly, that trying something else was the best way forward.

~Viyara Nazeen

“The trick is to remember that the more you let it just exist, the shorter it’s existent? Frustrated that your boss won’t let you do such ad such? Recognize that your frustrated, name it, and then let yourself feel frustrated for those sixty or ninety seconds. Once the emotion is complete, we are able to move on. But if we toss more thoughts at is, if we let ourselves rehash the conversation over and over again, we feed energy into that emotion and that’s how we can stay in one emotional state for so long.”

Viyara nodded thoughtfully as they continued to walk down the stairs and made a mental note of that. Something to write down later.

Janna continued down the stairs, still mindful of her steps. “When you say your emotions change fast, can you identify a trigger? Is it things other people say? Seemingly random stuff? And were you able to name in your homework the emotions your felt?”

~Janna Kingston, CNS

“Mostly, yes,” Viyara nodded. “From what I can tell, it’s things that people say that trigger me. Like what the Admiral said to me or on the holodeck with the Captain and the other Counsellor. But never positive emotions. It always seems to be a anger or sadness. Those feelings come very suddenly and then fade slowly. Or maybe those two are just stronger?”She sort of shrugged and then shook her head. “But I also felt happy and at ease. Like when I fed Scales. I don’t know what it is about him, but I really like that lizard.” A small and soft smile started to tug at her lips and eyes as she thought of the small creature.

~Viyara Nazeen

“You know, there’s a lot to be said for creatures that can’t talk back,” Janna said with a wink.

“That’s very true,” Viyara laughed.

“What else? What about the rest of your homework? Any self-harm or even thoughts about it?” Kingston asked.

~Janna Kingston, CNS

Did she want to admit it? No, but she knew that it was in her own best interest to be honest with Janna. So with her head slightly bowed, she admitted, “Yes … I … after I left the lounge I thought about what to do. I was pretty upset. I didn’t want to hurt myself, but I was very much tempted to go to the holodeck. And If I hadn’t tried to get away form the lounge, I may have asked Marishka for another one of her really strong drinks. But I went to the lab instead. Though on my way I did dig my nails into my arms without meaning to.” A wave of guilt and shame washed over her and she wrapped her arms tightly around her middle.

~Viyara Nazeen