Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Janna Kingston (Counsellor) in Holodeck- Therapeutic Putt-Putt

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Liam Madison (Chief Science Officer) in Holodeck- Therapeutic Putt-Putt

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Janna Kingston (Counsellor) in Holodeck- Therapeutic Putt-Putt
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

She popped a fry in her mouth and chewed while she pondered. “So, from a cognitive behaviour therapy point-of-view, which is a bit more limited than I usually like to work from, there is what we call the Cognitive Triangle.” She lifted a finger for each item she listed. “Thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. All three are linked and they cause a cycle. More often than not, when a situation triggers us in some way, we have a thought about it, which then in triggers emotions and sometimes physical manifestations of them as well, and then we act or don’t act depending on the scenario. Sometimes emotions can begin the cycle, in which cause they cause thoughts and that leads to behaviours. No matter how you get into the cycle, out of the three, the most easy to control is our thoughts. We can rain ourselves to not react with emotions to a specific trigger, but thoughts are a much easier place to begin.”

Janna took a sip of her iced tea. “So, I want you to think about the most clear examples of your anger showing up. What prompted the anger? And can you remember what thoughts came to mind?”

~Janna Kingston, CNS

Liam bit down on the corn dog and chewed while thinking. Swallowing it down, he picked out the latest incident. It was the clearest example in his mind at the moment.

“There was a recent experiment in the labs. We were testing a few lab specimens and their reaction in different types of gravity. Something went wrong and the gravity started to crush them.” He inhaled and pushed to distance himself from that memory.

“I felt helpless as we tried to open the containment unit. Nothing worked. When my hands heated up, I shoved them on the container and melted it. We got the animals out, but the equipment was ruined.”

Janna nodded, working through what he had offered and how that matched what they knew so far.

He licked his lips then continued on.

“As much as I am not the biggest fan of animals, they don’t deserve to suffer.”

-CSO, Liam J. Madison, Sci.

“No, they don’t.” Janna sipped on her iced tea and then gazed at him. “But I’m curious about something. You said you felt helpless, but also that anger is the predominant manifestation trigger for your hands. Is the helplessness an exception, or was there an evolution in your emotions that brought you to that anger?”

~Janna Kingston, CNS

Liam took a moment to think. “I’m not sure.”

He twisted the corn dog stick a bit between his fingers, reflecting on the times he felt helpless.

“To be honest, I’ve felt it a few times. A few missions on the Utah, Aristotle, and the Starbase. All missions I had lost officers I knew and cared for. I also felt it very strongly when LB was forced on me.”

Liam sighed then looked to Janna with a questioning look.

“That one shouldn’t count, should it?”

-CSO, Liam J. Madison, Sci.

Janna shrugged. “Everything is data. Whether we choose to include it or not, is something we have to decide. But, since you bring it up, tell me about that event. About what comes up for you now when it comes to mind.”

~Janna Kingston, CNS

“It’s been a long time.” Liam took a breath. He tried to dig up what he could about that unfortunate day. Like with people that suffered trauma, he preferred to let it slip into the dark abyss of his mind and fade away. Most of it felt like an aged dream now. However, the emotions still remained much to his disappointment.

“I don’t remember much, but the short version is I got separated from the away team. Found myself in some lab and had a creature pushed down my throat. That’s how LB and me became… inseparable.”

Liam felt the images of being strapped down flickered across his thoughts. The anger and fear swirled in his chest while the two individuals beside him talked. His grip tightened on his corn dog stick before he took a deep breath and moved on quickly.

“It was so long ago that it shouldn’t make me feel so angry.”

-CSO, Liam J. Madison, Sci.