Discussions of therapy

Posted on Thursday, 9 April 2020 - 4:36pm by Lieutenant T'Lanna Vali & Lieutenant Ryan Rose MD

Mission: Operation: Overdrive
Location: Counselor's Office

Ryan hadn't made an appointment. In fact when he'd woken up this morning, he had no plans on speaking to the counselor, well not about himself anyway. But sometime mid morning when he found himself under his desk doing paperwork he realized he needed to see about some options for better dealing with his PTSD. So now he found himself at the Counselor's office, sounding her chime.

T’Lanna was going over some personnel files when the door chime rang. Putting down the PADD She was looking at she looked towards the door. “Come in.”

Ryan stepped just inside. "Good morning."

“Ryan, please come in.” She smiled warmly. “What can I do for you?”

"Ummm. Are you busy?" He wouldn't hesitate to interrupt if it was another crew member, but it made it uncomfortable when it was himself.

“No you’re fine” T’Lanna smiled but looked concerned when she felt his discomfort. “Is there something wrong?”

"No no, nothing like that." Ryan assured her. "I was just hoping..." He paused. "Can I sit?"

“Heavens where are my manners!” T’Lanna nodded. “Please do!”

"Thank you." Ryan took the chair across the desk from T'Lanna

“She took a seat opposite and looked at Ryan. “What is it that’s bothering you?”

"Well to be honest I didn't want to involve you. It seemed to much of a conflict of interest risk. But Emerick isn't comfortable engaging his counseling sub routines. I've been having some minor PTSD flair ups. I was hoping to try and get things more under control."

T’Lanna nodded. “I see, well I’m here as a Counsellor so I don’t see a problem with talking with you. How’s about you tell me about your PTSD, you don’t have to go into deep detail just tell me what you’re comfortable with, and what you think has set it off again now.”

"Ok. Most of my symptoms are pretty textbook. Over-exaggerated startle response, especially to touch. Flight or Fight definitely on the flight end. I haven't had any overt symptoms, no panic attacks or flash backs. But I have felt a heightened need for tight, safe places. Under my desk, in my closet and such. In and of themselves, that's not a problem, but they are often precursors to a bigger flair up, and I want to avoid that. As for whats set it off." He shrugged. "I can't pinpoint one 'oh right there' instance. There have been a lot of changes, rather quickly that I'm trying to adjust to. I think it's just stress related."

“Okay, so you’ve been hiding under your desk which isn’t exactly ideal. It might be good if perhaps we could get you to a point where maybe your whole office could your safe zone rather than just in a small confined area.” She smiled. “There’s no quick cure as I’m sure you know, but making you more comfortable in a larger space is a start. “I’m not sure how often I’ll need my office but I won’t need it non working hours, so you can always use it when you’re looking for alone time.”

"I appreciate that, but my office is fine. I don't mind the interruptions. I'd rather be there than not, for any medical issues that might come up as well. So, I suppose we can add me to your schedule?"

“Of course” T’Lanna smiled warmly. “How’s about we start right now?”

Ryan actually chuckled. "You don't waste any time."

“Well I’m free and you need help.” She offered a smile. “I can’t leave you hiding under your desk can I?”

Ryan shrugged. "Like I said, that's not really a problem on its own. It's an innocuous coping mechanism. I think I just need somebody to hold me accountable on my journaling for a start." He looked at T'Lanna, awaiting her opinion.

“Okay that I can do” She nodded and smiled. “Set me out your goals and I’ll do my best to make sure you abide by them.”

"Ok." Ryan breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed a bit. He handed over a PaDD that had his journal on it. Everything from noting breathing exercises, to his drawings, to his Xanax doses. "It's a little bit discombobulated recently." He admitted.

“It certainly has” T’Lanna nodded. “We’ll have to sort that out to make things easier for you. Do you take your Xanax doses at set times or can they be taken anytime?”

"As needed. It's been some time since I've needed a dose though, so that's at least good."

“That’s better than good.” T’Lanna smiled warmly. “It’s something to be proud of.”

Ryan shrugged, slightly embarrassed, and felt the need to change the subject. "Well, I appreciate your help. Clearly my skills don't lie with organization."

“Luckily mine do!” T’Lanna grinned. “I’ll help you with your schedule and if anything needs to be changed just update me and I’ll incorporate it in.”

"Thank you. I appreciate the help."

“So let’s go through this and set you out a timetable starting as soon as possible.” T’Lanna smiled warmly.

"Ok, sounds good." Ryan pulled out a spare PaDD to get to work.

{OFF}

Dr Ryan Rose
CMO

Lt. T’Lanna Vali
Psychologist