Lieutenant JG Ellery Bretton
Name Ellery Margaret Bretton M.D.
Position Counselor
Rank Lieutenant JG
Character Information
| Gender | Female | |
| Species | Human | |
| Age | 35 | |
| Sexual Orientation | Heterosexual | |
| Character Type | pc |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 5'5" | |
| Weight | 130 lbs. | |
| Hair Color | Red | |
| Eye Color | Blue | |
| Physical Description | Ellery is short-statured and pale skinned with dark red hair and bright blue eyes. |
Family
| Spouse/Significant Other | None | |
| Children | None | |
| Father | Steven Bretton, Commander (retired), Starfleet Criminal Investigative Service | |
| Mother | Victoria Pescatore-Bretton, prosecutor, assigned to the Special Victims Unit, Starfleet JAG (retired) | |
| Brother(s) | Matthew Bretton, Public Defender, New York Legal Aid Society Daniel Bretton, Ensign, Security Officer, USS Naples |
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| Sister(s) | None | |
| Other Family | None |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | Ellery has the confidence and the maturity to adapt to just about any environment. She is devoted to her work and prefers using common sense over complicated, and oftentimes outdated, procedure. Ellery will never sugarcoat things, even when the topic is her own family, but she is not one to be tactless or insensitive, especially when it comes to someone's emotional well-being. She is more sensitive than most people know and struggles at times to remain professionally detached and appropriately objective, particularly when it comes to counseling survivors of trauma. She can be somewhat of a "Mother Hen," and is not afraid to speak her mind when it comes to the safety and well-being of her colleagues. Ellery uses humor and sarcasm to ease tension, but never loses sight of the business at hand. She is cool under pressure and relies on her close family ties to keep her focused and grounded. Ellery is not afraid to ask for help when she needs it or to open her heart and mind to new ideas or cultures. At the core, she is an old fashioned Catholic who has incredibly strong faith in people and in justice. Growing up among lawyers and military men, she understands what's right and wrong isn't always black and white, but she has no patience for hotshots who take the law into their own hands or consider themselves deserving of special consideration over civilians. |
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| Strengths & Weaknesses | Ellery is a skilled diagnostician and practitioner, but her true strength lies in her ability to empathize with those she encounters. She works incredibly hard and thinks of herself as a woman with many responsibilities, including doctor, therapist, advocate, expert witness/interviewer, and profiler, regardless of her given job description. Ellery's greatest strength, her ability to empathize with people, is perhaps her greatest weakness at times. Intellectually, she knows she can't get emotionally involved with every case, but at times, this can get the better of her, especially when working with trauma survivors. |
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| Ambitions | She hopes to marry and have children someday, but considers herself too much of a workaholic right now. |
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| Hobbies & Interests | When not working, she enjoys junk food and family dinners. She keeps up with the latest professional literature and spends her free time supporting trauma survivor causes. |
| Personal History | Ellery Margaret Bretton was born August 20, 2353 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Her parents, Steven Bretton, a Protestant, and Victoria Pescatore, a devout Catholic of Italian descent, were a forbidden match. As high school sweethearts, the two had planned to continue to date in secret until they were both old enough to run away and get married, but the pressure became too much, and the two eventually went their separate ways. Steven joined Starfleet as a security officer and Victoria went to college, law school, and eventually joined the Starfleet JAG. Several years later, Victoria and Steven were reunited while he was home on leave. While they discovered they still shared a love for one another, they also realized they shared a passion for their careers. Steven was determined to climb the ranks in the Starfleet Criminal Investigative Service, while Victoria was determined to make a name for herself as a prosecutor associated with JAG’s Special Victims Unit. Despite pressure from both their families to put an end to their courtship, Steven and Victoria were determined to succeed, and married shortly after Victoria’s graduation. The decision to marry placed a strain on the relationships each shared with their parents, and to this day matters have not been completely resolved The newlyweds quickly settled into married life, thriving despite frequent moves and time apart. Although the demands of their careers kept them busy, the Brettons still found time to raise a family with love and patience. The youngest of three children, Ellery is the apple of her father's eye and the typical meddling baby sister to her two older brothers, Matthew and Daniel. For as long as the Bretton children can remember, their parents have always worked hard to educate themselves and to build a better life for their children. Considering themselves the average Starfleet family, Sean found his niche and quickly moved up the ranks to become a top investigator, while Valerie graduated in the top ten percent in her law school class and went on to become a senior prosecutor for the Special Victims Division. Although it was never pushed upon them, the Bretton children each knew from an early age that they wanted to follow in their parents’ footsteps. It was Ellery who struggled the most to discover her true calling. On the outside, Ellery was the ultimate outgoing, fearless tomboy, happy to be just "one of the guys," but on the inside, Ellery felt shy, sensitive and more comfortable studying than she did playing sports or keeping a part-time job. She didn’t think she belonged in Starfleet, and while she had her mother’s passion for justice, her mother was always concerned with establishing the facts when it came to criminal cases. Ellery always found herself more pre-occupied with how the victims were coping physically and emotionally, and in some instances, how the offender had come to commit such heinous crimes in the first place. It wasn't until she started her second year at New York University, while studying pre-law, that Ellery realized her heart and her true talents lay in the field of medicine, and in particular, psychiatry and forensic psychiatry. Her pre-med courses helped Ellery discover her strengths, her weaknesses and her passion for helping people. She realized she could be true to herself and still accomplish her goals. While the medical field offered a variety of career paths, Ellery knew from the start that she was meant to be a therapist. Almost immediately after changing her major, Ellery made a complete transformation from a sensitive, shy tomboy to a compassionate, outgoing young woman. Friends began to see Ellery gain more confidence, drive, and focus. Although she had always been a good student, it wasn't until she found her niche that she truly began to reach her full academic potential. Her courses also gave her greater exposure to information about other cultures, nurturing her desire for exploration and adventure. Not only was she making the transition from a young woman to an adult, she was also becoming less sheltered and more sophisticated. This new found sophistication occasionally creates some resentment in the family, particularly among her brothers, who sometimes feel Ellery believes she has become too good for her own family and its simple traditions. Ellery went on to earn her medical degree from New York University while Matthew and Daniel went on to build careers of their own. Ellery completed her psychiatry residency and a forensic psychiatry fellowship. Her professors encouraged Bretton to consider applying for a job working with the NYPD. Ellery promised to consider it, but planned to go into private practice and to work as a consultant for the New York court system after completing her doctorate. That dream quickly lost its luster. Finding herself in a practice with partners who were more concerned with making a profit than with making a difference, and with a caseload comprised of mostly philandering husbands and wives, Ellery had begun to re-think her choice of careers. While visiting her parents over the Thanksgiving holiday, she met one of her father’s Starfleet colleagues who, understanding Ellery’s need for adventure and desire to make a difference on a larger scale, suggested she think about entering Starfleet. Fully believing she would never be accepted without graduating Starfleet Academy, she was surprised to learn she could earn her commission after an accelerated OCS course designed to orient her to Starfleet policies and procedures for Starfleet Medical officers. After getting a feel for standard Starfleet duty aboard the USS Discovery and earning a promotion to Assistant Chief Counselor/Medical Officer, Elle received word her medical and forensic mental health skills would be of particular use aboard the USS Hera. |
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| Service Record | 2371 – 2375: B.S., Biology, New York University 2375 – 2379: New York University Medical School 2379 - 2382: Psychiatry residency (with a concentration in Forensic Psychiatry), New York University 2382 - 2384: Forensic Psychiatrist, New York City Courts 2384 - 2385: Officer Candidate School with emphasis on mental health and Emergency Medicine, Starfleet Academy 2385 – 2386: Counselor/Medical Officer, USS Discovery 2386 – 2388: Assistant Chief Counselor/Medical Officer, USS Discovery Present: Chief Counselor, USS Hera |