Aftermath

Posted on Fri Nov 30th, 2018 @ 6:59pm by Lieutenant Asa Dael

Mission: Escaped Pantheons
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: 2395

Commander Paris had just left sickbay, leaving the two medical professionals to discuss the ways they would be best inuring the crew against PTSD through the coming mission.

"I would like to have a thirty minute to one hour session for each crew member about healthy way to process emotions as they occur. What do you recommend, Counselor?" the doctor inquired.

The two officers worked diligently to flesh out a plan for seminars on handling emotions, as well as plans to work with senior staff to monitor the crew's performance and demeanor to watch for any issues.

Once that was complete, the doctor turned to Counselor Jurot and said, "Ok Counselor. So, we have the crew taken care of. How about you. How are you doing?"

As the counselor spoke, Asa jotted down notes, formulating a treatment plan and starring areas to research prior to their next meeting. Although psychology had not been the doctor’s primary field of study, it has always been interesting, and it looked like all their skills would be needed to help the counselor become whole again.

First step? Meet with the counselor weekly to help her talk through what she is feeling, and see if any memories had reappeared. If so, those would need to be processed fully before treatment could move forward. If not, Avender would need to be able to fully voice and accept what happened to her without judging herself in any way. She would also need to feel comfortable in her abilities again and no longer feel like a pariah to the crew. Doc Dael had a few thoughts in mind on how to make that happen, and intended to present them to Avender once that part of her treatment came.

Although her body was healed, the injuries caused by Gaia reflected in a timidity Jurot displayed upon speaking, a slight uncertainty in her own assessment of herself, and a trend towards isolating herself from the crew. All typical warning signs of depression, and from what the counselor had said they were getting worse, not better. Dael recommended Jurot stick to a strict sleep schedule whenever possible, and provided a program with recommended diet for depression recovery. If holisitic methods did not work, medical/chemical solutions could be tried…but better to keep that option in the wings as it were until needed.

The fury over what Gaia had done to Avender struck Asa deep into their core. If a person did not have their own mind, what use then was the body? To take away someone’s very sense of who they are was a cruelty the doctor had a hard time imagining. Although they would not voice this aloud to Jurot, they wondered what nefarious purpose Gaia had for possessing the ensign.

Then there was the fallout for Starfleet- every major decision Jurot had been part of while possessed, every patient she had treated, every base she had served at- all would need to be checked for residual impact from the entity that rode her for a time. Dael mentally filed all those needs away while listening to the beautiful woman in front of them.

Fortunately, the counselor did not seem to be affected in their ability to treat the crew. It was decided upon that for the first few weeks Doc Dael would review recordings of sessions and Avender’s notes, just so everyone felt comfortable she was fully herself and up to treating patients, but Asa did not have too deep a concern on that front.

The suggestion to avoid romantic entanglements was not received as well as Asa would have hoped, but then again, it rarely was. Somehow everyone seemed to think themselves immune to clouded judgement when recovering from a trauma, but no one ever really was. Honestly, this would be about the worst time possible to jump into a romance. Jurot needed to find herself again, then look for someone else. However, that was only a recommended, and part of healing would be for the counselor to come to trust herself again.

The meeting concluded with the pair agreeing to a time for their next follow up visit, and Asa felt things went as well as they could have. The doctor typed up a report to send to the Captain with recommendations on what to inform Section 31 of Jurot’s condition, and then another report was sent to Paris to review for the seminar schedule and crew emotional education program. That complete, the doctor signed off for the day, looking forward to their bed and rest.