Counselling the Counselor

Posted on Sat May 3rd, 2025 @ 11:28am by Lieutenant Commander Deanna Celes & Lieutenant Commander Callie Raven-Grayson & Lieutenant JG Eislyn Jortho

1,546 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Genetic Purity
Location: USS Washington

Deanna walked with Callie as they completed their conversation in the arboretum. "We'll have that first session soon. You should go talk with Eislyn. I know she is your subordinate, but she is good at this counseling thing. She has handled everyone else that was on the away team due to your situation, and Ayana says she had a solid talk with her. I sent Kate to see her before coming here. I'm sure she'll be able to at the very least clear you for a return to duty."

Callie nodded. “I will, can’t have the Chief Counsellor being seen missing an evaluation now, can we?” She offered a smile. “Thanks for talking with me Deanna, I appreciate it.” Offering a nod of her head she headed off to go and see if Eislyn was free.

Eislyn was in her office, having finished her latest session with one of the crew, Kate Kono. She sipped her glass of Bajoran Spring wine as she continued to update the file, noting that she believed it possible that the young Kate may be suffering from a bipolar disorder or other such mental malady that would pair with the obvious mania she had initially shown. She was so involved with her work she didn't even hear the door open or Callie come in, which leant itself to being quite a sudden shock when she saw her walking towards her. "You startled me. Just a little too involved with work it seems" she said with a smile, trying to compose herself. "I have to admit, I wasn't sure if you would come to see me. Thought I might have to be bold and seek you out."

“It can’t be seen, or reported, that the Chief Counselor avoided counseling can it now?” Callie offered a smile. “Besides it’s best if I get my head sorted out now, rather than letting myself stew.”

"Please take a seat" Eislyn replied with a smile. "You are a better counselor than most. Plenty of people in your position would just declare themselves fit rather than come to see a subordinate. I'm happy that you trust me enough to do it this way. Would you care for something to drink? I have this lovely Bajoran Spring wine, and I have some Saurian brandy if you prefer that. LT Phoenix seemed to like the brandy. If you don't want anything, we can just start up with you saying whatever you want to say."

“I’ll try the wine please” Callie offered a smile as she took a seat and made herself comfortable. “It’s weird to be on this end of the counselling I’ll admit, but I need it.” She sighed. “To be honest I feel…I think the word would be violated.”

Eislyn poured the glass of wine and brought it over to Callie. Sitting down, Eislyn offered a sympathetic smile. "I can understand why you would feel that way. As a telepath you have to deal with a lot, and having your mind forcibly invaded is perhaps the worst violation of all. How have you been dealing with it thus far?"

“Thank you” Callie nodded and smiled as she took the glass and sipped her wine before answering. “To be honest I’ve just tried to put it out of my mind. Jon is a fantastic listener, and he does everything he can to help me, but I don’t like to burden him.”

"We both know that simply trying to put it past you is avoiding the situation. As painful as it may be, we need to discuss it, deal with what happened, so that you get real and proper closure on the matter" Eislyn responded in her best clinical voice.

“I know and that’s what scares me, but Deanna suggested I get it sorted before I start lessons on how to protect my mind.” Callie gave a more confident smile. “Let’s get this show on the road as the saying goes.”

Eislyn smiled and sorted herself, wanting to put her superior into as comfortable a place as she could before delving into what she knew was going to be an emotionally fraught counseling session. "So, I won't force you to necessarily tell me everything. I've read the reports, spoken to others already, so I have a pretty clear picture of what happened in general. But for you, it was somewhat different. No physical harm befell you. You were, as you said, telepathically violated. I take that to essentially mean like a telepathic rape. Discuss that. Tell me about it and what you felt, and how it makes you feel now as you look back upon it all."

“Okay…” Callie nodded. “You’re right, a violation for a telepath would be more along the lines of rape if it was a physical thing.” She paused having gone through the real thing in her life before. “Goebbels wanted to know what I was capable of, and what I knew about the ship. Hell, she wanted to know everything! I don’t know how, but she was both telepathic and telekinetic, that’s a skill even I don’t possess.” She paused. “When she entered my mind, I put up every barrier I could between her and the deepest recesses of my mind, I had no choice but to keep retreating further and further back.”

Eislyn nodded and kept a sympathetic gaze on Callie. "Yes, the telekinesis is certainly an ability we have never encountered in another species before. I can fully understand how it took everyone by surprise. Based on my conversations with others, it wasn't the only exotic ability encountered. But let's focus on that telepathic intrusion. Obviously, somebody who forces themself into your mind telepathically is seeking any information they can find but talk to me about how you felt throughout the ordeal."

“How I felt…” Callie paused. “I was scared, I couldn’t stop what was happening. I wasn’t strong enough!” She fiddled nervously with her hands, checking her nails, and clenching her hands together. “All I could think was that, if Goebbels found what she wanted, I would be responsible for betraying everyone!”

Eislyn leaned forward and took Callie's hands in a calming fashion. "You betrayed no one, and you wouldn't have betrayed anyone. The only person on this ship even remotely capable of defending themselves of such violations is Cmdr Celes, and that is because she is trained in such things. I am not a telepath so I cannot give you any advice on that, but I have nearly 300 years of memories and I can tell you that this situation you were in is something no one has ever dealt with before, and therefore you couldn't be prepared for it, any more than what the others had to deal with. You survived this, and you have to take solace in that. You are safe now."

Callie offered Eislyn a watery eyed look. “I woke up once last night wondering if I was still in the fake memory that Goebbels arranged for me. To put it into context, she brought in one of their people, he was powerful, so much so he made me believe I was aboard the ship in our quarters with Jon. He almost had me believing, but luckily his version of Jon didn’t act like Jon would have.” She sighed. “I had to get out of bed and go check on the kids to be sure I was truly home.”

"Based on the type of trauma you had, I think you know you can expect recurring nightmares for a while. But if you allow yourself to take control in those dreams, use the directed dreaming techniques that you already know, you can conquer the feelings of fear, dread, and helplessness that they are pushing into you" Eislyn responded. "You have to remember, you survived the ordeal. As painful as it all was, you are here now, safe and you have your family, friends, and colleagues to draw strength from should you need it. It is ultimately up to you whether you allow the actions of others to control you."

Callie nodded and offered a hopeful smile. “You’re right, I have to remember that I’m the one in charge now. If I let myself wallow in self pity I’m not going to do myself, or anyone else, any good. I’ll practice the directed dreaming, hopefully it’ll let me get away from the dreams. I’d like to get back to work, just light duties for now until I’m more settled and focused.”

Eislyn nodded. "I think that would be best. I'll notify the captain that you are clear to return to duty, but light duty for a week before you return to full duty. I would suggest you continue to rest and relax as much as you can, ease yourself back into everything."

Callie nodded. “Understood. I still need to check in with Sam as well, my senses are off, so I need that checked.” She offered a more relieved smile. “Thank you, Eislyn.”

"Not a problem. It was an interesting juxtaposition. I am always available should you need someone to talk with" Eislyn replied.

 

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