PNPC Counsellor Lily Thorne: There's more than one type of counselling session...

[Tomas Falt]

((Counselling Offices, Deck 4 near Main Sickbay, USS Eagle-A))

Thorne: We can't control how we initially react to something emotionally. We can control how we react to that response. Did you let your emotions affect your relationship with her?

Letek: I think...at first, yes. Maybe not right away, but she certainly noticed that I wasn’t happy she got the position I wanted. ::After a short pause:: I’ve since talked it out with her. Told her I’m sorry for my reaction and that I’m really happy for her, even though I would have liked to have gotten that promotion. We get along. We’re a good team. I don’t think she holds it against me.

Lily directed another of her reassuring smiles at him.

Thorne: That's good. Now, given you're not a jealous person why do you think you felt the way you did?

Letek: There are many options, but I don’t know which one is right. For one thing, the position of CMO is what I wanted to achieve in Starfleet. Or rather, what I still want. It doesn’t mean that I’ll be denied that forever. However, it also puts me in a position where I have to think about my future. Do I want it so badly that I might even leave the ship to try my luck elsewhere? Or am I content with second place? And... of course, I also wonder what I could have done better. Captain Adea surely didn’t decide who got the job by rolling a dice. Maybe... I also saw it as a bit of a personal criticism.

She listened intently as Lieutenant Letek shared his thoughts with her. 

Thorne: It seems like you’ve been thinking about this a bit already. What is it you’re looking to get by discussing this with me?

After years in the counsellor’s chair she had long ago determined that it was better to establish expectations for sessions like this before getting too far into them, and the best way to do that - as with a lot of things - was by simply asking plainly. The Lieutenant paused to take a drink of water before responding.

Letek: I think I’m just hoping this session will give me a little... guidance. A chance to reevaluate my feelings with the help of an outsider and understand why I react the way I do.

Thorne: We can certainly talk things over. People often discover insights when they share a problem or experience with someone new.

Letek: And maybe also a little reassurance that I didn’t overreact completely.

Lily gave him another of her best smiles.

Thorne: Reassurance isn’t necessarily an output of these sessions. I can listen, help you explore your feelings, even discuss things you could do differently in future, but I can’t change what has already happened. You just need to come to terms with that.

Letek: Response.

Thorne: However, I will go back to my earlier question.  So what? So what that you felt jealous? If you overreacted? You’ve already said you’re smoothed things over with your friend, and given how much you’ve been thinking about this I don’t think there’s much danger of you acting the same way in future. It seems all you’re doing by going over it is making yourself feel bad. 

Letek: Response.

There was more than one type of counselling session. The most common was exploring feelings, helping people understand why they felt a certain way. Less common, but still very valuable, were the sessions which focused on coming up with actions, concrete steps that could be taken to improve a situation or stop it recurring. It seemed to Lily like Lieutenant Letek was going to benefit more from the second type.

Thorne: You mentioned that one of your principle career goals is to become a CMO. It’s always more productive to focus on things you can control, rather than things you can’t, so instead of feeling sorry for yourself that the captain chose Lieutenant Lim over you perhaps consider what you need to change to make sure you’re the one that is chosen next time?

Letek: Response 

TAG / TBC

Lilly Thorne, MD

Civilian Counsellor

 

As simmed by

 

Commander Tomas Falt                          

Strategic Operations Officer                 

USS Eagle-A

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