Psychologist
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Psychologist
Superiors: Chief Medical Officer
Difficulty: Low-Medium
Guides: Guide to Medicine, The guide you're reading right now.
Access: Medbay, Morgue, Psychologist's Office, Medbay Storage
Duties: Solve everybody's mental problems. Starting by straithjacketing the clown.
As the Station Psychologist (Or a Psychiatrist or a Therapist), you are tasked with identifying (and solving) personal and mental issues within the station's crew. This is a job that you may or may not be able to accomplish successfully. If need be, you have the power to deem someone mentally unstable and effectively strip them of any authority they might've had.
You are not another Doctor, your job is to help mentally, not physically.
Psychology and You
You are now in charge of the mental well-being of the entire station! Nanotrasen has entrusted you with the unenvious task of keeping everyone around you stable (or at least contained if they are beyond your help).
It is worth noting that much of the crew would deem themselves to be perfectly sane, and it is up to you to determine the psychological status of those around you (especially those in a command role).
First, you should start 'advertising' around the station for anybody who could use some psychological care,and make sure to check the brig and the Medbay for any patient\prisoner that could need some help.
After doing this, and after you've got a poor, lost soul that needs your help, it's time to move to the next step!
Psychological Treatment!
(This guy made a very well-written guide about this, so i'll link this)
This is Curien's guide on how to be a good Psychologist!
Introduction
Since being transferred from NanoTrasen Colonial Division, I’ve noticed that psychological care is a somewhat neglected aspect of medical treatment offered aboard the various space stations and ships in the NanoTrasen fleet. While I understand it hasn’t been very long since psychologists were first stationed aboard most stations and ships in the fleet, I still believe this is a problem, especially considering the immense stress that comes with working on board an isolated vessel or station.
My solution to the issue is to publish a number a papers outlining different treatment plans, theories and diagnostic tools commonly used in the psychology industry. These papers, or to some extent ‘Guides’, will hopefully allow you to expand on your current understanding of psychology.
Psychology training is something that takes years of study into many different areas of psychology, many in-depth theories and the neurology studies associated with them, so it’ll take more than just a quick glance at “Psychology For Dummies” before you’ll anywhere near qualified as a psychologist.
This paper will be about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, a form of treatment I find extremely useful and one which may be the most common treatment plan I use with my patients. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can be used to treat and manage a wide variety of issues of varying severity, making it a useful thing for any psychologist to be trained in.
What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, is a short-term psychological treatment plan that focuses on an individual's cognitions (Thought patterns), behaviour and how they influence each other and their emotions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is all about finding a way to change how an individual thinks about, or react to, a situation to better impact their emotional response.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is similar to most other forms of talking therapy but differs in that it focuses more on the present than the past; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is about learning how to control your emotions and is not directly focused on the causes of any issues you may have, although the roots of certain issues will be discussed as part of treatment.
How Does it work?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy theory suggests that it’s not actually events that we find upsetting or distressing, but the meaning we give to them and its the meaning that impacts how we feel and therefore our actions. Depression, anxiety and most other strong negative emotions can cause a rather vicious cycle which is rather difficult to escape; the negative meaning you give to an event may cause you to feel depressed, which could cause you to withdraw from other people which will lead to a feeling of isolation and further your depression. I’ll explain this a little more when we move onto the ‘Five Areas’ model.
When Can It Be Used?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is commonly used to treat personality and behavioral conditions such as depression, anxiety and most other emotional instabilities. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can even be used to help manage bipolar, schizophrenia, Post-traumatic stress disorder, many forms of psychosis, Body dysmorphic disorder, sleeping problems, even eating disorders and phobias.
Treatment Plan
First I need to explain the different levels of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and how to identify what kind of patient needs each level. For simplicity, let’s think of there only being two levels of CBT treatment: Soft and Pure. Soft CBT treatment focuses on guided self help; the psychiatrist or psychologist will work as a ‘coach’ and help the patient manage their own feelings and is suitable for patients who would be considered low to medium severity. Pure CBT treatment is for patients who have more complex issues and involves a lot more interaction between the psychiatrist and the patient; Pure CBT usually involves an assessment period during which the patients problems will be identified and explored, followed by an examination of the patient’s thought patterns and feelings to identify where changes would be most effective.
Of course each patient will need a treatment plan tailored to their needs so it’s entirely up the the psychiatrist how best to treat their patient, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can be used in conjunction with other forms of therapy or medication.
A treatment plan I would recommend is a combination of regular therapy sessions with the patient, which I believe is important in all forms of psychological treatment, and what I like to call ‘Homework’. Homework is usually a simple task for the patient to help them manage their feelings and remain in control of their issues, sometimes it can also help the psychiatrist develop a deeper understanding of the patient’s needs. Simple assignments such as writing a diary of events that provoke strong negative emotions, writing a problem and goal list or behavioral exposure activities can play a large part in the self-help aspect of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
The Five Areas Model
One of the most useful resources applied to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is the Five Areas Model; the Five Areas Model allows both the patient and the psychiatrist to identify what can be changed during a situation to affect the patient’s emotional and physical response for the better. Here are the ‘Five Areas’ that make up the model:
1. The situation- Where were you, what time of day was it, who else was there, what was said, what happened?
2. Thoughts - What went through your mind at the time? How did you see yourself and how you were coping? What did you predict was the worst thing that could happen? How did you think others saw you? What did you think about your own body, behaviour or performance? Were there any painful memories from the past? Did you notice any images or pictures in your mind?
3. Feelings - How did you feel emotionally at the time? Were you anxious, depressed, ashamed, angry or guilty? (It’s worth pointing out here that we often use the word ‘feel’ to describe a thought for example, the sentence ‘I feel that nobody cares about me’ is a thought, that may be associated with a feeling of sadness or guilt. Usually, single words describe feelings and sentences describe thoughts).
4. Physical Symptoms - A wide range of physical reactions may occur, such as a rapid heartbeat and breathing, feeling hot, sweaty and clammy, feelings of muscle tension, jitteriness or pain. Feelings of low energy, pressure or pain may often be associated with low mood whereas difficulty breathing and accelerated heart rate can be linked to anxiety.
5. Behavior - How did you react to the situation? This included short term and long term reactions; how did you react to similar situations in future? How was the rest of your day affected? What was your immediate reaction?
Each of the five areas shown here will influence each other; How you think can affect how you feel and how you’ll Behave. The aim of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is to try to change one or more of the five areas in order to positively influence the others. It’s also important to be able to recognise when each of the five areas are having a negative impact on each other and are causing a cycle of negative feelings.
Exposure Therapy
Exposure Therapy is commonly used in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help patients with phobias or obsessions; the patient is exposed to, or exposes themselves to, the situation or object that has been identified to induce fear, anxiety, depression or other negative feelings and tries to alter one of the five areas to reduce the negative feelings associated with the situation or object.
Obviously there are certain risks involved with Exposure Therapy and although the patient needs to be challenged, they must never be placed in any danger or thrust into a situation they find too distressing.
In Closing
Hopefully you now know what Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is, when it can be used and have a basic understanding of how a patient can benefit from it. Remember that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a much better alternative than the long term prescription of antidepressants or mood stabilizers as patients who self medicate can develop dependence on medication, addiction and even move on to illegal drugs.
Also try to keep in mind that although Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has a large focus on self-help, regular therapy sessions play a large part in the treatment as it provides an opportunity for patients to discuss their problems and to explore them.
Special Thanks
I would like to give thanks to Doctor Hildegard Galila and Doctor Sherrinford Holmes who took the time to read through my manuscript and gave me some useful feedback, I would also like to thank Doctor Darcey Grey who suggested I write and publish this paper.
- Written by LPsy Oliver Mason\Curien
Using Medicines!
You should give medicines to your patient only if they really need them, not just for using him as a guinea pig!(But that's indeed funnier) Also, you should make sure that those pharmacs don't alter his thin mind, otherwise you're just damaging him instead of helping him.
And,you should NEVER give them drugs, because, for RP reasons, you're basically messing up even more with his poor, damaged mind!(If you do this just for fun,you're a terrible person and you could even get banned!)
Demoting!
Yes yes,you can basically strip everyone of their rank by writing a report and explaining how their mental issues should interfere with his job, damage other people's job or even start going on a full-madness rampage!
However, this should be the last resource that you'll use as a Psychologist, because it means that you've failed to reach a connection with the patient's subconscious and he basically rejected any treatment or help that you've tried to give him.(This means that you've failed as a psychologist)
If your patient is a Head, then you'll need the permission from the Captain and atleast of two other heads for successfully demoting him, besides that detailed,well-written and correlated with proofs of the head's insanity report, or it will be your word against his.(And guess who's going to win?)
Security and You
It's possible you might eventually bump heads with Security. After all, many criminals are crazy mentally impaired and many of our less stable friends turn to a life of crime. Now, before you write a report damning those godforsaken nerfherders, there are a few options to consider. The first thing you should do is ask the Head of Personnel and Head of Security for access. If you have reason to believe you need access, (Or you don't, depending on the Heads) they might grant you brig access to treat those insane convicts.
Otherwise, don't mention it unless you REALLY need to get in there. Then go to Internal Affairs and complain. It's unlikely going to the Captain will be much help, as he has more important things to worry about.
Roleplay tips!
- You should be the nice, helpful guy everyone want to meet in their life,and your goal should be that every patient that comes for you should go away free from every sad thought and/or traums.
- You should also make sure that every clonated guy hasn't seen his old body and,if they've seen it,you should help them before they go nuts.
- Last, but not least, you should even deal with the PTSD(Or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) that some crewmembers could show after having witnessed something really bad happening.
Traitoring!
You'll have a hard time trying to gain access somewhere that isn't part of the medical department,and going too much around the station will surely arouse suspicions...but you can use the excuse of 'Searching new patients' as a passepartout! Also,if you manage to... psychoanalyze a Head you can kill him, tell the other Heads that he has vanished and he's probably roaming around mad and they'll start a search for that poor soul! Throw people into dangerous situations under the pretense of exposure therapy! Break into the Brig to help those poor psychos! At least,being part of the Medic staff, you're allowed to try and 'help' whoever you think needs psychological care... just use your imagination and you'll probably end up as Harley Quinn!