Character Spotlight - Lieutenant Sullivan

Posted on Sun Oct 18th, 2020 @ 11:41am by Elisha Pryce-Randal [ADMIN NPC] Ms & Lieutenant Tate Sullivan Ph.D.

Mission: Character Spotlight
Location: Crew Lounge
Timeline: current
1225 words - 2.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Brief Interview with Ms Elisha Pryce-Randal - onboard Ship Reporter

EPR: What is your role on the Elysium? And what does it entail?

TS: I am the Assistant Chief Counselor aboard the Elysium. Like the rest of the counseling staff, I am responsible for keeping an eye on morale and lifting people’s spirits, and seeing to the psychological and emotional health of each crewmember. Sometimes that requires occasional informal check ins, and sometimes it involves more formal meetings and counseling sessions. Starfleet service is often stressful, demanding, and traumatic, so from a practical standpoint, it's important to make sure everyone serving is physically and emotionally able to meet the demands being asked of them. Beyond the official line, however, I think it's important to support the people who routinely put their lives on the line to save others, to let them know that although a lot is demanded of them, they don't have to suppress their feelings or pretend to be invulnerable to do their jobs well. My particular specialties involve trauma psychology and forensic psychology. In a nutshell, I specialize in evaluating and treating people who have experienced traumatic events and those who find themselves impacted by criminal activity, whether as an offender or as a crime survivor. We may have come a long way in reducing crime, but it does still occur and it can be particularly violent and incomprehensible. As a forensic psychologist, I help judges and juries understand what could've led an offender to behave in such a way and I provide support to survivors going through the criminal justice system.

As the assistant chief counselor, I also help run the case conference meetings in which the entire counseling staff discusses the people they are working with to receive feedback and guidance from the rest of the team. I also enjoy providing guidance to the command team, whether in diplomacy or other mission related areas.


EPR: What made you choose that line of work?

TS: Besides the accurate but cliché answer of wanting to help people, I suppose the deeper answer is that I wanted to understand my biological parents, and in turn, myself. I never knew my father, and to put it diplomatically, my mother was troubled. I spent more time in foster homes during my early years than I did with her, and she spent more time incarcerated than she did as a free woman. Unsurprisingly, I was an angry kid and an angry teen, but when I was adopted by a married couple who were both in Starfleet and given a sense of normalcy, I was able to discover the compassionate, but hurt person underneath. The more I came to understand what my mother had been through - abuse, addiction, trauma - the more I came to understand how she had become the woman she had. The desire to help her, and others like her, eventually became stronger than the anger. My mom was killed while incarcerated, but her memory and the knowledge there are many people like her, gave me the desire to understand people like her and to advocate for them.


EPR: How do you handle the pressure that comes with being a Starfleet officer?

TS: I have several activities I enjoy: reading, research, music… I could give you the standard list of coping strategies, but the truth is, what gets me through the day is knowing I don't have to bear the pressure of Starfleet service by myself. The entire crew is a team, including every member of the counseling department, and we share the load together. If I ever feel the pressure getting to me, it's often because I've forgotten that, and fortunately, we meet regularly enough that no one forgets for too long

EPR: What would you say to a cadet aspiring to do what you do?

TS: Besides the accurate but cliché answer of wanting to help people, I suppose the deeper answer is that I wanted to understand my biological parents, and in turn, myself. I never knew my father, and to put it diplomatically, my mother was troubled. I spent more time in foster homes during my early years than I did with her, and she spent more time incarcerated than she did as a free woman. Unsurprisingly, I was an angry kid and an angry teen, but when I was adopted by a married couple who were both in Starfleet and given a sense of normalcy, I was able to discover the compassionate, but hurt person underneath. The more I came to understand what my mother had been through - abuse, addiction, trauma - the more I came to understand how she had become the woman she had. The desire to help her, and others like her, eventually became stronger than the anger. My mom was killed while incarcerated, but her memory and the knowledge there are many people like her, gave me the desire to understand people like her and to advocate for them.


EPR: What is your favorite memory of your time at the academy?

TS: I can't point to a single memory, but rather a series of them. When I had nearly completed my education and was working on my internship hours independently, I had the opportunity to work with a young woman who had been sexually assaulted by a classmate. I had wanted to work with trauma survivors from the very beginning, but this was my first time working with someone who had been so recently and so devastatingly traumatized. It was an experience that was either going to reinforce my desire to continue on the same path, or it was going to shake my confidence. I am under no illusion that my experience was anything like hers in the six months we worked together, i'll just say that seeing the raw agony in that young woman's face as she poured out her hurt and shame weekly was an experience I'll never forget. When she could finally recount the entire experience in vivid detail, with all the feelings and self-blaming thoughts associated with it, without panic attacks and without ending up in the fetal position, it felt like magic... to see the pain leave her face, to see what seemed like a physical weight lift from her shoulders… There's nothing in the universe that comes close to that feeling. All due respect to the doctors and nurses among us, a hypospray full of pain killers can't compare to that.


EPR: Do you have any funny tales to tell about your time on the USS Elysium?

TS: I have experienced my share of laughs while serving aboard the Elysium, but truthfully, we have experienced more sorrow of late then triumph. In the coming days I hope to help the crew find their joy again and their laughter, but in the meantime, some of my best memories involve witnessing several births. I have been fortunate to be present for such events because like other counselors, I've been provided advanced emergency medical training to be able to assist in the infirmary during read alerts.It can be stressful being responsible for the health and safety of children aboard, but seeing new come into the universe even in the midst of such stressful circumstances, it reminds all of us there's more to life than sorrow, stress, and battle.