(A Warning Gentle Reader: Spoilers! Many Spoilers!) As the possibility of space travel becomes more real to us, the probability of the whole experience being too boring to manage is starting to sink in. Scientists have just begun to turn their attention to this psychological quandary, but filmmakers have been considering space boredom for a…
Author: Ellen Ross Hodge
I am a licensed mental health counselor practicing in Seattle, WA. For more info on my counseling, visit: www.compassionateanxietycounseling.org
Star Trek Caregiving -Kirk!
Captain Kirk has a reputation. Mentioning his name in a group, you will probably hear something about an impetuous leader with a naked green lass in every port. That image is certainly backed up by cultural parodies like Zapp Brannigan and the Star Trek reboots (Yes. Parodies. Come at me, bro.). But the current cultural…
Star Trek Caregiving – Deanna Troi!
(Hello lovely reader: Trigger Warning – I’m talking about one of the many episodes where Deanna Troi is assaulted) As the Enterprise-D’s ship counselor, Deanna does not do much ‘counseling’ in the early seasons. This is not surprising, since while Roddenberry wanted to make a positive statement about the importance of mental health by having…
Star Trek Caregiving! – The O’Briens
‘Nuclear Families’ – commonly described as two married heterosexual human adults living with children – have been a common enough family structure in the United States for it to be called ‘the norm’ by some and ‘the ideal’ by others. And yet, the O’Briens are the only representation of this family structure in fifty years…
Star Trek Caregiving – Neelix!
Sometimes compared to Jar-Jar Binks for his outlandish appearance, cartoonish behavior, and ‘emotional side-kick’ role in the sometimes infuriatingly wrong Star Trek: Voyager, Neelix doesn’t get a lot of respect. Initially absorbed into the crew as a guide, Neelix went about making himself useful. Voyager had unique and unexpected problems – they couldn’t run the…
Star Trek Caregiving – Odo!
If Benjamin Sisko is the prophet of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, then Odo is its saint. As the head of security for the station, he spends most of his waking hours watching, studying, and guarding. He is iconic in his stance high above the Promenade, waiting to spring into action, the ultimate helicopter caretaker…
Star Trek Caregiving – Data!
On a show where the captain has a surprise teenaged love child, where the counselor is impregnated without consent by an unsubstantial lifeform, and where the first officer gains a fantasy son via the psychic ‘inception’ of a lonely orphan, Data’s path to fatherhood is startlingly intentional. Data’s decision to have a child is so…
Star Trek Caregiving – Worf!
Worf, the steadfast and fearless warrior of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space 9, has a reputation as a “bad dad” among fans. I understand why people would think that. Worf is honorable and hardworking and has the best of intentions, but seems completely overwhelmed with caring for his son Alexander. He is…
Star Trek Caregiving – Lwaxana!
Lwaxana Troi, the psychic diplomat and frequent guest star of ST:TNG, is controversial. She is described on the Star Trek Wiki Memory Alpha as “one of the more colorful Federation diplomats”. She is known for brash, opinionated stances and running hard at anything (or anyone) who might bring her warmth and joy. The podcast ‘The…
The Journey Begins
Hello and welcome to Therapist’s Log: Supplemental. In this blog, I use my experience as a mental health counselor and science fiction lover to examine sci-fi through a mental health lens. For the next eleven weeks, I’ll be posting weekly about the Caregivers of Star Trek. One of the most fascinating things about Star Trek…
Supplemental 