Therapists on the bridge

[XCV330]

Troi doubled as an early warning detection system, though not very precise. And her empathic ability could sense a rising crew mutiny so Picard could put it down quickly. Not a bad crew member to have around.

 

[at Quark's]

Troi doubled as an early warning detection system, though not very precise. And her empathic ability could sense a rising crew mutiny so Picard could put it down quickly. Not a bad crew member to have around.

When did we ever see the ship in danger of that? And they went through quite some circumstances over those 7 years....

Deanna: "Captain … I'm getting a vague sensation from the lower decks. It's a mass emotion, vague, still undifferentiated, but gradually taking shape …. it's saying something like , eurm….. something like …. "
Picard: "Yes, Counsellor?"
Deanna: "Let's have it at holier-than-thou Baldy… Captain, i'm afraid this time you've pushed them too far"
Picard: "Merde. Yet I cannot change my course of action, the Prime Directive and Shakespeare quotes demand I go on. Barricade the bridge and initialise self-destruct on 15 minutes in case we can't put this mutiny down!"

 

[C.E. Evans]

Actually, a common misconception is that the third chair isn't really a "counselor's chair" but rather a mission specialist's chair.

it's really not a common misconception at all, because "mission specialist's chair" isn't really a common concept.

 

[Timo]

It goes by a different name in Hollywood, is all. Just what is the TV trope term for the prop that excuses the guest star's presence?

Modern-day ships do just fine without having a psychiatrist on the bridge all the time analyzing everyone.

And ships before that did just fine without having a surgeon messing up with people slated to die of their wounds. Just suck it up and die with dignity, willya?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[The Wormhole]

Thinking things over, a major issue with Deanna being on the bridge so often is that as the Enterprise's senior therapist, shouldn't she be you know, doing her job of having counselling sessions with the crew? I mean that and the paperwork associated with it should be enough to keep her busy, and that's before you factor in other stuff that falls to her, like helping Riker with the crew evaluations and so on. And while an argument can be made for having her on the bridge during a situation involving discussions, there really is no need for her to be on the bridge during routine matters, especially not when the ship is just travelling at warp or is in planetary orbit.

 

[Timo]

...Other than her and the ship's XO being an item?

Deanna is bound to have off hours, too. How she chooses to use those is probably not regulated all that strictly. And if Picard is kind enough to let the underage civilian Wes Crusher visit the bridge, he's not likely to say no to Troi, either.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Farscape One]

There's another reason that hasn't been mentioned yet why it might be argued that her presence there was acceptable.

She held the rank of Lt. Cmdr., with only Picard, Riker, and Crusher having a higher rank. Later, when she passed the exam, she became a full Commander, so she would likely have higher clearance for things. And since she was full Commander at that point, it was definitely acceptable to have her there.

I wonder if part of the reason why the writers did that was because they felt her presence needed justification... probably heard it many times over the first 6 years.

 

[at Quark's]

Thinking things over, a major issue with Deanna being on the bridge so often is that as the Enterprise's senior therapist, shouldn't she be you know, doing her job of having counselling sessions with the crew? I mean that and the paperwork associated with it should be enough to keep her busy, and that's before you factor in other stuff that falls to her, like helping Riker with the crew evaluations and so on. And while an argument can be made for having her on the bridge during a situation involving discussions, there really is no need for her to be on the bridge during routine matters, especially not when the ship is just travelling at warp or is in planetary orbit.

It never got cleared up what her prime function was, anyway. Was her first responsibility to be a counselor to whomever was in command, and who also provided some therapy and helped Riker with crew evaluations as a secondary function, or was it the other way around ?

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

It never got cleared up what her prime function was, anyway. Was her first responsibility to be a counselor to whomever was in command, and who also provided some therapy and helped Riker with crew evaluations as a secondary function, or was it the other way around ?

Honestly, her spending most of her time on the bridge only makes sense if it's the former. Whereas a better written character whose primary function was as morale officer or therapist would spend more time doing that, rather than sitting on the bridge waiting for something to do. Does that sound like any other characters we know...

Oh wait, so despite all the (somewhat justified) shade he gets Neelix actually does a better job, with no training, of Troi's stated role than she does... And then there's Guinan...

 

[Nyotarules]

Have Riker or Troi drive the ship like how Spock was the science officer and xo and have the other stand next to Picard (ala Dr. McCoy) when necessary.

Spock should never have been XO and Science officer, it was just to give Nimoy more to do.
Troi's role should be diplomatic officer/mission specialist or something, the role they give her in the Titan books makes better sense,

 

[Prax]

I forgot about Guinan. They should have had a rivalry episode, where Troi's patients all start cancelling their appointments, and then Troi finds out they've been going to talk to Guinan. Now that would have made for a funny episode.

 

[Kor]

Deanna must have come with some very high qualifications and recommendations. I mean if you want to exploit the Betazoid gift for those kind of functions, why not go with a full telepath? Full telepathy would be immensely more useful ("he's planning to meet with an operative of the Romulans on the second moon of Eminiar 4 in 7 days to sell them our current troop dispositions, Captain") than just empathy ("I think he is holding back something, Captain").

So because her empathic gifts aren't all that, she must really excel in other areas of her job.

I don't think Starfleet would consider it ethical to have a full telepath invasively probing people's thoughts without their consent, whereas with an empath like Troi, it's more like she's reading an emotional "aura" that's emanating from someone.

Kor

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Had they made it clearer from the start that Troi was a psychologist as well as a communications / diplomatic / first contact specialist then her role is far more self-explanatory--had they also gone with the TNG Bible and made more of her bridge officer skills and sent her on away missions, would also have made her presence in the inner circle more understandable. With the counsellor being new concept character for TNG (and departure from TOS) in such a prominent place on the bridge, then they could've done far more with her, it's a shame that wasn't realised until much later in the show.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

...Other than her and the ship's XO being an item?

Which they weren't for the majority of the show's run.

And if Picard is kind enough to let the underage civilian Wes Crusher visit the bridge, he's not likely to say no to Troi, either.

Well, Wesley wasn't just a civilian for very long. He became an Acting Ensign in what, the fourth episode? How many times did he visit the bridge before that, twice?

I forgot about Guinan. They should have had a rivalry episode, where Troi's patients all start cancelling their appointments, and then Troi finds out they've been going to talk to Guinan. Now that would have made for a funny episode.

I've long thought that the introduction of Guinan cut the character of Troi off at the knees. Let's face it, the bartender gave much better advice than Troi's typical "I'm okay, you're okay" pablum. Guinan could give tough love where it was needed, and even had a stronger bond with the Captain than Troi did. When you factor in that she was played by the already-famous Whoopi Goldberg (Who won an Oscar during the show's run) and the intrigue of her mysterious background, it's not much of a contest.

I hate to say it, but after the show lost Denise Crosby and Gates McFadden, the babe factor probably saved Marina Sirtis' job. The show needed at least one young, conventionally attractive woman around for eye candy and to have occasional romances with guest stars. Don't forget that Troi was written out of a few season 1 episodes because the writers were having trouble writing for her character.

 

[Kor]

Troi should have been a psychiatrist with extensive medical training, more like the Sidney Freedman character on M*A*S*H, rather than a personification of 1980s touchy-feely new age pop psychology.

Kor

 

[Nyotarules]

I don't think Starfleet would consider it ethical to have a full telepath invasively probing people's thoughts without their consent, whereas with an empath like Troi, it's more like she's reading an emotional "aura" that's emanating from someone.

Kor

Why not, you don't stop your ears from operating when people are talking. Telepathy is as normal to telepaths as speaking and listening in audio is as normal to nontelepaths

 

[Kor]

Why not, you don't stop your ears from operating when people are talking. Telepathy is as normal to telepaths as speaking and listening in audio is as normal to nontelepaths

I think in a lot of cases, it's been shown that telepaths have to "tune in" or focus on a particular person to be able to read their intimate thoughts. It's like seeing a book's cover vs. opening the book and reading it.

Kor

 

[Nyotarules]

I think in a lot of cases, it's been shown that telepaths have to "tune in" or focus on a particular person to be able to read their intimate thoughts. It's like seeing a book's cover vs. opening the book and reading it.

Kor

Not sure if it was that clear. With Lwaxanna Troi she seems to hear thoughts like one hears voices when people speak. Maybe there are degrees of telepathic ability?

 

[at Quark's]

I don't think Starfleet would consider it ethical to have a full telepath invasively probing people's thoughts without their consent, whereas with an empath like Troi, it's more like she's reading an emotional "aura" that's emanating from someone.

Kor

I agree that there's something to that; but where exactly would Starfleet draw the dividing line? Would "passive" telepathy be OK ? (A Deanna-style telepath that wouldn't actively try to "penetrate" someones defenses but still pick up thoughts that are "emitted" ?)

 

[Kor]

I agree that there's something to that; but where exactly would Starfleet draw the dividing line? Would "passive" telepathy be OK ? (A Deanna-style telepath that wouldn't actively try to "penetrate" someones defenses but still pick up thoughts that are "emitted" ?)

Yeah, I was thinking along those lines. Such conundrums would probably best be addressed by actual telepathic societies who have had centuries to iron these matters out.

Kor