Ezri Tigan was an assistant counselor, before getting joined. Maybe Troi had an underling or two. Especially for specialized purposes: combat trauma, children, xeno-psychology, etc.
I feel that logically, Troi
should've had a staff, if only because she might be incapacitated for some reason or because someone might be uncomfortable talking with her.
We saw in "Hollow Pursuits" that Barclay was VERY uncomfortable talking with Troi as a therapist because of his attraction to her (Thankfully, he got over it, but there should have been another person available for him to talk to). And in "Man of the People," Troi seduces an ensign when she's not in her right mind. Think about that. This guy has
slept with the ship's therapist. Who does he talk with to work through his feelings about that?
Quick aside: I think it would've been
hilarious if they cast the "Man of the People" ensign with the same actor that played the crewman that Yar seduced in "The Naked Now." He's just this nameless guy who pops up and gets seduced whenever a character on the show is mind controlled.
Honestly, Troi should have had an entire department of mental health professionals working under her and she herself should have been reporting to Crusher as chief medical officer. The idea that the head of mental health services would also be a bridge officer and part of the senior command staff is just a bit hard to swallow.
TNG writer Joe Menosky said that the thing that would date the show the most was the 1980's belief that the ship's therapist was important enough to have the third seat on the bridge. He was damn right, IMO.
This, this, a thousand times this. Amanda couldn't really have carried a child with a different blood chemistry to term. Romulans and Vulcans I will buy, but I grind my teeth every time we get another alien/human hybrid.
When Gene Roddenberry did the album
Inside Star Trek in the 1970s, he did an "interview" with Sarek that went into detail about Spock's conception. Sarek said that Spock's fetus was removed from Amanda for a few months so they could work on him before he was implanted into Amanda's womb again. So he at least tried to address the implausibility of it.
You can listen to the segment here if you'd like. It starts at 14:45 if the URL coding doesn't work properly:
BTW, Roddenberry talked to Mark Lenard in character as Sarek because Leonard Nimoy was still in the midst of his lawsuit against Paramount over the rights to his likeness at this time. Nimoy was the only main cast member of TOS who didn't participate, IIRC.
But yeah, what I don't understand is why they created a race of full telepaths (Betazoids), and then have a Betazoid/Human hybrid that as a consequence is 'only' empathic. I mean, why would Picard pick her when there is an entire planet full of telepaths on offer for Starfleet, or do we have to believe that she's the only one in Starfleet serving in that capacity?
They probably just felt that Troi having a mixed heritage would be a good device to get stories from. It certainly worked for Spock.