Was there only one ship's counselor on a starship?

Was the mental health of the crew of a ship looked after by one individual or was their a "department" or at least a staff that shared the duty?

 

That would probably have depended on the ship's complement. I think it unlikely Troi singlehandedly tended to the psychological 'wellness' needs of over a thousand officers, enlisted and civilians, including numerous children. We tend to see only the bridge crew, and whatever specialists are germane to that week's plot. Assuming a modest support staff, all of whom answered to Troi and, ultimately, Crusher (who was probably Troi's direct supervisor on all matters not pertaining to insight and advice given directly to the captain), is not at all unreasonable. Voyager evidently had no ship's counselor, perhaps because its crew numbered approximately 150, but more likely because the ship was on a short-term mission during which the CMO could handle any counseling needs.

 

Personally, I think that there is only one ship's counselor aboard a vessel, but the counselor is more than just a psychiatrist for the crew, but also something of the ship's ambassador and oversees diplomatic matters with the commanding officer.

More than anything, though, I think the ship's counselor is primarily the captain's senior advisor and is a special position aboard a vessel. When not on the bridge, though, a counselor may deal with problems among individual members of the crew just like any member of a vessel's psychiatric department would.

 

In the Titan books, there are three counselors for a 350-strong crew, including Deanna who doubles as the ship's diplomatic officer.

 

Wasn't DS9, with more people than most starships, without a counselor until season 7, only getting one then as an excuse to keep Ezri Dax around, implying that one is more than enough?

 

I always imagined they were there - just not part of the senior staff.

 

There were one around before, we just never saw them
O'Brien was seeing his ordeal in Season 4's "Hard Time", Counselor Telnori I think his name was

 

interestingly, in the A Time To... series of novels, Deanna talks to a counselor from another starship when she needs counselling, rather than another counsellor from the E-E.

 

well that makes sense - she's in a position of authority over them. I wouldn't talk to my employees if I had a problem.

 

Yes, Troi was probably the head counselor. One counselor wouldn't go over very well on a starship

 

If they all have a nice rack, I hope there are lots and lots of counselors.

"Yes, Ensign Hammy, what's your problem?"

"I have a preoccupation with breasts."

"Uhhh, Counselor Timmy, could you take this one?"

 

I really don't see why more than one is needed.

Pick any 1000 people at random and chances are fairly good only but a small handful of them sees a counselor on any regularity. Counseling is hardly a "must have" thing like a doctor.

The only time Deanna was probably needed was when a crew member dies (and we're lead to believe at some points in TNG that people in the 24c accept death easier than we do today) to console loved ones and the endless list of things going wrong with Barcaly.

But the Titan has 3 counselors for a crew of 350? Seems excessive to me.

 

I'm pretty sure that there is an episode of TNG where Deanna mentions another counselor. It's either Man of the People or The Loss because she reassigns her patients to another counselor.

DS9 did have a counselor prior to Ezri because I remember Bashir mentioning a counselor in Season 6.

 

I can't find that reference. In fact, in "The Loss", Guinan laments that Troi's resignation means that there will be no counselor aboard. Sure, the barkeep is prone to bending the truth for therapeutic purposes, but this might still count as evidence for there being no colleagues to Troi.

As for the counselor acting as captain's advisor and ambassador-at-large, wouldn't that be specific to Betazoid or half-Betazoid individuals who have the required superpowers?

I don't really see the utility of a psychological advisor on the bridge, in the loop real-time, unless she or he can do the sort of limited-telepathy-at-high-percentage-of-certainty thing that Deanna Troi could do.

Although admittedly, Kirk had his space psychology specialist McCoy hover around his command chair all the time...

Timo Saloniemi

 

Based from on-screen evidence, each ship apparently has 1 counselor.

Which is a bit idiotic from my perspective since it would have been better if Troi at least had several assistants who would be able to cover for her.

It's similar with the medical staff.
They need more nurses per ship and a bit more doctors.

 

But, as I said, on the Enteprise-D there were only 1000 people many of whom are trained and disciplined to deal with the stresses and turmoils of space-travel.

How many counselors do you think there are in towns of 1000? Hell, in those cases you'd be lucky to find even one.

Troi should've been all the counselor they needed and probably too much of one which is why in many cases she was little less than a ship's ambassador.

 

There's also the possibility that the super-human better-than-you-poor-20th-century-sods humans of the 24th century are much better at coping and you need fewer counselors per capita than we would expect today.

 

I can see that - they have a highly diverse crew, one that probably hasn't had many personal dealings with these species. As highly evolved as people are in their time period, I'm sure many will have problems interacting. Isn't the doctor some dinosaur like species that eats raw meat in the mess hall? I'd probably have a problem with that!!

 

correct. 2 of the Titan's counselors aren't even human. one's a Tellarite, the other a Sti'ach - a small four-armed humanoid species

 

The whole Ship's Counselor thing was a bad idea from the word go. It's a product of 1980's touchy-feelyism.

How would you feel, as a military line officer, if you had to confab with a chick in a bunny suit whenever you had a bad vibe? Does this seem professional? And to have her on the bridge, yet?

Harrumph.