T'Lar and Olivia Voight Counseling Session #1

Posted on Tue Mar 24th, 2026 @ 6:08am by Lieutenant JG Olivia Voight & Lieutenant JG T'Lar

3,563 words; about a 18 minute read

Olivia was a bit stressed due to her brother Liam mainly trying to get her to return home. Her brothers Axel and Kyson had been doing the same, but they had backed off a bit since her joining. Plus, there was the fact that she was still adjusting to some degree on being joined with her symbiont. She had been working hard to be selected for joining that she hadn’t taken the time to focus on the issues with her brothers. Olivia had only been joined with the Voight symbiont a few months when she got her new orders to report to the Sunfire.

Olivia had made the appointment with one of the counselors in hopes that maybe talking things through with someone might help sort things out to some degree. If anything, she hoped that she would get a better sense of how to handle some of the memories she had that belonged to the previous hosts for her symbiont.

T'Lar was waiting for the doctor when she arrived.

"Welcome in Dr. Voight. Please step into my office," she invited, guiding the woman in and shutting the door behind her.

"Please take a seat. May I offer you anything to drink from the replicator?" the counselor asked.

Olivia went over to one of the empty chairs and sat down. She thought for a moment, "water please." As she waited, Olivia looked around the Counselors office a little.

T'Lar replicated a glass of cool water and handed it to the doctor, then took the chair at a 45 degree angle to the one she was seated in rather than sitting behind her desk.

"It is agreeble to see you up and around after your ordeal, Doctor. How are you recovering?" T'Lar asked.

Olivia accepted the glass of water from T'Lar and took a sip of the water. "I am doing better now for the most part. I know that the injuries have been treated, but it can be a challenge in dealing with the memory of them."

"It is good to hear that you are doing better, as you say, for the most part; but the challenges you allude to are very real. You suffered traumatic injuries under fire. One might expect that to bring with it certain trauma responses: anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, nightmares, sensitivity to loud noises... Are you experiencing any of these?" T'Lar inquired

Olivia thought for a moment on what T'Lar had asked her about the trauma responses that could happen after what she had gone through during the away mission. "I would say that there is a bit of anxiety, but it not from what happened during the away mission specifically," Olivia replied. "It more to do with my brothers."

"I see," said T'Lar. "I recall you saying something about 'not living down' the fact that you were injured when you were first beamed into sickbay. Clearly, their concern for your safety means a great deal to you... Do you feel like you let them down in some way by what happened?"

Olivia took a small sip of water as she thought for a moment. “When it comes to my brothers, it can be a bit of a challenge. They have always been over protective and hate that I am serving on a starship rather than staying somewhere they consider safer. If it were left up to them, I would be serving in a hospital either on Trill or at Starfleet Medical.” She took another small sip of water. “Main reason I’ve made it this far is because I took so many extra self defense courses on top of my normal course load. The twins, Axel and Kyson, only backed off to some degree because I made it through the Initiate program. Liam on the other hand is a whole different matter.”

"How so?" T'Lar probed gingerly.

Olivia sat the glass of water down and lightly hugged herself. “It has to do with an incident years ago. I wasn’t even born yet when it happened and I learned about it when I was little,” Olivia said. “My brother Liam was already three years old at the time and my parents were expecting another baby. This was before my parents were expecting my twin brothers. I was supposed to have a sister, but my mother lost the baby. So basically when I came along, my brothers, especially Liam, felt the need to ensure I stayed safe. All three of them felt the need to teach me different ways of fighting when peaceful means didn’t work.”

"Loss of a child, even through miscarriage, can be very traumatic. Loss of a sibling, however, especially for one so young can be very difficult to process. It is unsurprising that your brother Liam in particular would have attachment issues." T'Lar observed, "Though I would expect that same hyper-vigilance to carry over into his relationship with your brothers as well; did it not?"

“It did for a while,” Olivia replied. “Then when they were old enough they all started learning the different ways of fighting. Then when they found out that our mother was expecting me they became protective of her throughout the pregnancy. The boys wanted to make sure nothing happened to mother or me for that matter. All three boys were not thrilled about the fact I submitted for the Initiate program. They thought that if I just handled the training that I received at the Academy then I wouldn’t proceed with the Initiate program for joining.”

"Curious." observed T'Lar. "Is it not considered a great honor to be joined? Why were your brothers so against it?"

Olivia smiled a little as she thought for a moment. “It is definitely an honor to be joined,” Olivia finally said. “The training for it is not easy to handle, for it tests ones mental and physical abilities over the course of the program. Liam felt that my studies at Starfleet Academy should have been enough of a challenge for me considering the course load I handled while there. What he didn’t know at the time was Axel and Kyson were responsible for several of the self defense classes that I ended up taking while at the Academy. The twins were determined to ensure I knew how to handle myself in certain situations should the need arise. After graduation from the Academy, I didn’t enter the training for the initiate program right away. Then when I did get the chance to go through the training, the twins had finally come around enough to give me their support and encouragement to complete the training.” Olvia lightly ran her hands over her upper arms. “When I got the call to report for the joining with my symbiont, I was a bit shocked at first. I had just finished the training a couple months earlier and thought that I would be on the long wait list for joining. Turns out I was the closest one to get to the Caves in the required amount of time in order to save the Voight symbiont. Axel and Kyson both broke a few rules in order to get there in time for seeing my joining personally. They wanted to ensure that I had family support since I had endured a lot during my training time. Liam didn’t even bother trying to make it back home in time for my joining ceremony.”

T'Lar leaned forward in her chair, making a steeple of her fingers as she looked directly at the young doctor with as compassionate an affect as she could summon given her extensive practice of modeling human expressions.

"So the twins were there for you for your big day, but your eldest brother whom you claim cares so much about you... whose opinion matters so much to you... it wasn't that he could not attend what could arguably be the most important moment of your life as a Trill, but he deliberately did not even make the attempt? " T'Lar paused. Rather than focus on the past, she decided to contextualize to the present.

"How does that make you feel?"

Olivia thought a little before replying. “ I feel ashamed that I didn’t get to have full support from certain family members. I’ve tried talking to Liam about it, but he always shuts down when I would bring up the subject of my training or the joining.” Olivia picked up the glass of water and took another sip of the water. “My parents even tried to get Liam to take the time to return home, but he flat out refused.”

"It must be frustrating, wanting his approval and yet he refuses to even explain why he refuses to give it." T'Lar conjectured.

Olivia nodded her head slightly. “It is very frustrating,” Olivia finally said. “If it was left up to Liam, I would still be doing the very basics in medical care back on Trill. He knows I’m capable of handling a lot more than what I was doing before attending Starfleet Medical. Plus, Liam thinks I’m throwing away the talent and training I put into the ice skating I did before entering the Academy. I won a lot of competitions over time before the Academy and a few while there. What Liam fails to realize is that I could only do so many competitions before it took its toll on my body. While at the Academy I had to be more selective on which competitions I entered. My not skating on the competition circuit is another sore subject with Liam.”

Olivia took another sip of water. “Getting Liam to admit that there is a problem and actually talking about it is a challenge. If he doesn’t want to talk he shuts down. He was this way even before I told him about my attending the Academy.”

"I find it concerning the level of investment into controlling your narrative that your brother seems to be exhibiting. It is almost like he is punishing you for not following some life script he has written for you in his head." T'Lar commented

"It speaks to an unhealthy level of enmeshment. Such behavior borders on psychological abuse; though in this case I suspect the behavior is subconscious. Your brother may still be dealing with the unconscious scars of the childhood trauma of losing your sister- an event outside of his control. He probably thinks he is only wanting the best for you. That, however, does not make his actions acceptable. The shutting down is another way he controls the narrative by depriving you the conversation needed to understand why he is doing what he is doing."

“A lot changed when I entered Starfleet Medical,” Olivia said. “Before then Liam and even the twins were proud of what I did in the different competitions for skating and even the few martial arts I entered. Yet when I decided a different route for my life everything changed. It took awhile for the twins to understand why I did what I did, but Liam refuses to try understand. Even Axel and Kyson have tried talking to him about it, but it didn’t work. I thought that some guy talk he would open up, but he even refused to open up.”

Olivia took another sip of water. “The lose of my sister is one thing that my parents don’t even speak of much themselves, but at least they were willing to answer questions when I had them years ago. They don’t blame Liam for it either, so I don’t understand why he would not talk about it some now.”

"Unfortunately, Doctor, it is beyond the scope of our sessions to address your brother's behavior," T'Lar observed. "The best we can do is try to examine your responses to that behavior with an eye towards how to respond more productively to it in the future. This will require drawing firm boundaries with him. What are your thoughts on that?"

Olivia thought for a moment as she considered things. "It will be a challenge in putting some of those boundaries into play with him, but I know it needs to be done," Olivia replied. "It may be the only way he learns to some degree."

T'Lar nodded supportively. "I would like you to think on what some of those boundaries should be before our next session and we shall discuss how to implement them at that time. In the meantime I would be remiss if I did not ask how you are handling the assimilation of your symbiont's identity with your own?"

Olivia smiled a little as she thought about how to answer the question related to her symbiont. “It has been a learning experience in many ways,” Olivia replied. “There are times when I have to stop and think which of the previous hosts a certain memory or skill belongs to and what to do with that information."

T'Lar considered that for a moment.

"Forgive me for circling back to your brother for a moment, but you've just given me a potential insight to why he may be acting the way he is. You say that you have to stop and think about which host may be manifesting a certain skill or memory at times, which means that at times Olivia is not, shall we say, in the driver seat but rather a hybrid of Olivia and the symbiont's previous life experiences. In essence, by joining, you have ceased to be the Olivia that your brother has known his whole life and become a completely new person. Now he has to share you with a complete stranger, one whose personality and preferences will at times superimpose themselves upon for lack of a better term you ; the you he knew and loved before the joining. While many if not the majority of Trill view being joined as a great honor, in your brother's mind it may be as if he is losing another sister."

Olivia tilted her head slightly to one side as she thought about what T’Lar had just mentioned about her brother. “It is possible, but he started shutting down on me some during my time at the Academy. It’s as though he thinks I should have gone any other route than what I picked. Plus, he would always remind me I should have kept my focus on the ice skating.”

"The two factors are not mutually exclusive. On the one hand, the level of enmeshment that you have shared most definitely points to a desire to see you conform to his concept of the ideal sister. The reason for that controlling behavior, however, is likely rooted in the trauma of losing your older sister; an event he most likely internalized but had absolutely no control over. It is almost as if he has externalized the ought/ideal paradigm. With most people they have three identities that follow them through their lives, their ought selves, their ideal selves and their actual selves. The ought self is who they have been conditioned to be by society and family, its who they feel obligated to be. The ideal self is who they would most like to be. The further a person finds themselves in a moment of self awareness from either of those two states, the greater a sense of disequilibrium will exist. This results in one of two responses: active change or avoidance of painful self awareness. In your brother's case he seems to be shutting down the further you stray from that which he feels you ought to be as well as his idealized vision of who you can be. It's as if he were living vicariously through your accomplishments, but only insofar as you meet his expectations."

Olivia considered this information. “Why live vicariously through my accomplishments when he could have easily done some of the things I’ve done already?” Olivia asked. “Our parents always encouraged us to attempt anything that we had an interest in learning about. We didn’t have to be perfect at whatever it was as long as we had some fun while learning new things. Each of us were given our options on education and career choices.”

"That is a question I cannot answer," admitted T'Lar. "But let us get back to the subject of your integration with your symbiont. Any cause for anxiety or depression?"

“I haven’t had any issues with depression, but the anxiety is a different matter,” Olivia admitted. “Part of that I think has to do with the previous host for my symbiont. Quirves had been placed in temporary statis before reaching the Trill home world. He had been injured and it was the only way to save the Voight symbiont. Even before his injuries that landed him in the temporary statis for transport back to Trill, Quirves had issues with his anxiety levels when dealing with pressures related to his duties.”

"And these memories of your symbiont's previous host's anxiety you believe are predisposing you to anxiety as well? How and when is this anxiety manifesting itself?" T'Lar asked, her countenance showing concern.

“I think that the memories for the previous host anxiety has got me second guessing a few of my decisions,” Olivia admitted. “I was always the more responsible one growing up and always had my nose in one book or another reading various subjects. If I wasn’t studying, I was either at the ice rink skating or in the gym with one of my brothers.”

"I see," said T'Lar, "As I understand it, over time your personality and that of Voight will become for lack of a better term fused with Voight being the dominant personality. You will retain a certain amount of your former self as Olivia Voight, but by and large Voight will be the driving force in your psychological makeup. Surely your training prepared you for this eventuality, or at the very least the selection process made sure you were a good candidate for this process."

“The initiate training and selection process is a tough process in that it tests one physically and mentally,” Olivia replied. “Each candidate must go through a physical and see a counselor before starting the program. Not all that start the program finish it for it is hard physically and mentally on the body. Yet, those that do complete the program have a better understanding of the selection process in pairing the right individual with a symbiont. Each symbiont has it’s own strong personality and one must learn when to let that personality take control depending on the situation and when to keep control yourself. It is a matter of balance for the personalities.”

"Indeed. Thank you for that clarification." T'Lar said. "And this balancing of the personalities is creating some anxiety for you? I would imagine that a certain amount of an adjustment period would be expected, would it not? Did they not give you strategies on how to deal with anxiety surrounding this integration process?"

“It has created some anxiety,” Olivia admitted. “Some days I do better than others in the managing of it. There is an adjustment period once the joining takes place. Depending on the symbiont and the individual personalities, it can take either a short amount of time or a long time for full integration. I have a few strategies for handling the anxiety, but depending on the situation, those techniques don’t always work.”

"What about direct negotiations with your symbiont? You do have a means of communication between the two of your minds do you not?"

“Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t,” Olivia admitted. “It usually depends on the subject matter of the internal argument as to who wins so to speak. I’ve learned that there are times when there will be no true winner in some situations. There have been a few times when my symbiont has brought up issues that happened before I was joined with it and I’d have to remind it that I wasn’t around when certain situations happened.”

"That would seem to indicate that you are not the only part of the relationship that is having difficulties making the adjustment. We should explore this further in another session. Between now and then I'd like you to think about what sort of boundaries need to be placed on your brother with regards to his input into how you live your life. " T'Lar said, tapping away on her PADD. "I am also sending you information about a weekly holo support group for joined Trill Starfleet personnel. I strongly urge you to consider participating in it as they will have insights into your challenges that I simply do not."

Olivia nodded her head slightly as she started thinking about the boundaries related to her brother Liam some. “I will see what I can do on both matters,” Olivia replied. “I know it will not be an easy task for both matters, but it needs to be done.”

"Very well, Doctor. That is all the time we have for this session. Please see the assistant on your way out to schedule your next appointment." T'Lar said rising to her feet and showing the Doctor to the door.

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