tushanshu | 002

[Anyone's who's spoken to Terry over the network before might note that he looks a lot more comfortable on video than he usually does. (The key is knowing what you're talking about instead of awkwardly trying to talk to strangers.) He's just chillin' in his suite - sans jacket, even! - looking all calm and junk and using his Professional Adult voice.]

So, uh. [gesture] I'm going to cut to the chase. My name is Terry Ward, I'm a therapist and I'm setting up a free service - I realise some people might find this unnecessary or pointless, but all things considered I'm inclined to disagree.

[everyone feel free to point out he looks about 17 and not nearly old enough to be a therapist]

I specialise in fears, anxieties and emotional trauma, though before I got here I was working for the 50 State Initiative, which was a program backed by the... active Avengers for the purpose of training people with powers in the responsible use of those powers. As a result, I've got a lot of experience with grief counselling and helping people deal with being somewhere they really don't want to be.

Like I said, it'll be free - although if you happen to feel like donating, the money will go to my boss, who's kindly letting me have the room in exchange for some overtime here and there. I'll be based out of [building in the Earth District, it has it's own door in the back so you don't have to worry about going through the store or anything like that.

It's also, as most of you would probably assume, entirely confidential unless I have reason to believe you're a danger to yourself or anyone else.

[this is where a reassuring smile would go if Terry was that kind of person, but instead he clasps his hands together and nods briefly as if to say "yes I think those are all the things I wanted to say."]

Thanks for your time.

[fingerguns]

[... stares at his hands...] I'm sorry I don't... know why I just did that.

Anway, I guess if you've got any questions, I can answer them.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Anonymous, because... he's not sure he wants people to associate them with this question, but.]

I've always wondered what the point to therapy is. What does it do?

By and large it depends on the type of therapy, but the core purpose is if someone has something that's preventing them from being entirely able to deal with their life - and it could be anything from stress or general anxiety to more severe problems like mood disorders or serious trauma - then the point of therapy is to help them overcome or manage those problems.

So, should a person have no problem meeting his responsibilities, it would be unnecessary.

Not exactly, it depends on a lot of things. Being unable to do the things you have to and usually can is when most people really notice that they need help, but the problem's generally there for a while beforehand and some people might not even get to the point where it interferes with their responsibilities. In fact sometimes that's really the only thing that keeps people going.

It's like being ill. A lot of the symptoms might be things you can ignore and work around and so you don't really think that anything's off, but there's generally a root cause that needs to be dealt with somehow and ignoring that can make it a lot worse.

Then how would you know? If something's wrong?

002 » video

audio; anonymous

audio;

audio; anonymous

audio;

audio;