• Paul Edward Graves PsyD

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Last Post

Mon 28th Oct, 2024 @ 9:39pm

Commander Paul Graves

Name Paul Edward Graves PsyD

Position Chief Counselor

Second Position Second Officer

Rank Commander


Character Information

Gender Male
Species Human-Betazoid
Age 39

Physical Appearance

Height 6'1"
Weight 170 lbs.
Hair Color Black
Eye Color Black
Physical Description Paul is a tallish, lean man with a runner's build. He has smooth, dark hair cut to regulation length and the black eyes typical of a Betazoid. His complexion is fair, and he is clean-shaven. Out of uniform, he tends to prefer comfortable clothing in darker colors; he is fond of deep blue. Except under very stressful conditions, he projects an air of calm and emotional warmth, though he can sometimes be brisk. His gait is swift, his movements economical. He always walks as if he has a goal in mind; he rarely just strolls.

Family

Spouse None yet.
Children None.
Father Alistair Graves of Mickleton Manor, Gloucestershire, Earth - a businessman
Mother Damaris Rokshan of Askellon, Betazed
Brother(s) None
Sister(s) Sarah Amadrial Graves, a forensic anthropologist living on Earth.
Other Family Cousin Petra Graves, a sculptor in marble.

Personality & Traits

Strengths & Weaknesses Strengths: Keenly observant and intelligent. Has inherited the Betazoid ability of empathy, receptive and projective, and is able to preform telepathy if in close proximity to another telepath. He's a good listener and is unshakably calm in an emergency--if no more than a couple of people are in the room with him. Among more people than that, he must struggle to maintain his composure. In a very large-scale disaster, he might well shut down. He cannot handle being in Sickbay for long except in a secluded place with minimal outside personal contact. If early for an appointment he waits out in the hall, not in the lobby. He once almost suffered a mental shut-down in the casino.

Weaknesses: Paul has only barely-adequate control over his receptive empathy. He is much better at controlling his own feelings than he is at shutting out the emotions of others. He becomes irritable when this happens.
Ambitions Paul would like to marry and start a family eventually. Professionally, he is working toward becoming a Starfleet line officer at the moment, but his interest in that is waning in favor of becoming the starbase's official liaison to Brown Sector, instead. Having served for several years as Second Officer of Starbase 109, he feels more confident in himself as a line officer than he did when he first took the position and wants to challenge himself further, but he has decided that truly being a line officer is not the path he wants to pursue.
Hobbies & Interests Paul likes to play tennis and golf. He also runs a couple of miles a day. He likes to sketch, and his reading tastes are wide-ranging, from mystery novels, to science-fiction, to religion, to history. He also likes to go horseback riding--as long as the horse is not in heat.

Personal History Paul was born in 2354 in the town of Askellon on Betazed. His father, Alistair Graves, was an executive in a pharmaceuticals company based in Britain. He had married Damaris Rokshan of Betazed after settling on her homeworld when his employer transferred him there to run the Betazed branch office. Damaris was a physician who Alistair met during a pharmaceuticals corporate convention.

Paul had a mostly normal childhood, complicated only by the fact that, though he had inherited his mother's sense of empathy, controlling the receptive part of it was a challenge for him. It caused him to avoid a lot of group activities that he would otherwise have joined in, such as sporting events and concerts.

Despite his aversion to them, Paul became interested in studying crowds and mass psychology. By the time he was old enough to apply to and then enter Starfleet Academy, he had decided to major in Counseling with a minor in First Contact. He entered Starfleet Academy in 2368, graduating with an ensign's commission and a BA in Psychology in 2372. His marks were high enough for him to be granted a further year of study to complete a master's degree, which Paul opted to do. He received his MS in Gestalt Psychology in 2374, writing a master's thesis about the Cardassian occupation of Bajor and its effects on the survivors after the Cardassians departed. He earned his doctorate in 2378.

Paul has participated in one first contact, with a race called the Dreel, while serving onboard the Ken. He and the ship's chief language specialist helped avert a war by figuring out how to communicate and interact with the Dreel, whose primary mode of nonverbal communication was through pheromones--which meant far more to the Dreel than verbal communication did.

Paul regards his greatest failure as not realizing that his best friend, Rhys Eadvane, was suicidal. This almost caused him to change majors. However, part of his degree required him to undergo counseling himself, and the person who counseled him was able to demonstrate to Paul how effectively a determined Betazoid can hide or mask his or her emotions. This gradually enabled Paul to forgive himself, though his feelings of sadness that his friend didn't want to confide in him have never completely gone away.
Service Record 2372: Graduates from Starfleet Academy as an Ensign with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. Receives grant to stay on at the Academy and pursue a Master's degree, which he accepts.
2374: Completes Master of Science degree in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences. Promoted to LT(jg). Assigned to the Nebula-class ship Nightraven as a Master's-level Counselor. Works with a lot of PTSD patients as part of the Dominion War.
2378: Earns Doctor of Psychology degree. Promoted to full Counselor. Asked to stay on for a psych fellowship, as his ship specializes in refugee evacuations. Graves does.
2381: Promoted to LT. Assigned to the Nebula-class ship Vigilance as a Counselor.
2384: Assigned to the Sovereign-class ship Victoria as Asst. Ship's Counselor.
2386: Assigned to the Defiant-class ship Audacious as Ship's Counselor.
2390: Assigned to the Akira-class ship Ken as Ship's Counselor.
2392: Assigned to SB Vanguard as Chief Counselor.
2393: Promoted to Lt. Commander.
2393: Selected by Col. Horation Drake to serve as Second Officer. Accepts position and enters six-month training period for it.
2394: Promoted to Commander. Hasn't been fired yet!