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Post by Admin on Aug 7, 2019 1:10:14 GMT
 I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance There weren’t a lot of days that Em didn’t spend in the hospital. She tended to work more than she should, and she knew that, but it was something that she had always had to deal with. It was a character flaw, really. Today though, she had the day off from the Trauma Ward. If the Head of the ward could ever really have the day off. They could call her if they needed her, and they knew that. Em had been called in more than once. The state of the world meant that Emmaline was called back to the hospital for traumas even when there was supposed to be a simple day off. There was never a time when she was uncontactable though. She had had a pager since they had made them, and she had a cell phone. They could get to her, if they needed her, and they knew where she was. If she wasn’t at home she was here, or she was in a Board Meeting. And they didn’t have a Board Meeting tonight. She had come to the Foundation to see if she could get anything accomplished. There were massive amounts of things to work through, and she knew that she found her time was better spent here. If only because they weren’t inclined to interrupt her to ask foolish questions. If she tried to research in the hospital, there was always a trainee or a nurse that was interrupting her for this or that. Here she could work with minimal distractions. Andromeda had been a friend for years, and when she had approached her about this idea a while ago, Em had signed on instantly. She would help. She would do whatever it took to try and cure this. She hated not having her magic as much as the next witch. It was only because Andromeda had been her teacher that she knew how to perform surgery the muggle way at all. She hadn’t gone to muggle medical school. She hadn’t had that training. It had come later, in the hospital. It had come when it had been a necessity. Not before. Now though, she was glad that she had been trained like that. She could continue to do her job. And she didn’t have to worry about not being able to take care of everyone. Perhaps it was time that they start thinking about teaching them all to do things the muggle way first… Magic would assist them, it would save lives, and it could treat things that muggle medicine could not. But having that solid foundation… It seemed like it was something that they could use. Becoming too dependent on magic, well, the proof was right in front of them. They were not ready for that. They were not equipped for a magicless life. Emmaline was reading through some of the muggle files that she had brought with her, and she was trying to find anything that would point them in the right direction. It was a virus, they knew that. The reduction in spread told them that it was only contagious once. And that after the initial outbreak they were not going to find it spreading as easily. She knew that she was trying to be careful, with her research. They had come across some live strains of the stuff, taking samples from those that were still presenting symptoms, and she knew that it was likely that they were going to spread it through contact, but closed chambers helped with that. At least some. Invisible to the naked eye, Em knew that just staring at the petri dishes wasn’t going to get her any closer to understanding what they were dealing with, but she thought that they might be doing a little better in here than they were at the hospital. This was a closed facility. Only those with credentials could get into the labs. And she trusted those that could get in here. No one was going to tamper with her experiments. Looking up at the sound of the door clicking unlocked, Em was expecting Andromeda. She had seen her friend in the building earlier when she had arrived, and yet, it wasn’t Andromeda at all. “Lord Lestrange.” Em nodded in greeting to the man that had entered the lab. She had told Andromeda that she was bringing files for all of them. Rabastan included. Psychological studies that went with the effects of mass illnesses on populations. They were, none of them, going to make it through this unscathed. “Have you talked to Andromeda?” If he hadn’t it was a happy coincidence that he was here, if he had, she was glad to hand over what he had come to collect. MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0
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Post by Admin on Aug 7, 2019 1:10:25 GMT
 I HOPE YOU never lose your sense of wonder You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger
The Lestrange Foundation had been Andromeda's brain child, but Rabastan had thrown himself into it. He was not a healer as she had been, but he was an educated psychologist and a man much fascinated by the workings of the body and magic. His mastery of necromancy made for much overlap with biology, chemistry, and anatomy. So, work at the Foundation was far more engaging and interesting for him than what could be done at the Ministry. Andi had rejected his resignation once before, when he had given it in a wholly emotional state, but he spent less and less time at the Ministry as the opportunities for discussions and experiment observation grew with the foundation. This was where he wanted to be. This work felt purposeful. This was what could get him his magic back. He was sure of it.
He might have taken more pride and enjoyment out of his work at the Ministry were there more involved in the hit wizard training program. But apparently people were just too scared of him or whatever. It was annoying at best and insulting at worst. He was an educated man. He had many talents. Yes, murder and torture were among those, but there was much more...and it wasn't as if he had a short temper. He was quite patient--and every day out of Azkaban was day he was more sane and stable than the last. He had been damaged in a deep and lasting way by his years of imprisonment, but the potions he regularly consumed and the deeply honest and therapeutic conversations he had shared with his mistress did much to help him. He was facing his demons. He was working through them.
Just as they were all working through this sickness and the ramifications it would have on them for the rest of their lives. Even when the cure was found, wixen English society was much changed for magic having been stripped away like this. They could deal with that when it came...they could be prepared, even, to face that challenge. It was not like the epidemic itself, where there had been no warning, no time. This they could get ahead of. He and Andi had touched very briefly on that topic earlier in the day when she informed him Emmaline Avery had been gathering relevant information. Rabastan had pulled a few psychological journals on the matter and was curious if any of the studies referenced in those articles would be included in what Lady Avery had gathered.
He had been reviewing data from Australia's 2007 outbreak of equine influenza. The psychological impacts on the population there had been considerable. Extremely high levels of non-specific psychological distress were reported by respondents in this study, over a third of them had expressed experiencing profound grief, depression, and anxiety. The UK was not only suffering from this magical stealing illness, but it would surely bring with it a mental health crisis, as well. He had the white paper in hand when he let himself into the Avery's lab space.
He was greeted by name and the man gave a nod of his head towards the woman. "Lady Avery," he reciprocated, showing her the respect she well deserved with her education and status. "I have. I am eager to see what you have found. I've been engaged in very similar research myself."
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Post by Admin on Aug 7, 2019 1:10:34 GMT
I HOPE YOU STILL FEEL SMALL WHEN YOU STAND BESIDE THE OCEAN AND WHEN YOU GET THE CHOICE TO SIT IT OUT OR DANCE Working at the Foundation fed a part of Em’s soul that didn’t get the attention that it needed from the hospital. She loved the hospital, and she knew that she would never leave that behind, she needed that too, but when it came to her research, she was better suited to these halls than she was to using the hospital laboratories. She liked to conduct her research a little more privately, and she thought that there was a good chance that things were a little safer here as well. She trusted those that worked in this place, and not just because they were purebloods – even though that did have a little to do with it – but because she trusted Andromeda. This place was her friend, and mentor’s, brain child. She knew that she was going to have to try and get along with everyone else here too, but it wasn’t too hard. There weren’t all that many people that called this place home full time. There would be, she knew that they were hiring more nad more every day. They were taking those that didn’t have magic, those that were being put out of research jobs elsewhere, and she knew why. She knew that Andromeda had been educated in the muggle world. That was the way that she had taught Emmaline. They didn’t need magic to fix magic. Just as they hadn’t needed magic to take it away. There was something about all of this that felt deliberate, and she knew that she wasn’t the only one that thought that. There were plenty of people that viewed this as an attack, but who would attack everyone like this? Someone that had very little to lose, but it wasn’t targeted at any group of people. It was the work, not of an entire set of people, designed to take out another, but of a radical. It was something done with the intent to harm all, not just some. It was something that had been destined to be far worse than this. For now, they had contained it. Having a doctor, not a healer, but a doctor, as Minister had stopped the spread from being international. Andromeda had closed the borders the moment that she sensed an epidemic, and it had stopped it from spreading. Of course, that came with its own share of issues, but there was very little to be done about that now. They were going to have to figure it out. And she didn’t know that that was any of her business. She had been taught politics alongside her brothers, but that had been years ago. In a different life. Her own choices had shaped her into someone else since then, and she was proud of who she had become. She was proud of her children. Even if they were halfbloods. She had loved their father, and that had won out, in the end. She had cared for Travis more than she had cared about her bloodline. She had no reason to think that the Avery line had been her problem, and it wasn’t. Evandrus had that under control, and G had had Parker. There were boys to carry on the Avery name, her children had nothing to do with it. Which was exactly what she had wanted. But now they had all been touched by this. They were all the same. Em smiled when Rabastan repeated the formality back at her, “Emmaline, Em even, is fine.” She didn’t need to be a lady here. She would have taken Healer before Lady most of the time anyway. Healer she had earned all on her own. Lady she had simply been born into. “I’m not sure actually. Psychology isn’t my field, and I’d probably be a poor excuse for an interpreter. I can break down an atom, and study the structures, but when it comes to what’s going on in our heads…” She shook her head lightly as she reached for the stack of things, she had brought for him. “Andi claims that you can make sense of all of these though. Or at least do better than she and I can.” MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0
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Post by Admin on Aug 7, 2019 1:10:43 GMT
I HOPE YOU never lose your sense of wonder You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger
Rabastan had a different skill set than most anyone else in the building. He was a psychologist. He was also a Master Necromancer and Master Potioneer. The latter let him engage in certain discussions with the researchers on staff. The former, though, it was really what was most useful. Studying psychology had served to strengthen his critical thinking, communication, and organizational skills.
He had focused on his clinical work on cognitive psychology and social psychology. Cognitive psychology had broken down mental processes in a scientific way. That knowledge and learning made him analyze and consider interactions and behaviors. Rabastan took note of language use, memory, and perception in particular. He observed, and then tried to cultivate problem solving, creativity, and thinking. He hoped he was succeeding in that at the Foundation.
He was making use of his other psychology focus, as well. Social psych was the branch of psychology that deals with social interactions, including their origins and their effects on the individual... obviously the pursuit of that knowledge had been grounded in his daddy issues, but he still found ways to apply that understanding beyond just trying to figure out himself. It was the foundation for the proposal he was working up for the need for the Ministry to instate a psychological first aid disaster response plan and support network.
The country needed it for this disaster and would need it for possible other disasters in the future. Living with the long-term stress and struggle from the loss of magic was going to mark the citizens and the society. They had not been ready for this. Even with the rapid response of the healers, little care had been given to the psychological and mental health of the country. Focus had been on containment, on treating the flu like symptoms. The psychological and socioeconomic impacts from the epidemic had not been addressed as well. There was on-going social disruption that needed to be addressed. Disaster had not just been something horrible to happen to them, it was a prolonged way of life. The epidemic was not just something that had happened in the past. It was the country's present and foreseeable future.
The Ministry and the healers had failed to address the psychological crisis with a rapid intervention early on...and now traditional psychotherapy was not going to be the right answer. Psychotherapy focused on long term therapeutic growth. What they needed now was a means to stabilize and mitigate the current distress. Eventually there could be a need for traditional psychotherapy, if they couldn't find a cure, if people really had to learn to live without magic forever. Then, they would need the long-term growth. For now, they needed something else--They needed something that was at different point on the continuum of care.
Psychological crisis intervention or what he was to lobby as psychological first aid was the earliest point on the continuum of what should be a comprehensive spectrum of mental health care. This was disaster response. It was before diagnoses or treatment. Set apart from counseling and psychotherapy. The goal would be to mitigate distress and access the need for continued mental health care. He just needed to gather enough information and prepare the plan clearly enough that Hesper would both buy into it and implement it. She had to see the need was there. There was so much evidence. The statistics were not always consistent in the severity of how many in a population would suffer from mental health problems after a societal crisis be it natural disaster or health crisis---but they always were in the 15 to 25% range of the directly affected population. With over two-thirds of the country infected, even with the low estimate, that was millions of people.
Something had to be done--and Rabastan was hopeful that Emmaline Avery would be able to help him make that happen. He had been so excited when Andromeda had briefed him on the research the other woman had accumulated. They exchanged greetings and she encouraged that formality be set aside. He smiled and gave a small nod of his head. "Em, then--and Rab or Rabastan, as it suits you." The man was not caught up on being referred to as a Lord or by his surname. He wasn't here to just flaunt the family name. He was here to work and contribute. He believed that encouraging openness and cooperation would be beneficial for the Foundation.
Rabastan expressed his interest in the research the woman had accumulated—and was impressed with her modesty as she downplayed her ability to understand the psychological studies. To be a best friend to Andromeda, to work here, and to have her role at St. Mungo’s, the woman was clearly intelligent and capable—but still she was willing to acknowledge the line where her expertise stopped and another’s might begin. It was comforting to see that ego was not overpowering logic. "I am sure it will be helpful. I appreciate the research. I hope I can use it to highlight the need for there to be a psychological first aid plan in place. The hospitals and healers really did incredible responding to the emergency, but so much focus was on the physical health and loss of magic. I believe we failed to address the mental ramifications of the disaster." Rabastan sought to be concise. Both his and her time was valuable. He wasn’t trying to waste hers by rambling on. If she wanted to discuss things further, he was happy to do so, but he wasn’t going to force the conversation on her. Particularly, when she might have something more pressing to discuss regarding her own research.
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Post by Admin on Aug 7, 2019 1:10:57 GMT
I HOPE YOU STILL FEEL SMALL WHEN YOU STAND BESIDE THE OCEAN AND WHEN YOU GET THE CHOICE TO SIT IT OUT OR DANCE When she had first heard about the symptoms, she didn’t quite understand them. A loss of magic was not something that they had seen before. There was no illness that took magic, and only magic away from everyone. Yes, there had been other symptoms. Yes, that wasn’t the only thing that had happened, but it seemed to be the only lasting side effect. It had been months now, and as far as Emmaline could see, the only physical thing that was left behind, was the loss of magic from their bodies. And yet, she knew that it hadn’t taken everything. One look at her sister-in-law, and she knew that. Felicity could still feel emotions; she was still constantly plagued by headaches as a result. Emmaline thought that those were the people that she was truly trying to help. She wanted magic back for everyone. She didn’t care who it was that they were going help in the end. They could give the cure, if they found one, to absolutely everyone. She’d even risk trying to give it to squibs, to see if they could somehow cure whatever caused the genetic mutation that stole the magic away. Emmaline would try and help everyone that they could once they understood all of this. But it was the people that she loved that she had the most motivation because of. And she truly did care about Felicity. But she knew that curing it physically was not going to take away everything else. There were people that had suffered losses that she couldn’t even imagine because of this. Women had lost unborn children, and Emmaline had seen the toll that that took on a healthy woman. She had seen it in her best friend. But she didn’t think that there was a way that she was going to be able to truly understand it. You had to experience that, to know what they were going through. And yet, she thought that there was something even harder about having it taken from you in this way. Someone had done this. Someone had caused this. And nothing that anyone tried to tell her would convince her otherwise. Emmaline was sure that someone had attacked them with this. That someone had deliberately taken their magic, and she didn’t know how to get it back. Every lead that she followed led her to more questions than answers, and she didn’t know how to remove the virus from the body. There was some sort of block, almost. The magic was still there, it was still in Felicity, and something about that gave her hope that it was in the rest of them too. If that was the case, then they just had to access it again. They had to remove the virus from their systems, and hopefully reengage with whatever it was that caused them to be able to use their magic in the first place. Her shrink kept telling her that she didn’t have to figure it all out on her own, but there was some part of her that felt like she did. That felt like she had somehow failed. She was the head of the Emergency Ward. She was the one that was supposed to be able to fix the crisis when it happened. She was supposed to be able to fix everyone, and then send them on their way. And she couldn’t fix this. She didn’t have the answers yet. She didn’t have anything that she needed. But the worst part was that she didn’t know what it was that she needed in the first place. Everything was chaos, and she was so tired of chaos. She wanted, or rather she needed, clarity. She needed answers. And she wasn’t getting any. Not with this project, and not with the last. The requisition for a DNA sequencer had just hit Andromeda’s desk. But if she was going to truly continue with this line of thought, she needed one. The Foundation could afford it. She knew that they could. Andromeda was bank rolling this place with the Black vaults. They could afford whatever it was that they needed, and she knew that for this there would be no expense spared. If she thought that it would help her, they would buy it for her. But it wasn’t her research that she thought interesting this morning. It was his. Rabastan Lestrange was not someone that she had thought of when she thought of a Research Director, but she had learned quickly enough from Andromeda that there was a side of him she didn’t know at all. Who he was, and the public image of him, were not all there was to the man that was standing in front of her right now. He was a psychologist. He understood a part of the medical field that Emmaline relied on to keep her sane, but didn’t have any expertise in. “Rab.” She nodded in acceptance of his name, though it felt foreign on her lips. “I can see that… We were focused on getting things under control, and now… We’re left with just as much of a mess.” She shook her head a little bit, “Is there even a suitable way to treat a whole country for trauma? We always recommend counselors, and professional help in the Trauma Ward, but that can’t be the best option for an entire nation, can it?” Genuine curiosity filled her words, Emmaline was always eager to learn, and in this he was clearly more the expert than she hoped to be. MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0
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