Today, we’d like to introduce you to Tomas Altamirano.
Hi Tomas, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I got my start as a therapist by working at Mesa Springs hospital at the beginning of 2021. This was my first position with an actual therapist title, and I started by facilitating outpatient groups. This was such a valuable experience for me as I really needed a place, I could sharpen the therapy skills I learned in college, while also picking up new materials and learning from a diverse set of patients.
After doing that for almost two years, I then was able to get into private practice therapy by joining my boss, Corey’s agency. This is where I work now with Mindful Possibilities. Since then, I’ve really been able to focus on my specialty with the LGBTQ+ community, as I have been able to openly identify as a transgender therapist. Being so visible means I primarily receive queer clients. I found it important to do this at the beginning of my career so that any client I work with is already going to be comfortable with my identity, and they will also know I am going to be accepting of theirs.
The most recent development in my professional life is receiving training in EMDR therapy. It’s really taken me to the next level, and I hope to push myself even further in this direction!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I have been fortunate that I haven’t faced that many problems on my journey. Any challenges I have faced have all been necessary for my development as a person and as a therapist. I started out at Mesa Springs when I was only 21, so I definitely lacked professional and general life experience.
I had to work on my confidence to ensure I felt competent enough to actually help people in this field. Luckily confidence is something you can build pretty quickly working in a mental health hospital. I’ve delt with my fair share of difficult cases and acute patients. While this can be pretty taxing and make you reconsider your profession, I was left with a feeling of surprise at myself for being able to weather the difficult storm.
While I do see fewer of these cases in private practice, I certainly do still run into enough that still test my mettle and remind me of how tough this profession is.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. What can you tell our readers who might not be as familiar with your work?
I’m a therapist who specializes in working with the LGBTQ+ community, and I feel that openly identifying as an agender therapist sets me apart from others in the field. Another transgender therapist definitely exists, but there are not that many of us in Texas, and I’ve still yet to meet one who is also agender.
Being openly trans means that when queer folk find out who I am, they can already be assured that I am going to understand who they are, and I won’t ask inappropriate questions. The level of rapport I immediately gain with clients is really incomparable to what I’ve seen with other therapists. I often utilize typical talk therapy techniques and modalities like CBT, DBT, and self-compassion, but my real passion is EMDR therapy.
I would consider EMDR therapy another specialty of mine, as I love the process, and I have seen it push people to grow more than more traditional therapy modalities would. It is also the only therapy modality I’ve used that actually has a way of treating gender dysphoria. I was very careful to learn how this could be viable, and in my opinion, this should only be done by a queer therapist who has a deep understanding of gender dysphoria. With this, I’m probably one of the only therapists in Texas who has a direct and safe way of treating gender dysphoria.
I’m most proud of being able to use my identity to help as many people in the LGBTQ+ community as possible. Most people who reach out for a consultation remark that they were so relieved to find me after countless hours of searching for a therapist, so this really does help me feel I’m doing a job not many other people can do.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I definitely had a lot of support to be able to get where I am at my age. I would say two important people in my development were people I met while working in outpatient hospitals. As a therapy intern, I worked with a therapist by the name Kristina Dyer. She is one of the most competent and headstrong therapists I have ever met, and I got to work with her more than any other therapist while I was interning at Carrollton Springs.
Her therapy style was so sharp, and she had a great way of pushing clients to where they needed to be. She was both an LCSW and an LCDC, so I was really in awe of her knowledge and how she treated people suffering from substance use and other mental health disorders. At times, I felt I could never measure up to her, but over time, I finally found my footing and felt I actually had what it took to be a therapist. She really inspired me to be better than I was and helped me feel competent enough to actually get there!
One of the biggest supporters in my career has been my colleague and good friend Crystal Valdez. I met her in Mesa Springs and was immediately impressed by her competency and care for her patients. We were both around 22 at the time, so it was helpful to work with someone close to my age and with a similar background.
In some ways, I felt like she was already ahead of me in therapy skills and knowledge, but I was at least able to help show her some of the ropes at the hospital, and we quickly became friends. Since then, she’s started her own private practice, and I am immensely proud of what she has been able to do. I call her Hermana to this day because she truly feels like someone I can call family.
Pricing:
- $90 per hour.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mindfulpossibilities.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindfulpossibilities/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mindfulpossibilitiesftw
Image Credits
Amairani Jimenez and Jahleel Fedrick
