Meet Tomas Altamirano | Therapist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tomas Altamirano and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tomas, what do you want your legacy to be?
I want to be remembered as somebody who was impactful to the LGBTQ+ community in ways that are not commonly seen right now. Through my education and my current work, I can tell how difficult it is to find an LGBTQ+ affirming therapist. To even find a transgender therapist is pretty difficult, so to be an openly agender therapist is something quite rare. Many of my clients comment on this too and tell me how relieved they are to see that there is someone like me in the field right now. I hope that I am setting the stage for what it can look like to have more openly transgender, and especially agender, professionals in the mental health field. I would be happy if being an agender therapist was the only thing people remembered about me, but I would love to do even more for the LGBTQ+ community outside of my role as a therapist!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am most proud that I have the opportunity to be openly and proudly LGBTQ+ in my professional practice. It is pretty daunting to make the decision to come out to your workplace as transgender, even more so that I am agender which is not a identity many people are familiar with. I knew that choosing to be so upfront about my identity on all the therapist websites would come with its own pros and cons. Of course many people would probably be confused about my identity and maybe choose a different therapist that they had an easier time understanding. On the other hand, I would be attracting a lot of the LGBTQ+ community and especially transgender people. I knew there would be no going back once I decided to brand myself as an agender therapist, but I have been completely happy with my decision ever since and I have met so many wonderful clients. I have definitely learned along the way that I need to be increasingly more intentional with how I take care of myself if I am going to last in this field. I hope that by being so open about my identity the world gets to see what agender people are capable of! If the effect I leave on people inspires them to find a way to help others, then I will feel completely satisfied with the work I have done for the world.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Sightseeing is definitely not my Forte, but I would do my best to try and show them some interesting spots. Downtown Fort Worth is especially pretty at night, so I think I’d like to walk around the city and take in the surroundings while also stopping to check out any cool shops or places to eat. I’d definitely take a friend to my favorite place to grab a drink from, which is Liberty Lounge! It’s a really friendly and chill gay bar, so it’s the perfect place to kill a few hours. For dinner, I’d definitely check out Thai Select. It’s Thai place around the Hulen area and they have a great teriyaki salmon! I enjoy the outdoors, so I’d also show a friend the nature reserve in Azle. It’s usually not too crowded and a great spot to take a break from society.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have to give a ton of props to my bosses Corey Boes and Alexandria Darrow! I would definitely not be in the position I currently am with private practice if it were not for Corey asking if I wanted to be part of his initial team. They are both very kind and have a wealth of experience that I can still learn a lot from. Their have ensured that me and the other therapists I work with only have to be worried about our clients and paperwork, meaning they take care of all the business that I have no idea how to tackle! I feel incredibly lucky that I got to contribute to their hard work and I hope I can keep doing right by them.

Website: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/tomas-altamirano-fort-worth-tx/962257

Other: https://www.mindfulpossibilities.org/

Image Credits
Amairani Jimenez @photosbyyamairani