Today we’d like to introduce you to Alo Johnston.
Hi Alo, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
In many ways I think I have the classic therapist story: I grew up constantly wanting to have deep conversations, and then something about my face inviting close friends, acquaintances, and strangers on the bus to tell me their life stories.
I wanted to help people but I had no idea what that looked like. I went to college and started to become fascinated with psychology at the same time I started to realize that something was up with my gender. I never felt comfortable as a girl and as a child, I was “mistaken as” a boy all the time. Living as a tomboy was comfortable but when I got older it felt like society demand that I grow up and act like a girl and then a woman. In college, I started to realize that I might not be cisgender and maybe there was another way for me to live my life. My interest in psychology and understanding my gender happened in parallel.
Realizing I was a trans man felt like a lot of self-discovery with very guidance. I had to piece together information from blogs, and YouTube, and zines, and maybe the occasional book. There was information about hormones and clothes, but I could never find any answers to my deeper questions like: what if this is a phase? What if this feeling is just internalized misogyny? What if I have regrets? What if people can’t accept me and I lose everyone I love? I felt like I had to navigate all these things on my own, and at some point, I just had to find out through doing.
I continued to study psychology and decided to go to grad school to become a marriage and family therapist. I attended Antioch University Los Angeles specifically because they had an LGBT specialization. And I became more and more confident in myself and my gender. I got to work with transgender clients at the Los Angeles LGBT Center and then at the Los Angeles Gender Center. I felt so grateful to be able to work with my own community and found that almost everyone I spoke to had the same doubts and fears that I did. After years of working as a therapist, the pandemic hit and even more people started to question their gender. Once everyone was stuck at home with their thoughts and didn’t have to perform their gender at school or work then a lot of people started to realize they might not be the gender they were performing. I went to write what I thought would be an article about gender identity and doubts and then I just kept typing until I realized I was definitely writing a book.
It turns out I really love talking about gender, but more importantly, I really love being able to have those deep conversations with my clients and provide some of the guidance and insight that I wish I had had access to during my own self-discovery. I ended up writing a book called “Am I Trans Enough?” which will be released on February 21.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It took many years for me to feel like I had a handle on my own life experiences. I felt so alone and without a map. I had really great friends and my partner but even surrounded by people who cared I felt like I was struggling so much. I remember when I was in college, I couldn’t imagine living past the age of 30. I couldn’t imagine growing older and I wasn’t sure if it would be possible to grow older if I couldn’t imagine it. That got dark at times. Eventually, I had to take a leap of faith and that was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done but it ultimately is what kept me alive.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I continue to work in private practice and I work primarily with transgender, nonbinary, queer, and non-monogamous/polyamorous clients. I really love the work that I do. Like I said, I wrote a book, and it has been exciting to branch out in some other kinds of work. I started to share some of my writing and ideas on Instagram through the account @thetranstherapist and I was surprised to discover how many people really latched on to that. In some ways, it’s pretty niche, and in other ways I think a lot of people have questions about gender that don’t really get discussed.
What matters most to you?
Human connection. I just want to connect with people and understand them, whether that’s personally or professionally. Maybe that’s too much of a therapist’s answer but it is what has always motivated me. I’m not in it for the fame or money or anything else, and if I was then I really picked the wrong career.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://alojohnston.com/
- Instagram: thetranstherapist
- Twitter: alo_johnston
Image Credits
Adeib El Masri
