Alistair Slaughter, Mental Health Intern

Hello, I’m Alistair (he/him)! I’m a Black queer polyamorous cis man and a
born-and-raised Chicagoan. Since getting my bachelor’s in psychology 20
years ago, I’ve worked in hospitality, service, finance, film/TV, sports, and
education. My diverse background influences how I connect and engage with
people and their stories in my role as a clinical intern. Multiculturalism and
social justice are at the core of my training, and I believe seeing the whole
person means considering the communities, cultures, and systems present in
and around their lives.

My style blends narrative, existential, and relational-cultural approaches with
poetry therapy and parts work. Your experiences, beliefs, and values are
central to our process, and I want to help you toward a deeper understanding
of yourself, not just tell you what to do. Knowing therapy can get challenging
and heavy, I show up for this work with openness, humor, and at times even
straight-up silliness in the spirit of co-creating a shared language and a
comfortable space where therapy can feel more genuine, accepting, and
collaborative. From there, we can examine the narratives and coping
strategies that helped you survive and how well they still serve the life you
actually want to live.

Rooted in my lived experience, ongoing education, and cultural humility, my
practice is trauma-informed and affirming of queerness, non-monogamy,
polyamory, and kink. I welcome clients curious about how their intersecting
identities shape their inner lives, relationships, and ways of moving through
the world, especially BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent, and otherwise
marginalized folks, including those living outside dominant sexual, romantic,
or relationship norms. I also want to work with people in mixed-neurotype
relationships who are looking to strengthen their connections. And as
someone who has felt invalidated in therapy myself, I care about supporting

those whose expectations or experiences of being harmed, alienated, or
misunderstood have made them hesitant about starting or returning to
therapy.

Separate from my counseling internship, I’m a consulting astrologer currently
studying on scholarship in Astrology University’s diploma program. I’m
guided by a humanistic and strengths-based perspective that emphasizes
self-compassion and reflection, and I enjoy working with clients who want to
bring the language of astrology into therapy.

I spend my free time hanging out with my friends, partners, and my 17-year-
old tabby, Charlie. I love basketball, writing/making music, getting lost in little
projects, and binge-watching things that are mysterious or kind of spooky.

Areas of Focus
 BIPOC
 LGBTQIA+
 Polyamory/Nonmonogamy
 BDSM/Kink
 ADHD
 Mixed-neurotype Relationships
 Intergenerational/Epigenetic Trauma

Approaches
 Narrative Therapy
 Existential-Humanistic Therapy
 Relational-Cultural Therapy
 Parts Work

 Strengths-Based
 Poetry Therapy