Alwin Paul Alias
He/Him
I am gay and I am a PhD scholar in clinical psychology and a registered clinical psychologist.//
As a Clinical Psychologist pursuing a PhD in Clinical Psychology at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (an Institute of National Importance), Bengaluru, India, I often reflect, “I am in a profession that once pathologized the existence of people like me, and mental health is always socio-political by nature.”
My research journey began with a focus on the well-being of the Sexual and Gender Minority community during my bachelor’s, master’s, and MPhil dissertations. Currently, I am expanding my expertise to intersectional geropsychology. At this early stage of my PhD, we are working to integrate the sociopolitical contexts and various identity statuses of elderly individuals, particularly focusing on older adults with common mental disorders. Additionally, I serve as a Research Scientist on an Indian Council of Medical Research-funded project exploring the effectiveness of transdiagnostic CBT in elderly adults.
From the shadowed corridors of an orthodox Christian upbringing and growing up gay in a country where homosexuality was a crime until 2018, I struggled deeply with internalized homonegativity. I remember my 17-year-old self, scared to live beyond his early 20s. Yet now, in my mid-20s, I find joy and pride in my identity.
As a writer, my soul spills into the pages of works like “Gay from Kolkata” (short story), “Masculinity is a Prison” (critical analysis), “They Celebrate Our Death: A Queer Narrative” (blog), and several queer love poems. Proud of my identity and conscious of intersectionality, I believe that a therapist’s identity is political.
Feel free to reach out to me for any discussion in related areas.