Alex Ngo LCSW

“Our most radical work is to love ourselves.”
– Kim Katrin

I’m Alex Ngo and I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who specializes in trauma recovery, mindfulness, and racial, sexual, and gender identity development. As a Chinese Vietnamese queer and trans woman, I am especially passionate about the healing and liberation of queer and trans people, people of color, and their intersections. I am also committed to being a therapist who is affirming of sex workers, sex positivity and kink, and people in polyamorous and non-monogamous relationship structures. 

I have over a decade of experience in anti-oppression and social justice work that informs my clinical approach and understanding of trauma and healing. I believe in fostering our collective radical imagination, in pleasure activism, in celebrating the resiliency of queer and trans people of color, and in the power of transforming ourselves to transform the world. I also bring my experiences as a child of refugees, a Buddhist, and a believer in trans divinity, into my work in breaking cycles, fostering intergenerational growth, and developing an ancestral connection and spiritual practice. 

I am passionate about helping clients develop a gentle, curious, mindful, and compassionate relationship with themselves. I believe we are all made up of multiple parts, each with their own motivations and fears. When we are feeling distressing thoughts and emotions that come from these different parts of us, our first instinct is to push them away or use unhelpful coping skills to distract ourselves. However, relieving our suffering is possible when we learn to accept that, while we cannot control our thoughts and emotions, we can learn to control how we respond to them. 

I can help you get to know these parts, understand your thoughts and emotions, create opportunities for self-reflection and self-dialogue, and provide tools to heal old wounds our younger selves still carry for us. I find parts work to be especially helpful when helping queer and trans people re-establish a relationship with our younger selves who did not have access to the safety required to be their most authentic self. It is possible for us to become the person we needed when we were younger.

Parts work, mindfulness, and a mind-body connection are also integral parts in my approach to trauma recovery. I can help guide those with unprocessed trauma through painful memories to create new meanings from the harm you survived and to heal the parts of you still stuck in those traumatic experiences. My passion for this kind of work began in my work as a sexual assault prevention educator and activist. That passion continues to guide my calling towards helping us heal from violence, whether systemic or interpersonal, and foster safer communities by interrupting oppression, cycles of abuse, and intergenerational trauma. 

My friends and clients alike would describe me as someone who is very direct and provides feedback in a “no-nonsense” manner. I am firm, will absolutely push and challenge you, and also understand that this work takes time, patience, and compassion. My most valuable clinical tool is my authenticity, vulnerability, and unapologetic approach to life, and I model that for my clients in the way I move through each therapeutic relationship. 

Because I don’t believe healing can be all-encompassed within the context of talk therapy alone, I also engage in healing work in a number of different contexts. I am an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago where I teach a course on intergroup dialogue and facilitation. I provide conflict mediation, healing circles, and keynote speeches, consultation, and training on a wide range of topics, to universities, corporations, and organizations. I am also a performance artist and writer who has been active in the queer nightlife scene of Chicago, specifically working to make nightlife spaces that center and celebrate trans femmes of color.

Alex Ngo received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications, Community Action and Social Change, and LGBTQ and Sexuality Studies from the University of Michigan and a Master of Arts degree in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago.

To schedule an appointment: info@mindfullifechicago.com