I'm Alberto Aguirre, PMHNP-BC.

Personal Path

Why this work matters to me.

I was born and raised in Southern California as the son of immigrant parents who came to this country without speaking English. My early life was shaped by instability, limited guidance, and the realities many families carry quietly. My father struggled with depression and substance use, and my mother did her best to raise me while I moved between homes and environments that often felt uncertain.

For a long time, I was surviving more than planning. I did not do well in school, and I did not have a clear picture of what my future could become. Joining the military changed the direction of my life. It gave me structure, discipline, accountability, and a sense of identity. It helped me become someone who could serve, lead, and build a future.

Those experiences still shape the way I see people. I understand how childhood instability, culture, family patterns, poverty, trauma, and lack of guidance can affect how a person thinks, behaves, copes, and sees themselves. I also understand that many people are not “broken.” They are adapting to what they lived through, often with tools they had to create on their own.

Becoming a registered nurse deepened that calling to service. Through emergency nursing, crisis care, public health, trauma, and the COVID era, I saw families affected by many of the same struggles I grew up around: depression, substance use, stigma, fear, limited access, and untreated pain passed from one generation to the next.

That is what led me toward psychiatric mental health. I wanted to do more than respond to emergencies after people were already in crisis. I wanted to help people understand themselves earlier, reduce shame, build healthier patterns, and access care that respects where they come from.

My goal is to bring clarity, education, cultural awareness, and compassion into mental healthcare for people and families who may have spent much of their lives simply trying to survive. I know what it feels like to grow up without a clear map, and I know how powerful it can be when someone finally helps you build one.

Clinical Direction

From crisis care to earlier understanding.

Military service taught me leadership, accountability, and the importance of noticing invisible burdens before they become crises. Emergency nursing strengthened my ability to respond calmly, think critically, and collaborate with care teams during complex psychiatric and medical situations.

Those experiences continue to shape my professional direction: evidence-based psychiatric care, practical patient education, stigma reduction, and a whole-person approach that does not separate mental health from the rest of life.

Substance use and alcohol-related suffering are also part of that mission. They affect many families and communities, often in ways hidden by shame, stigma, or lack of access to care. Over time, I hope this work can help those concerns be addressed with honesty, compassion, and clinical seriousness.