Dr. Shea Tinsley

Dr. Shea Tinsley is an award-winning licensed therapist, addiction expert, healthcare executive, and educator. She is the creator of How to Think Like a Sex Therapist™, a clinical training course based on her doctoral research and approved by the Virginia Board of Social Work for continuing education credits.

In 2021, Dr. Tinsley was awarded a research fellowship by the California Institute of Integral Studies in sexual health, and in 2022, her work was published in the Journal of Black Sexuality and Relationships through Lincoln University Press. In 2023, Dr. Tinsley presented her work at several leading national conferences including the Association of Black Sexologists and Clinicians, the Society for Sex Therapy and Research (SSTAR), and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP). She is also a Pineapple Support advocate, collaborating with a London-based nonprofit to provide affirming sex therapy to adult film stars.

In 2023, she served on the inaugural board of Central Virginia Clinicians of Color, providing free supervision to clinicians throughout Central Virginia. In response to COVID, Dr. Tinsley launched The Grace Program to provide virtual field supervision to graduate students from universities across the U.S., including Fordham, Arizona State, Ohio State, and Tulane. Dr. Tinsley has served as a university instructor of qualitative research methods at University of Michigan’s Sexual Health Program since 2023. Through her signature training, supervision, public speaking, and curriculum development, she continues to shape a new generation of therapists equipped to think critically and practice responsibly.

Whether teaching, leading, or advocating, Dr. Tinsley aims to bring clinical rigor, warmth, and visionary leadership to every space she enters—making her a trusted voice in the mental health field throughout the state of Virginia.