Dr. Shea Tinsley is an award-winning licensed psychotherapist, behavioral health executive, university instructor, public policy advocate, and healthcare innovator with more than 15 years of experience leading behavioral health programs, addiction treatment services, and interdisciplinary clinical teams.

Dr. Tinsley began her career in New York City as a mandated therapist working with individuals charged with sexual offenses and has continued to develop and expand behavioral health programs across multiple levels of ASAM care including 2.1, 2.5, 3.1, and 3.5. Today, she is recognized under Virginia Code §19.2-300 as an expert evaluator in cases involving sexual offense allegations and collaborates with courts to conduct assessments and provide professional evaluations.

A nationally recognized clinical sexology expert, Dr. Tinsley received a research fellowship by California Institute of Integral Studies in 2021. In 2022, her article “A Consensus Statement on Clinical Reasoning in Clinical Sexology” was selected for publication by the Journal of Black Sexuality and Relationships through the University of Nebraska Press. Dr. Tinsley has presented her research at international conferences including the Society for Sex Therapy and Research (SSTAR), the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), and the Association of Black Sexologists and Clinicians (ABSC). She currently teaches qualitative research methods within the University of Michigan’s Sexual Health Certificate Program.

In 2023, she served on the inaugural board of Central Virginia Clinicians of Color, providing free clinical supervision to early stage clinicians throughout the state of Virginia. In response to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, she developed and launched The Grace Program, a virtual field supervision initiative supporting graduate students from institutions such as Fordham, Arizona State, Ohio State, and Tulane.

As public policy advocate, Dr. Tinsley has partnered with Senator Barbara Favola and the University of Virginia School of Law’s State and Local Government Policy Clinic to develop Senate Bill 421 to expand access to treatment services across Virginia. In February 2026, she delivered expert testimony before the Virginia General Assembly in support of the bill, which passed unanimously. In June 2026, Dr. Tinsley was elected to serve on Virginia’s DBHDS Behavioral Health Advisory Board.

Dr. Tinsley is the only MSTI certified and AASECT sex therapist in the state of Virginia. She is certified by ASWB to provide clinical supervision and is recognized by the Virginia Board of Counseling as a Certified Substance Abuse Counselor Supervisor. In 2024, she became a recipient of the C-VILLE Weekly “Best of” Therapist Award. She is also featured as an addiction treatment expert in the upcoming One Pill Can Kill documentary produced by the former Attorney General of Virginia.

Today, Dr. Tinsley continues to lead clinical innovation, healthcare operations, public policy initiatives, and behavioral health transformation efforts throughout Virginia and beyond.