Dr. O'Shan Gadsden, PhD, Psychologist
Offer In-Office or Telehealth appointments.
Dr. O’Shan D. Gadsden is a doctoral-level Counseling Psychologist with over twenty years of experience providing psychotherapy, clinical training-supervision, and consultation across outpatient, university counseling, forensic, inpatient psychiatric, and private practice settings. He holds a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Howard University (APA-accredited), an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, and has completed advanced postdoctoral training in Object Relations Psychoanalysis in New York City.
Dr. Gadsden’s clinical work is grounded in relational psychoanalytic therapy, integrated with psychospiritual and culturally responsive frameworks. He views psychological symptoms not simply as pathology, but as meaningful adaptations shaped by early relationships, developmental experiences, and sociocultural context. His approach emphasizes emotional depth, reflective insight, and the healing potential of an authentic therapeutic relationship.
He has extensive experience working with:
- Complex and developmental trauma
- Relationship distress and attachment injuries
- Identity development and racialized stress
- Masculinity and emotional expression
- Intimacy and relational avoidance
A distinctive feature of Dr. Gadsden’s practice is his integration of a psychospiritual lens. He understands spirituality not as doctrine, but as a dimension of meaning, consciousness, and embodied vitality. Particularly in his work with Black men and other minoritized populations, he attends to how historical trauma, internalized shame, and survival-based identities constrain emotional life and relational capacity. At the same time, he works with individuals across all identities and backgrounds, helping clients cultivate greater emotional awareness, agency, and relational freedom.
In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Gadsden is a nationally recognized scholar whose writing directly informs contemporary clinical practice. He is the author of Psychology Through Our Eyes: A Culturally Inclusive Introduction to Psychology (Kendall Hunt, 2025) and Sacred Sons: A Healing Blueprint for Black Masculinities (Kendall Hunt, 2026).
He believes therapy is a living, collaborative process. One that invites emotional truth-telling, deep reflection, and the gradual restoration of vitality and wholeness.