Josh odam, BA
Clinical Intern
Insurance plans accepted: Out-of-Pocket/Self-Paid
Location: TBD, Hybrid
"It is necessary, while in darkness, to know there is a light somewhere. To know that in oneself, waiting to be found, there is a light." -James Baldwin
Josh Odam (he, him) is the Founder & Curator of Healing While Black LLC, an online platform dedicated to the mental health and wellness of Black queer, transgender, and gender non-conforming people.
He understands mental (un)wellness is inextricably linked to antiblackness, queerantagonism, and other forms of oppression. Josh believes his role is to introduce possibility to clients and journey alongside them during the therapeutic process. His approach is multi-disciplinary and incorporates Person-Centered (Rogerian) Therapy and Strengths-Based Therapy within the context of Ignacio Martin-Baro's concept of Liberation Psychology.
Josh's areas of interest include critical engagement with masculinity, QTGNC teens and adults processing their sexuality and/or gender identity, economic exploitation as a social determinant of health, anxiety and depression found among high achievers, ethnostress within BIPOC studying/working in Historically/Predominately White Institutions (HPWIs), and communal care for activists and organizers.
He earned his Bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is pursuing his Master's in Social Work from Springfield College and a Master's in Labor Studies from UMass.
A DEI professional with over a decade of experience, he most recently served as Chief of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Defender Association of Philadelphia. During his tenure, he trained new attorneys and social workers on gender equity, microaggressions, and systemic racism. He is a Google & Squarespace Black Creator Fellow and operates a Black, queer centric bookstore in West Philadelphia. His work has been featured in the Human Rights Campaign, Essence, GLAAD, My Brother’s Keeper, Refinery29, the Los Angeles Times, Black Mental Wellness, the Vera Institute for Justice, and StoryCorps.
He is from Brooklyn, New York.