A Team from UC Santa Barbara’s Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology take part in the 16th “Heart & Sole” AIDS Walk

A team of walkers from UC Santa Barbara’s Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology (CCSP) participated in the Santa Barbara County “Heart & Sole” AIDS Walk on October 7. The group of faculty, students, friends, and family, walked 10 kilometers, raising over $1300 for local HIV/AIDS services administered by Pacific Pride Foundation. The event, one of the largest one-day fundraising events in Santa Barbara County, has brought in over $1.7 million during the past 15 years.

Pacific Pride Foundation has been serving people affected by HIV/AIDS in Santa Barbara County since 1984. Although people with HIV/AIDS are living longer thanks to the recent drug therapies, they must rely on Pacific Pride Foundation programs and services for a greater period of time. Although AIDS deaths are declining, the number of new infections in California has grown by 200% since 1993. In fact, 50% of these new infections now occur in people under the age of 25. Today, more than 2,100 people in Santa Barbara County are HIV positive. All of these factors add up to the reasons Pacific Pride requires more funds.

The Department of Counseling, Clinical, School Psychology (CCSP) – part of the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at UCSB – is fully accredited by the Committee on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association as a combined doctoral psychology program. It adheres to a scientist-practitioner training model; therefore, heavy emphasis is placed on developing academic, research, and practitioner knowledge and skills of students. The Department provides students with multidisciplinary training that leads to Ph.D., M.A. and M.Ed. degrees and an Applied Psychology Minor for undergraduates.

CCSP Associate Professor Tania Israel, who led the AIDS Walk team, currently is collaborating with Pacific Pride Foundation (PPF) to develop a research project focusing on community and connectedness among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) individuals in Santa Barbara County. In addition, several CCSP graduate students have completed externships at PPF to gain experience with LGBT clients.

[Tania Israel is available for interviews; contact George Yatchisin at 805 893 5789.]

School-wide Links
Courses Apply	Computing Contact