Tania Israel (born 1966)
Tania Israel.
' (n.d.). Psychology's Feminist Voices. Retrieved July 29, 2020. is an American psychologist and professor in the

Gevirtz Graduate School of Education The Gevirtz Graduate School of Education is a graduate school at the University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-gr ...

at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

(UCSB). Her research focuses on the development and implementation of interventions to support the mental health and well-being of LGBTQ individuals and communities. Israel has presented about dialogue across political lines and is the author of ''Beyond Your Bubble: How to Connect Across the Political Divide, Skills and Strategies for Conversations That Work'' (American Psychological Association, 2020).Lefferts, D. (2020, May 1)
Agree to disagree: PW talks with Tania Israel.
''Publishers Weekly.'' Retrieved July 30, 2020. She is also known for writing song lyrics,Buffering the Vampire Slayer. (2017, December 27).
I love a podcast
'

ideo IDEO () is a design and consulting firm with offices in the U.S., England, Germany, Japan, and China. It was founded in Palo Alto, California, in 1991. The company's 700 staff uses a design thinking approach to design products, services, environ ...

Youtube. memoir,Personal stories.
(2018, February 1). ''Edhat Santa Barbara.'' Retrieved July 30, 2020. and bisexual haiku.Israel, T.

Tania_Israel Tania Israel (born 1966)Tania Israel.' (n.d.). Psychology's Feminist Voices. Retrieved July 29, 2020. is an American psychologist and professor in the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). He ...

(2018, July 20).
I am not confused/I am not indecisive/I’m bisexual #bisexual #haiku #biku
' weet Twitter.

Early life and education

Israel was born in

Pomona, California Pomona is a city in Los Angeles County, California. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 151,713. The main campus of California State Polyte ...

to a Chinese-American mother and Jewish-American father, and she grew up in

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

. In 1988, she graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

(Penn) with a double major in Psychology and Women's Studies after having been exposed to intersectional feminism by

Michelle Fine Michelle Melody Fine (born December 28, 1952) is a distinguished professor at the City University of New York and has her training in Social and Personality Psychology, Environmental Psychology, American Studies, and Urban Education. Her research i ...

. After graduating, Israel worked at the Cherry Hill Women's Center in New Jersey and then oversaw AIDS education programs at the American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Israel returned to Penn and received a master's degree in Human Sexuality Education in 1992. She earned her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

in 1998, receiving awards for her dissertation on training counselors to work with LGB clients.

Academic career

Israel has been a professor at the Gevirtz School's Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology (CCSP) since 2000 and is an affiliated faculty member in UCSB's Department of Feminist Studies. Israel is the director of Project RISE (Research & Interventions for Sexual and Gender Minority Empowerment). Projects include online interventions that help LGBTQ people persevere in the face of stigmas and effective LGBTQ-inclusive training for law enforcement and therapists. The local LGBTQ community research her team conducted in collaboration with Santa Barbara nonprofits resulted in a mandatory LGBTQ-focused training for City of Santa Barbara police officers.Carbajal, S. O. (CA)
Recognizing Dr. Tania Israel.
165 Cong. Rec. E432 (daily ed. April 9, 2019). Retrieved July 30, 2020. The training sessions fostered awareness and better understanding of LGBTQ needs and concerns and were found to improve LGBTQ community-police relations. She is recognized as an expert on bisexuality, having participated in the inaugural White House Bisexual Community Policy Briefing in 2015, presented at the 2019

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

(NIH) Bisexual Health Research Workshop, and presented an invited plenary on bisexuality at the 2016

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

Annual Convention. Israel's 2015 TEDxUCLA Talk, “Bisexuality and beyond,” has amassed over 100,000 views on YouTube as of May 2021. Israel's book, ''Beyond Your Bubble: How to Connect Across the Political Divide, Skills and Strategies for Conversations That Work,'' grew out of a workshop that she provided to non-profit and faith organizations. She aims to help people articulate their thoughts about difficult issues and facilitate understanding between people from different political backgrounds. Israel's professional leadership includes President of the Society of Counseling Psychology, Lead Coordinator for the 2009 National Multicultural Conference and Summit, and member of the American Psychological Association Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. In 2013, Israel testified at a U.S. Congressional briefing, speaking in support of expanding the

Violence Against Women Act The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) is a United States federal law (Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, ) signed by President Bill Clinton on September 13, 1994. The Act provided $1.6 billion toward investig ...

to include LGBTQ women's needs. In her 2021, TEDx Talk “How to Win a Political Disagreement,” she asserted that “winning an argument is not about asserting one's position, but rather about strengthening a connection.”

Awards and honors

* 2021 Next Generation Indy Book Awards Winner in Self Help and Finalist in General Non-Fiction (for Beyond Your Bubble) *Order of the Pearl,

Kappa Delta Kappa Delta (, also known as KD or Kaydee) was the first sorority founded at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University), in Farmville, Virginia. Kappa Delta is one of the "Farmville Four" sororities founded at the university, wh ...

sorority (2021) *Congressional Woman of the Year (2019) * Shining Star from the National Multicultural Summit (2015) * Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Award of Excellence in Mental Health from the California Asian and Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus (2012) * Emerging Leader for Women in Psychology from the APA's Committee on Women in Psychology (2012) * Woman of the Year Award from the SCP Section for the Advancement of Women (2011) * Early Career Award for Contribution to LGBT Psychology from the (SCP) Section for LGB Awareness (2008) * Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award (K01) from the National Institute of Mental Health (2003) Israel is also a fellow in five divisions of the American Psychological Association, including the Society of Counseling Psychology (Division 17) and the Society for the Psychological Study of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity (Division 44).

Political and community engagement

Israel was a 2008

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

delegate. Locally, she has served as a member of the Santa Barbara County Democratic Central Committee and the Grassroots Organizing Committee. In her local community, she has been involved with the LGBT Community Collaborative of the Central Coast, the Fund for Santa Barbara Board (of which she was the president in 2013), the Lose Your Appetite for Hate Coalition,Magnoli, G. (2013, February 6)
Two sides of the bun on Santa Barbara Chick-fil-A opening.
''Noozhawk.'' Retrieved July 30, 2020. and the Santa Barbara County Commission for Women.

Creative activities

Israel writes and performs personal memoir. Two of her plays were selected for readings in Breakfast with Smartasses, part of Playfest Santa Barbara. She writes bisexual haiku (#biku). Israel is a fan of ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...

'' and credits the show as an inspiration. She is also a fan of the podcast ''Buffering the Vampire Slayer,'' for which she wrote and performed a tribute song. She practices Buddhism and is co-host of the podcast, Prajna Sparks, for which she writes songs about Dharma teachings.

Publications

Books

* Israel, T. (2020). ''Beyond your bubble: How to connect across the political divide, skills and strategies for conversations that work.'' American Psychological Association Books. * Toporek, R.L., Gerstein, L., Fouad, N., Roysircar, G., & Israel, T. (2005). ''Handbook for social justice in counseling psychology: Leadership, vision, and action.'' Sage Publications.

References

External links

Personal website

Faculty bio

Project RISE website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Israel, Tania American women psychologists 21st-century American psychologists University of California, Santa Barbara faculty 1966 births Living people University of Arizona alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni American LGBT people of Asian descent LGBT Jews 21st-century American women 20th-century American psychologists