FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Joanna Gerber
Director of Public Relations & Communications
Phone: 310.578.1080 x119
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LGBT Specialization in Clinical Psychology Meets $25,000 Goal with the Johnson Family Foundation Challenge Grant
New funds will go towards the Sandra Golvin Memorial Scholarship and a new Trans student scholarship.

CULVER CITY, CA – March 24, 2008 – The LGBT Specialization in Clinical Psychology is proud to announce that this innovative new program at Antioch University Los Angeles has met the challenge made by the Johnson Family Foundation’s grant of $25,000 in calendar year 2007 to raise an additional $25,000 in matching funds.

“This generous award will go to the Sandra Memorial Scholarship Fund to help students who are in need, who demonstrate a proclivity to work with the LGBT and Questioning mental health clients, and to run key aspects of our burgeoning program” says Dr. Douglas Sadownick, LGBT Director.

The Johnson Family Foundation grant made it possible for the LGBT Specialization to award scholarships last year to seven students demonstrating excellence in LGBT leadership and psychological studies: Michael Liberatore, Robert Ishinger, Roberto Focil Gonzalez, Alton Carswell, Rene Dumetz and Philip McCulley.

"I am really pleased the LGBT specialization was able to raise the matching fees so we could donate more money for scholarships and program development” adds Paul Hokemeyer, an Antioch alumnus and a former student of Ms. Golvin’s who was instrumental in securing the Johnson Family Foundation grant. “I can think of no better way of honoring the memory of Sandra Golvin, a lesbian activist, and former instructor of mine, while at the same time advancing the mental health concerns of a historically misdiagnosed and improperly treated group of human beings.”

The Ladd Family Foundation is providing the matching grant under the auspices of Transgender psychotherapist and specialization ‘Founder’ Jessie Jacobson. Some of the funds have been targeted to build the transgender component, and will also be used towards the development of scholarships specifically for trans students enrolling in the fall. As part of this educational and recruitment effort, the LGBT Specialization will be holding a “TransTeachIn” on July 20.

“These grants help the LGBT Specialization gets its feet on the ground during its second successful year of operation” Dr. Sadownick adds. “This is also really just a modest beginning for what we are hoping for in terms of reaching out to a diverse population of student therapists. We call upon the community to see that LGBT affirmative psychology is the next stage of gay liberation and to make donations, however small or large, to the LGBT specialization so we can grow our program and scholarship fund.”

For information regarding the LGBT program or donating to the scholarship fund, please contact Dr. Douglas Sadownick via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

For more information contact Joanna Gerber, Director of Communications & Public Relations, at (310) 578-1080 ext. 119 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For more information on the LGBT Specialization within the Master of Arts in Psychology program, please visit www.AntiochLA.edu/LGBT

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