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We are often seeking qualified individuals to join the CHATS lab! Most RAs are either Loyola undergraduates interested in psychology, medicine, and/or related fields OR college graduates looking to get more involved in research.
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Because we work with many Spanish-speaking families, RAs who are comfortable reading and speaking Spanish are especially needed! (However, it is not necessary that all RAs are knowledgeable in Spanish).
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Visit the Contacts page to reach out to Dr. Holmbeck to learn more about the position and potential openings!
Prospective Research Assistants
Commitment to Equity
In alignment with the Loyola University Chicago Clinical Psychology program, the CHATS Lab is committed to cultivating a collaborative work environment. Our goal is to ensure that all lab members and families with whom we work have an open space to share their ideas and experiences.
We hope to promote equity by acknowledging the experiences of young people with spina bifida and their families. We understand how structure and policy affect the lives of individuals with disabilities that we serve and we work toward creating authentic change in our community through partnerships with the Illinois Spina Bifida Association (ISBA) and the National Spina Bifida Association (SBA). To decrease potential language barriers, we offer interviews and measures in Spanish. We also use an interview format in addition to asking participants to fill out measures so that we are better able to listen to and understand the needs of the spina bifida community. We recognize the importance of accessibility and feasibility; thus, we offer home visits and virtual visits so that families do not need to travel to our research lab. We collaborate with families and community partners (e.g., Illinois Spina Bifida Association) and provide resources to families whether or not they participate in our research studies. We welcome individuals with diverse perspectives and experiences to become engaged in our work as we continue to work for and promote equity.
For more details on how the program, department, and university are committed to diversity and equity and to find resources, please visit: Diversity in Clinical Psychology, Diversity in the Department of Psychology, and Loyola’s Anti-Racism Initiative. Additionally, we partner with the Committee on Diversity Affairs (CODA) to provide support for historically excluded students, increase culturally responsive research, and promote the inclusion of diversity in our curriculum.
● We typically have weekly lab meetings and expect graduate students and lab members to actively participate in these meetings. We use these meetings to discuss on-going research projects, lab updates, celebrate lab members’ success, and have lab members present on different areas that are important to our work. Each month some lab members participate in paper meetings, where we discuss our ongoing projects and manuscripts. Dr. Holmbeck allows space for lab members to meet with him individually and is flexible regarding when these individual meetings are scheduled.
● We cultivate and promote a collaborative work environment that strives for empathy, respect, and supportiveness in interpersonal interactions. We celebrate life’s milestones with one another, putting a special emphasis on birthday celebrations--with special treats for the birthday person!
● We make sure to get to know one another and appreciate the individuality of each lab member. We also frequently celebrate one another’s successes, cheering each other on when we accomplish something for which we have worked hard.
● We maintain a work environment that allows for mistakes and vulnerabilities. We know that making mistakes is critical to the learning process and make sure that lab members feel comfortable being transparent about mistakes and do not feel any shame but rather recognize mistakes as opportunities for growth.
● We support the financial stability and wellbeing of lab members. Dr. Holmbeck advocates for the graduate school and administration to support an increased stipend and works with the faculty of the clinical program to establish additional sources of funding. He also supports students who are working additional jobs and may need understanding and flexibility to meet their multiple obligations.
● We ensure that lab tasks are distributed across multiple lab members and teams. Graduate student team leaders help facilitate our research tasks and oversee and mentor undergraduate and post-baccalaureate research assistants. Much of the work we do is flexible and timelines can be adjusted as needed. To meet the needs of the families with whom we work, we do ask that lab members sign up for study visits with families outside the work week (e.g., weekends). We make sure that this process is distributed across lab members and that one person is not taking on too many visits or tasks.
● We encourage vacations/time off to support the wellbeing of all lab members. When desiring time off, research assistants are asked to notify Dr. Holmbeck and our team leaders so that we can plan accordingly.
● We engage in transparent and open discussions regarding authorship. We ask the lead author to start conversations at the inception of a collaborative paper so that tasks are assigned appropriately based on authorship order. This transparency helps ensure a fair and collaborative writing process.