The Center for Community Research has provided me with a wide array of opportunities that have laid the foundation for my future interests. Though working at the Center, I have acquired an in-depth understanding of collaborating with community agencies in the effort to empower individuals among vulnerable populations. Additionally, I have gained a new-found appreciation for applied research, such as my current work with ex-offenders with a history of substance abuse that need a stable environment to reduce recidivism. In the fall, I will be enrolling at Jackson State University’s Clinical PhD. Program, which has a strong emphasis in applied research and community outreach. Ultimately, I aspire to empower individuals and their communities through applied research and collaboration that focuses on prevention and education leading to positive behavior change. Overall, I have enjoyed my experience working with this high risk, vulnerable individuals and participating in the research process.

Darrin Aase graduated with his BA in psychology from the University of Minnesota in December of 2003. He came to the Center for Community Research as a clinical-community psychology Ph.D. student in the fall of 2005. He has participated on the Oxford House research team, led by Dr. Leonard Jason, and has interests in chronic health and psychiatric conditions that are comorbid with substance abuse issues. Darrin will be on his clinical internship during the 2009-2010 year at Oak Forest Hospital of Cook County, where he will apply his clinical-community psychology knowledge to underserved populations from the south side of the Chicago area who are rehabilitating from severe injuries. He is thankful to the Center for Community Research for giving him a balanced perspective to view health problems through, including systemic and contextual factors that influence people suffering from chronic health problems. Darrin's plans are to pursue a career where he can continue to apply his community-level experiences to psychology both academically and clinically.

My name is LaTesha Washington and I am a post-B.A. research assistant at the Center for Community Research. For the past year, I have worked under Dr. Leonard Jason interviewing women on a participatory action research study of different recovery environments for women recovering from alcohol and substance abuse, with a specific focus on a recovery environment called Oxford House. An Oxford House is a self supportive, democratically run sober living environment with no professional staff, and there are over 1400 across the world. The study examines recovery, recidivism, psychological symptoms, and health care utilization in a sample of African American women involved in the criminal justice system in Illinois. This project has had a very significant role in helping me develop skills that I will need in graduate school. Some of this includes, using SPSS, conducting interviews, working on a research team with others who have similar interests, and presenting research at conferences. In fall 2009, I will be attending graduate school at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign and will pursue my PhD in Human and Community Development.

I am Melissa Salinas, a senior at DePaul University. I plan on attending the Chicago School of Professional Psychology for my doctoral degree where I will be working with children and adolescents next fall. Dr. Jason helped guide me through the graduate school process. The CCR was a large influence and great experience where I was exposed to working on a research project as well as meeting many great influences from the United States as well as outside the country.

Nancy J. Bothne is currently a PhD student in Community Psychology at DePaul University. She has a Master’s of Science in Communication from Northwestern University, and a BA from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She also has a certificate in international human rights law from the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. Nancy’s research interests examine how communities recover from periods of human rights trauma. Her research continues to explore a psychological sense of community among immigrant survivors of torture. Nancy is currently working as the Associate Director of Community Engagement at Adler School of Professional Psychology. There she plans to continue her work bridging the resources of an academic setting with community interests in furthering social justice.

During the years I’ve been working as a PhD student, I found a home at the Center for Community Research. I’ve worked with the research team on ME/CFS. With them, I’ve participated in research meetings, helped develop posters and presentations, explored how ME/CFS manifests itself and the various ways in which people with ME/CFS are stigmatized by this illness. I’ve learned the efficacy of alternative medical treatments, and the ways in which people with ME/CFS incorporate alternative medicine into more Western medical practices.

Beyond the knowledge acquired through this research, I’ve learned how to develop and maintain a commitment to community needs and perspectives. This sometimes challenges conventional scientific norms. Challenging those norms can require diplomacy, and it is best practiced when combining values and data as the foundation for argument. Through participation in the research team meetings, I benefited from the knowledge and perspectives shared by those with expertise, and those who were in the beginning stages of developing that expertise. We learned how to ask questions, research answers, critically examine each other’s work, and improve our communication of research findings.

Being a member of the Center for Community Research was a wonderful learning experience for me – as a student, a researcher, a manager and a person concerned with science and community interests.

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