Preface

Welcome to Professional Issues in Counseling, Winter, 2008. This issue presents four interesting and informative articles we believe you will find applicable to your professional development. We are always grateful to researchers who consider PIIC for a publication site, and we are proud to showcase their hard work.

JOURNAL ARTICLES
Winter 2008

First-Year Experiences of Female Tenure Track Counselor Educators

Jill Nelson
North Dakota State University
Jason McGlothlin & Donald Bubenzer
Kent State University

A qualitative study of the first year experiences of female counselor educators was conducted. Participants were asked about their experiences during their first year as a counselor educator. The 5 themes that were present for all 3 participants are shared here. These themes were (a) mentoring, (b) getting settled into a new community, (c) strained relationships with students, (d) loneliness, and (e) being a woman. Each participant also shared advice for future female counselor educators. The 15 themes across two participants are also shared. Implications for counselor education and recommendations for future research are also given.

Junior High and High School Students' Perceptions of School Based Drug Prevention

Janet Froeschle, Ph.D.
West Texas A & M University
Canyon, TX
Michael Moyer, Ph.D.
University of Texas-San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas

Age distinctions and perceived effectiveness of drug prevention programs among secondary students is not well understood. The present qualitative study investigated the personal meaning students express after exposure to drug prevention programs. Data collected from five randomly selected eighth grade students and five randomly selected high school students revealed preferences and perceptions of effectiveness in curriculum among age groups. Additionally, five purposively selected non-drug using high school seniors described factors they believed important in their successful resistance to drugs.  These results may aid school counselors when developing drug prevention programs as part of comprehensive guidance and counseling programs.

On Becoming a Counselor Educator: One Person's Journey

Brigid M. Noonan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Counselor Education
Stetson University
DeLand, FL

In this article, the author discusses the decision to become a counselor educator.  Exploration surrounding personal and professional relationships, mentoring, and the balance between teaching, scholarship and service, as well as on-going professional development are presented.

Possession, Exorcism and Psychotherapy

Timothy C. Thomason
Northern Arizona University

For all of recorded history, almost all human beings have believed in a spiritual plane of existence that somehow interacts with people in their daily life. A common belief is that souls, spirits, and demons exist, and that evil spirits can invade people and cause illness, especially mental illness. Throughout history the preferred method for eliminating evil spirits has been some form of ritual invocation or exorcism. Rather than dying out, belief in spirits, demons, and the supernatural is widespread today, in both highly industrialized societies like the U.S. and in less technologically developed countries. An understanding of how these beliefs came about and how they are practiced today can help psychologists provide appropriate services for clients with such beliefs.