Deborah Rubel

Much of who I am is shaped by my parents, their history and the beautiful state I was born into.  My dad was raised in the Depression-era Midwest, while my mother was raised in Northern Japan in the 30's and 40's.  I was raised in the small town of Salcha, Alaska some 36 miles south of Fairbanks and 17 miles south of Eielson, AFB where my dad worked in the power plant. Salcha is over 20 degrees of latitude north of Corvallis, Oregon. I spent my childhood skiing, skating, running, riding my horse and playing ping pong in the basement when it was too cold to go out. I was convinced I was going to be an artist or a veterinarian when I grew up.  

College and a scholarship led me to Logan, Utah. There I enjoyed the Utah culture, immersed myself in the burgeoning Utah punk scene of the 80's, and wore my hair many different ways. I was always on the verge of switching majors and took all kinds of non-required courses. The best of those was a poetry writing class with the late Utah Poet Laureate Ken Brewer. Somehow, I stuck with my major of Food Science and graduated in 1986.

My food science degree led me to work in the R & D department of a major food company in southeastern Idaho.  There, I got to play with food all day doing things like formulating to match competitors' flavors, creating prototypes, and conducting taste and shelf-life testing. The job lasted 10 years and allowed me to live in an area I love - southeastern Idaho and spend time in its close neighbors, Utah, Wyoming and Montana.  My memories are of mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, running, backpacking, and playing rugby with the Pocatello Goddesses RFC.  Coincidentally, one of my rugby teammates told me I should get a master's degree in counseling and a career counselor told me the same thing. 

The master’s degree at Idaho State University resulted in lifelong friends and life-changing work as a mental health counselor for children, adolescents and adults.  It instilled in me a passion for group work, multicultural counseling and qualitative research.  These passions led me to begin my doctoral studies in Counselor Education and Supervision at Idaho State in 1999.  I consider myself fortunate to have studied at an esteemed CACREP doctoral program and to work with pioneers and leaders in the field of counselor education like Arthur Lloyd, Steve Feit, David Kleist, and my mentor, Bill Kline. It was Bill who encouraged me to take this job at Oregon State University over several others because of the history, accreditation and opportunity to work with doctoral students.  

I’ve been at Oregon State University for over 20 years now! I’m proud to work with a highly functional team of professionals who are able to adapt, grow and prosper in the rapidly changing world of higher education.  One of the best things about this job is that something new happens every day. That’s almost as fun as working with the students and learning about new things from my colleagues. Outside of work you’ll find me puttering around my ramshackle country property, caring for, training, and showing my dogs (pugs and border terriers), and hiking the forest trails near my home. 

Research/Career Interests

Counseling and supervision processes are highly personal, culturally dependent, and complex. Within these fields, group work presents yet another level of complexity along with its time and research proven efficacy as an agent of learning and personal change. My main research interest remains understanding the psychosocial processes of group membership and leadership in their many forms. My inquiry is conducted largely through the use of qualitative methods. I seek out training in qualitative methods and also provide trainings when I can.  Recently, I completed a certificate in autoethnography offered by autoethnography expert Tony Adams of Bradley university and attended workshops offered by Jonathan Smith, one of the originators of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).  My recent service to the profession has been as an associate editor for the Journal for Specialists in Group Work and as the process observer for the American Counseling Association Governing Council. I am very lucky, also, to be able to experience my doctoral students’ research interests up close and personally, and I’m always fascinated by their development into professional leaders, educators, researchers and writers. 

You can see my recent publications here Rubel Google Scholar