Dr. Cruikshanks joined the faculty in the Graduate Studies in Counseling Program in August of 2000 following completion of his Ph.D. in Counseling and Family Therapy at Saint Louis University. He earned an M.Ed. in Counseling from the University of Missouri, St. Louis, a BA in Psychology from California Stae University, Sacramento, and an AA in Social Sciences from Sacramento City College. To the best of his knowledge, he is the only member of the faculty at Heidelberg University to have graduated from Heidelberg Kindergarten, Heidelberg Germany, where he lived for a time as a child.
As Clinical Director, Dr. Cruikshanks oversees all field placements in the program. He designed the Multi-Modal Student on Student Mentoring Model for Teaching Counseling Techniques, Practicum, Internship and Supervision, which has been presented nationally as a model for training counselors and counseling supervisors and is the skills training model currently used by Heidelberg University. In addition, Dr. Cruikshanks' teaching areas include clinical supervision, ethics diagnosis, assessment, dying, death & loss, psychopharmacology, history and philosophy of counseling, and evaluation of mental and emotional problems. Dr. C. has taught internationally both in Japan and at Oxford University.
Dr. Cruikshanks' scholarly interestes include work in the area of terminal illness and gief, ethical issues in clinical supervision, and counselor identity. He has published research on suicide, sexual boundaries in clinical supervision, and the role of counselor superviors in the formation of counselor identity. In addition, Dr. Cruikshanks published a paper on the application of Chaoe Theory to counseling, and he has a chapter in the forhcoming book Case Studies in Suicide, Granello, P. & Granello, D. (Eds.) (in press).
In addition to his scholarly pursuits, he is actively engaged in leadership and service in the counseling profession. He has been an Editorial Board Member of the Family Journal since 2001. He is a member in good standing with ACA, ACES, AMHCA, OCA, OACES, NWOCA, and Chi Sigma Iota. He has served on numerous committees and task forces in ACA, ACES, OCA, OACES, and Chi Sigma Iota. During 2007-2008, he served as President of the Ohio Counseling Association (OCA).
Dr. Cruikshanks is a Supervising Professional Clinical Counselor (PCC-S) in Ohio as well as a National Certified Counselor (NCC). In addition to his work at Heidelberg, he maintains a small private practice in Tiffin, and serves as the Clinical Supervisor for Christian Counseling Center of Tiffin. Dr. Cruikshanks routinely consults with the Department of Job & Family Services providing psychological and forensic evaluations and serving as an expert witness in cases of child abuse, neglect, and parental competence.
Prior to joing the faculty at Heidelberg University, Dr. C. spent over four years working in hospice, counseling the terminally ill and bereaved, and four years as a counselor in a psychiatric setting. In his clinical work, he specializes in working with people with mood, psychotic, and personality disorders.