Cheryl Crippen, PhD.
I am a proud graduate (2003) of this unique program. I returned to school to study counseling after a decade of working in international development in East Africa, teaching international relations and economics, and promoting international education through study abroad. My multidisciplinary training informs my teaching and research interests, as well as my approach to counselor education and clinical training.
Education is transformative, and I endeavor to be a life-long learner. I enjoy the creative challenge of designing courses based on principles of a growth mindset and interleaving techniques to foster active engagement and deep learning. I share my time (as a “bonus faculty”) between this department and Clinical Psychology, teaching a broad range of courses that build on the foundation of active learning. My current teaching specialization includes research (COUN 521/597) and assessment (COUN 560) courses that I teach every semester. Although these are challenging courses, it is gratifying to witness students gain mastery over new skillsets that were seemingly out of reach. As Nelson Mandela frames this, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
For over a decade, I was part of a research team at UC Irvine (psychiatry) investigating the role of the prenatal environment on fetal-infant-child outcomes. In this capacity, I gained expertise in developmental, social, cognitive, and psychomotor assessments of children as well as cognitive and psychosocial evaluations of adults. Despite my lengthy affiliation on a large-scale, longitudinal study, I remain particularly fond of qualitative research. My research interest focuses on processes of cultural adaptation in intercultural relationships and social-emotional adjustment in multiple-heritage young children.
On a personal note, I enjoy designing and transforming both indoor and outdoor spaces. For the past decade, I have been landscaping and renovating my 85-year-old home in Fullerton where I have converted my yards into drought-tolerant landscapes and ecological habitats that were showcased in the 2016 Fullerton Beautiful Gardens tour. When I am not teaching or working on projects around my house, I am likely to be on a road trip or international adventure.
I continue my passion for international development in East Africa as a founding board member of a non-profit organization, Friends of Yimbo, which supports collaborative, sustainable, community-based development projects in Western Kenya. We coordinate biennial humanitarian trips if you are interested in experiential, transformative adventures beyond the classroom!
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”
~Nelson Mandela (1990)
