About Mark
Understanding People. Strengthening Relationships. Continuing the Conversation.
For as long as I can remember, I've been fascinated by people.
Why do two people experience the same event so differently? Why do families fall into predictable patterns? Why do some conversations bring healing while others leave us feeling even farther apart?
Those questions have shaped my career, my writing, and the frameworks I've developed over the years. They led me into courtrooms, recovery programs, family workshops, and conference stages. Allowing me to work with teens and families for 26 years, 14 years running recovery and renewal programs for the public, for juvenile justice, and for both family and specialty courts.
Every book I write is an invitation to better understand ourselves, the people we love, and the stories that shape our lives.
If you've found your way here, welcome. I'm glad you're here.
My Story
I never set out to simply write books. Well maybe I did but not about people.
First I wanted to understand myself, and then I wanted to understand people.
The more I studied psychology, communication, child development, family systems, addiction, and human behavior, the more I realized that I was asking the wrong questions.
Instead of asking, "What's wrong with this person?" we often need to ask, "What happened that makes this response make sense?"
That changes everything.
It replaces judgment with curiosity.
It creates empathy where there was frustration.
It opens conversations that once felt impossible.
Over the years, those ideas evolved into speeches, seminars, and workshops, and eventually books with a practical frameworks designed to help everyday people make sense of complicated relationships.
My goal has never been to provide simple answers.
It's been to provide better questions.
"I've never been interested in telling people what to think. I've always been interested in helping them understand why they think what they do."
Every book begins with the same belief.
People aren't problems to solve.
They're stories to understand.
Every behavior has a history.
Every relationship has patterns.
Every conflict has a deeper conversation waiting beneath.
Whether I'm writing about parenting, addiction, friendships, communication, grief, or personal growth, I'm ultimately exploring the same idea:
Understanding changes relationships.
When we understand ourselves, we make different choices. Then, we begin to understand others.
When we understand others, we respond with greater wisdom and compassion.
That's the conversation I hope every reader joins.
Turning ideas into practical tools.
Each of my books explores one piece of the larger conversation.
Some focus on the stories we believe about ourselves.
Others examine childhood development, communication, addiction, friendships, conflict, or family relationships.
Together, they form a collection of practical frameworks designed to make neuroscience and psychology approachable and useful in everyday life.
Whether you're reading one book or several, my hope is that you'll walk away seeing yourself and the people around you a little differently.
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Beyond the Books
The best conversations don't always happen where we might think.
Some happen on a golf course.
Some happen while traveling.
Some happen over a good cigar at the end of the day.
Many of the ideas that eventually become books begin as conversations with my wife, observations from everyday life, or questions that simply won't leave me alone.
Those moments remind me that learning isn't confined to classrooms.
And we are never too old to learn something new.
Continue the Conversation
If my work resonates with you, I'd love for this to be more than a one-time visit.
Explore the articles for practical insights, discover the frameworks that connect the books together, or dive into a book that speaks to where you are today.
Sign up to my email list. You will get the free book and I will send you a new article every month!
The conversation is just getting started.