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Mark is from the beach city of Venice, California. He earned a master's in education and counseling from California State University Dominguez Hills. He attached himself to many educational settings where he worked with youth and adults on career decisions and values clarification. For quite a few years, he was a counselor for two area high schools, providing extensive counseling to at-risk students. He worked closely with students with pressing needs and ran an intensive student study program involving family counseling to build support. Mark is particularly interested in the glbtq+population and pioneered groups to address the loneliness and isolation many feel and build self-esteem. Coming out is a process that takes time, and he created a safe environment for those identifying as GLBTQ+ to work on "being true to themselves" and working to "knock down barriers impeding their personal growth."
After moving to Oregon, Mark divided his time between counseling College-age students and teaching psychology courses. Mark receives the most benefit, seeing individuals initially lost and disenfranchised find themselves and flourish as they pursue goals and dreams. To that end, Mark endorses a holistic approach in his counseling style, idolizing Rogerian techniques, which are client-centered and offer compassion, safety, and purpose by making the counseling relationships integral to healing, growth, and living well-lived. In addition to the above, Mark's specialties are grief and loss, relationships, life changes, and integrating past traumatic events into present-day living through knitting a fabric that offers productive and happy living with strength created by those events.
Mark is a family man with a home full of furry family (and a partner). He loves spending time with them while imbibing his love of movies, culture, garden design, and creating humorous videos for social media.