About Richard Marks, PhD

Richard Marks, PhD serves as the Executive Director of Marriage for Life, Inc. (www.marriageforlife.org and www.enrichedrelationships.com) and Enriched Relationships, based in Jacksonville, Florida.  Dr. Marks, who likes to be called “Rick” has been married since 1984 to his precious wife and best friend, Louella.  She and Rick have three  children: Trey, Madison, and Jesse.  Rick and Louella both came from broken homes as children and were committed to doing things differently for themselves and for their children.  Louella is a stay-at-home-mom and homeschool parent and photographer.

Rick completed a PhD in Psychology and Counseling, an M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy, an MA in Religious Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary as well as a BA in Psychology from the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, FL.  He is a Clinical Member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy as well as an ordained minister.  Rick has served in various capacities from an  Assistant Professor of Counseling at Regent University, to Private Practice work.  In addition to being a veteran of the U.S. Navy he served on staff at a 28,000 member church and developed their Center for Family Ministry.  Dr. Marks also served for four years as a Commissioner on the Florida Commission on Marriage and Family Support Initiatives.

Rick is the author of the relationship skills program known as Enriched Relationships (www.enrichedrelationships.com)  Rick also coauthored a researched based marriage curriculum called Christian PAIRSbased on the national PAIRS program.  He has also written various articles and speaks at conferences and seminars across the country from the American Counselors Association, American Association of Christian Counselors, and annual Smartmarriages Conference.  In addition, Rick is a sought after speaker for faith-based relationship retreats for singles, youth, couples and marrieds as well as for business, the military, and social service organizations.  He has been seen on shows such as the 700 Club as well as local television and radio media.

He is trained and certified to teach the leading relationship skills curriculums such as PREP, CPREP, PAIRS, Compassionate Parenting, Family Wellness, Intimate Life Ministries, Jerk(ette) Programs, 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families and Marriages, and more.  In addition, he writes and develops and speaks on healthy relationships for the military, businesses, faith-based and social-service agencies.

Louella and Rick are committed to seeing families and marriages strengthened to make a better tomorrow for couples, their children, and society.