Mark Turner has maintained a front row seat on the merry-go-round of addiction for over 50 years.  Starting to drink at the age of 12 with a fascination for Harleys and the 1% Biker lifestyle, Mark had the opportunity to follow the continual progression through many of the drugs famous in the 70’s including benzos and opiates.  Throughout the “trips” and multiple “crash” landings, Mark began to find hope in several of the recovery principles that are presented in his books.  Mark was successful in changing his Playmates, Playgrounds, and Playthings but the tentacles of addiction reached further. Substance abuse was still around when all those familiar environmental factors were gone.  He soon recognized that those external factors, although important, could not overcome the monster within.  Despite the addictions that Mark had in his personal life, he found strength and discipline in the ancient arts that seemed to overpower all the external influences.  This was the catalyst that started Mark’s success with Sobriety.

Mark completed a Master’s Degree in psychology with minors in sociology and criminal justice.  He maintains licensure with the State of Oklahoma as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and as a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC). Mark started drug and alcohol counseling with youth at Shadow Mountain Hospital in the early nineties. During that time at SMBH, he worked at Youth Services of Tulsa with children at risk including sexual offenders and then became the Director of that program.  Mark was the director of counseling for an Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA) Specialized community home reintegrating youth from the Lloyd Rader Juvenile prison back into society. The skillset that Mark had developed was recognized by each facility and this quickly led to a Director position at each of the agencies he worked at.  In 2010 Mark was encouraged by many in the industry to open Health Concepts where he was Owner and Executive Director.  Mark currently works with the Creek Nation Behavioral Health system and consults with several agencies including Therapeutic Life Choices, where he does alcohol and drug counseling and works with a variety of other treatment issues.

Mark has continued his focus on taming the internal monster and holds Black Belts in six different styles of Martial Arts and has earned a brown belt pursuing his seventh.  His unique approach to developing a complete understanding of intrinsic motivation has solidified his own sobriety and has led to a series of books sharing the opportunity for readers to identify those factors within that have prevented them to reach and sustain sobriety.  His brilliant work will take the reader through the process of recognizing and overcoming their own monster within.  Living with a “Fuck it” Monster, A guide to living clean and sober is the first of a series of books that will assist the reader in developing a new understanding of the internal struggles that have to be mastered in order to reach and maintain sobriety.