Biography
Mark Butler is a faculty member in the School of Family Life at BYU, taught in the Marriage and Family Therapy graduate M.S. and Ph.D. for 17 years, and now teaches undergraduates foundational skills for helping relationships. Mark has practiced couple therapy for 30 years, specializing in helping couples work together for recovery and healing from relationship attachment trauma—infidelity and behavioral habits or addictions, particularly pornography use. Mark is the author of the 2010 book, Spiritual Exodus: A Latter-day Saint Guide to Recovery from Behavioral Addiction, and (with co-author Shelly Butler) the 2023 book, The Adolescent Brain and the Atonement of Christ—Meant for Each Other, and also the forthcoming book, The Divine DNA.
Research Interests
Recovery From Addictive Desire and Behaviorsubstance addictions and sexual compulsions; multidimensional approach to recovery—desire for recovery, individual will and work for recovery (affective, cognitive, and behavioral interventions), relationships in recovery, grace for recovery
Mediation Process and Structure in Healing Relationships
mediation process and structure in marital, family, clinical, and metaphysical systems; triadic process, couple-responsible therapy—enactments, inductive process, accommodation; healing versus harmful triangulation in relationships; promotion of relationship, neutrality, and couple/family responsibility; couple-deity triangulation
Attachment-Focused Healing From Marital Infidelity
models for attachment repair and healing following marital infidelity; forgiveness process in clinical perspective;
Spirituality in Clinical Perspective and Practice
spiritual beliefs and practices and their relation to change processes and behavior in marriages, families, and therapy
Teaching Interests
Helping Relationships (SFL 401)Family Theories in Gospel Perspective (SFL 336)
Addiction, Recovery, and Healing in Marriage and Family Context (SFL 400)