Mark Stanford, PhD worked for the Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System for many years as the Director of the Addiction Medicine and Behavioral Therapy services. He retired in 2015 and then worked as the Director of Medication-Assisted Treatment at Janus of Santa Cruz, a local non-profit agency. Dr Stanford was also a psychotherapist for many years with the Psychiatric Medical Group in San Jose California specializing in the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders. He is currently a clinical consultant and trainer in behavioral health for the network of providers of the County of Monterey Behavioral Healthcare Services.

Dr. Stanford has over 25 years as an educator at various Colleges and Universities throughout the Bay Area including: clinical faculty (affiliate) at Stanford University School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine; San Jose State University School of Social Work; San Mateo Community College; University of California Berkeley Extension - Department of Behavioral and Biological Sciences and currently, an Associate Professor of Psychology at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California. He is an associate member of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) and a certified trainer of the ASAM Criteria. He is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA), the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC).

Author of various materials in psychology and behavioral health. Most recent is the new textbook, Introduction to Psychopharmacology for Counselors and Therapists, Lightway Center publishing. 2024. Recent articles are the 2 chapters in the Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Health on the Neurodevelopmental Impact of Prenatal and Early Adolescent Cannabis Use and Resulting Neurocognitive Deficits and The Impacts of Cannabis on Adolescent Psychological Development. Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Health. Elsevier. April 2023.