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Rita M. DeMaria, PhD

Senior Staff Therapist, Spring House and Center City Offices
Director of Relationship Education
215-628-2450

Rita DeMaria is a senior staff therapist at Council for Relationship's Center City and Spring House offices and she is also the Program Director for Relationship Education. Dr. DeMaria has a Ph.D. in Social Work and Social Research from Bryn Mawr College and she is a Clinical Member of AAMFT and an AAMFT Approved Supervisor. With over 35 years of clinical experience, Dr. DeMaria is a leading teacher, public speaker and author in strengthening family and supporting healthy marriages and relationships by providing individuals and couples the skills and tools that they need. She is also on the faculty for the Post Graduate Program in Couple and Family Therapy at CFR and the faculty of the Masters Program in Couple and Family Therapy.

Her Clinical Work
Dr. DeMaria specializes in treating couples, especially those who are at the brink of divorce. Her specific areas of interest include: couple and marital therapy, marriage and divorce mediation, sex therapy, remarriage/blended families, premarital counseling, anger management, money issues, depression/anxiety, family business issues, and marriage and family ministry. Dr. DeMaria also has a commitment to empowering women in their lives and conducts women's groups as a regular part of her practice. She is an advocate for the importance of successful intimate relationships as a key to personal success and fulfillment.

Her Training and Outreach: CARE – the Center for the Advancement of Relationship Education
Dr. DeMaria is comprehensively involved in social service policy and program development for strengthening families through relationship education programming. She is nationally recognized for her expertise in development, training and delivery of family strengthening and relationship education programs. Her career began with a Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention project grant in 1977. Currently Dr. DeMaria provides training and technical assistance to agencies and organization that want to provide relationship education within fatherhood programs, child welfare programs, and other social service agencies through CARE – the Center for the Advancement of Relationship Education, which is a virtual center established to provide leadership, training and technical assistance to support the expansion of evidence based educational programs for the public.

Rita DeMaria was the Project Director of the Philadelphia Healthy Marriage Project (2007 – 2010) funded by HHS, ACF, Office of Community Services. During this project she worked closely with the Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of Community Service’s Fatherhood Initiative Program. She conducted an evaluation of the Fatherhood Initiative and developed the Healthy Relationships, Healthy Children, ‘Reversing the Ripple Effect’ curriculum which has both responsible fatherhood and couples editions: Becoming a Response-Able Father and Becoming a Depend-Able Family. For a Copy of the November 2010 Executive Report of the Philadelphia Healthy Marriage Project funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Community Services contact Dr. DeMaria at rdemaria@councilforrelationships.org. This report describes the development and evaluation of the Healthy Relationships, Healthy Children curriculum as well as the Fatherhood Initiative at the Philadelphia Mayor's Office of Community Services. In June 2011 she received the Ron Mincy Spirit of Fatherhood Award at the 13th Annual International Fatherhood Conference from the National Partnership for Community Leadership.

She is nationally recognized for her expertise in development, training and delivery of family strengthening marriage and relationship education programs. She is on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy. Her dissertation research “Distressed Couples and Marriage Education” was published in 2005 in Family Relations. She has been on the Advisory Board for the Coalition for Marriage Couple and Family Education (CMCFE) and presented at every conference from 1996 – 2010. She is also the Chair of the Greater Philadelphia Coalition for Healthy Families, Marriages and Relationships (founded 1997) and developed their curriculum, Loving Relationships. She has worked in the African American Healthy Marriage and Hispanic Healthy Marriage Initiatives and collaborated with Esperanza USA in the development of their Marriages of Hope curriculum for their OFA Healthy Marriage demonstration. She was a Project Consultant to the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. for Strengthening and Promoting Healthy Marriages: Investigation of Programs to Strengthen and Support Healthy Marriages. She is trainer for Prepare-Enrich, the most widely used couples inventory available. She was a Trainer and Master Teacher for the PAIRS Foundation from 1996 – 2006 and participated in the development of the For Our Future marriage education curriculum being used in the Supporting Healthy Marriage Research project funded by ACF. She was a consultant to the American Bar Association Family Law Section for development of the PARTNERS program, a relationship education program for high school students.

Rita DeMaria, PhD can be reached at 215-628-2450.

New Book Release By Rita DeMaria, PhD:

Media Engagements by Rita DeMaria, PhD:

• Philadelphia Magazine - How Does Your Marriage Stack Up?
  Rita DeMaria, PhD, Edd Conboy, MS, MFT, and Ken Maguire, PsyD weigh in on how today's couples are dealing with a whole different set of issues than their parents, from Facebook-stalking to who gets to pick the love seat. Can marriage survive it? 5/27/11

• WHYY Voices in the Family - Parenting: It's Joys and Blues
  Dr. Rita DeMaria is interviewed by Dr. Dan Gottlieb about the effects of parenthood on happiness. - August 2, 2010

• The Huffington Post - More Sex
  Dr. Rita DeMaria's presentation at the 2010 Smart Marriages conference is highlighted in 12 Happy Marriage Tips, an article written by Melanie Gorman. - July 19, 2010

• WomansDay.com - The Stages of Marriage
  Dr. Rita DeMaria contributed to an article about the different stages a couple experiences throughout their relationship. - July 16, 2010

• Internet Radio Show - Laughter, Intimacy and Passion in Marriage"
  Dr. Rita DeMaria is interviewed by Dr. Pat Covalt on her live internet radio show, “The Power of Being Tuned-In” (Relationship Success Through EQ).

• CN8: It's Your Call With Lynn Doyle
  Late-Life Divorce - Part One | Late-Life Divorce - Part Two | Late-Life Divorce - Part Three
  Dr. DeMaria is consulted as a relationship expert to discuss the Gore divorce and to explain late-life divorces. - June 11, 2010

• Women's Health - Learn to Fight Right
  Dr. Rita DeMaria contributes to a story about the importance of fighting fair with your spouse. 5/5/10

• Women's Health Magazine - Don't Make it Personal
  Dr. Rita DeMaria contributes to a story about the right way to fight with your partner. 3/16/10

• WHYY Radio Times - Marriage and Relationships
  CFR's Director of Relationship Education, Dr. Rita DeMaria, discusses what makes a good marriage. 6/23/08

• NBC: KSBW Action News 8 - Book Tells You Where Your Marriage Stands
  CFR's Director of Relationship Education, Dr. Rita DeMaria, explains the 7 stages that all marriages go through and the importance of recognizing which stage a couple is in. 6/13/08

• NBC Today Show: The State of Marriage Today
  "'Today' show host Matt Lauer talks with Dr. Rita DeMaria, author "7 Stages of Marriage," and Dr. Scott Haltzman, author of "Secrets of Happily Married Men," about the divorce rate and the problems married couples face." 2/6/07

• Reader's Digest Podcasts
  Listen to web-based audio broadcasts with marriage expert, Dr. Rita DeMaria, and Reader's Digest Editor-in-Chief.

  Listen to Part One
  "Dr. Rita DeMaria, an expert behind Reader's Digest's The 7 Stages of Marriage, discusses the important elements of marriage, offers a snapshot of the stages, and explains how to determine what stage your relationship is in." (5:44 minutes)

  Listen to Part Two
  "Love expert Dr. Rita DeMaria discusses the most important elements of marriage. Learn how to get through the tough times and strengthen your relationship." (5:24 minutes)

• "The 7 Stages of Marriage" Can Help You in Your Practice or Relationship Education Program: Rita DeMaria presents the 7 Stages of Marriage to a group of therapists.

  Listen to Rita DeMaria (58:55 minutes)

Tip of the Week Articles Written By Rita DeMaria, PhD:

• Reflecting About Fathers
• Happily Ever After Requires Hard Work
• Relationship Education
• 3 Ways to Affair-Proof Your Marriage
• What Your Parents Didn’t Teach You About Marriage:
  How the New Relationship Education Programs Can Help You Get a Great Start
• Women, Depression and the Holidays