Diane Sollee, MSW, is founder and director of Smart Marriages® and the Coalition for Marriage, Family and Couples Education, (CMFCE) and of www.smartmarriages.com. For 15 years, she directed the annual Smart Marriages®/Happy Families Conference, the world's largest Marriage Education Conference. Before founding CMFCE, Sollee, a marriage and family therapist, spent ten years at the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) as Associate Executive Director for Professional Education and Public Information. She is an AAMFT Fellow, member of the Family Therapy Academy, Editorial Advisor to Wedding Bells magazine; writes the Dr Romance column on women.com; and is recipient of the AAMFT President’s Award; the American Counseling Association (ACA) Social Interest Award; the Recognition Award from the National Association of Catholic Family Life Ministers (NACFLM); the California Marriage Champion Award; and the Smart Marriages Impact Award. She serves as a consultant to international, national, state and community leaders and appears regularly in the media as an expert on marriage education and marriage strengthening initiatives. She also provides phone consultations for individuals or couples at any stage of relationship from dating to on-the-brink.
Welcome to Smart Marriages - watch video (4 parts - to find all 4, search for "diane sollee" on You Tube.
When it comes to marriage, we've been operating with good intentions,
but terrible information. All that's about to change. The research shows
anyone can learn how to have a Smart Marriage®. Welcone the new era as we
move out of the marital "dark ages" and into the Marriage Renaissance!
- Diane Sollee, 1999 Smart Marriages Conference
If people know better, they'll do better. - Maya Angelou
We should be giving our knowledge away so that it can really be of use to
people in improving their lives. We shouldn't be hoarding what we know to protect our economic
self-interests. - George Albee, former American Psychological Association president
My grandmother had three plaques on her kitchen wall:
"It could be worse."
"It's a great life - if you don't weaken." and
"We get too soon oldt, and too late schmardt."
I think this last one was the seed for "Smart" Marriages®. The hope is to
help our youth get schmardt without having to learn the hard way - through
their own devastating marriage mistakes.
Diane Sollee, smartmarriages.com
I hear babies cry,
I watch them grow,
They’ll learn much more
Than I’ll ever know,
And I think to myself,
What a wonderful world. - Bob Thiele, lyrics
Marriage is the foundation of the family and the family is the foundation of society: if we
strengthen marriage, we strengthen the family, we strengthen the children and we
strengthen the community. If your goal is to help improve the world, marriage is as good
a place as any to start. - Diane Sollee, Grand Rapids Family Summit
There Are Many Things In Life That Will Catch Your Eye,
But Only A Few Will Catch Your Heart... Pursue Those. - Unknown
There’s an old Chinese saying: “If we don’t change the direction we’re headed,
we’ll end up where we’re going.”
It's always because we love that we are rebellious; it takes a great deal of love to give a damn one way or another about what happens from now on: I still do. - Kenneth Patchen
We CAN do it if we -
Care more than others think is wise.....
Dream more than others think is practical.....
Expect more than others think is possible......
And, row like crazy. Grab an oar! - diane sollee
Click for a collection of "marriage quotes".
Smart Marriages Conference Registration desk, Diane Sollee, Aaron Larson, Mark Swann - Atlanta, 2006.