About Us: Meet the Therapists at Welsh Therapy

Hello, Welcome to Welsh Therapy.  I've worked with parents and teens in Doylestown for over 30 years. 

With the current child and adolescent mental health crisis in our country, my focus is on ensuring that our practice can meet the current mental health demands in our community. For this reason, we work with four other practices in the community to ensure the right fit with a therapist for each client whether its inside or outside of our practice.  The right therapist fit is essential to the therapy being successful.  

In 30 years I've worked with many different specialties. 

- The first ten years of being in private practice I worked with anorexia nervosa exclusively.  I had worked at The Renfrew Center in my graduate program and felt motivated to help these kids.

-When I had my daughters  I slowly transitioned into less crisis oriented work and began working  with teens with anxiety, depression and self esteem issues. 

- As my children began to become more independent, I accepted an teen with Oppositional Defiant Disorder  as a favor to a colleague who thought we would be a good fit to work together.  From the moment I began working with this client I became immersed in everything and anything about ODD and began to accept other cases.  I loved working these kids and their parents and as a team with my client and their parents we were able to move toward change and healing.  

With so many other responsibilities with managing my practice, I have limited space for clinical hours.  After speaking with a new parent of an ODD client on an intake call, I know fairly quickly  if I am the right fit for them.  Once they meet me they decide if the feeling is mutual. If not I have other therapists who are highly skilled with ODD clients.  

You can click on ODD under the 

"More"   toolbar to find out more about our ODD program . Its intense, its certainly not once a week therapy and its a family affair. It is a rocky road with many ups and down.   But more times than not, we get to the other side. 

Ariel's work with teen and young adult clients is engaged, active, and introspective.  Ariel assists her clients to become thoughtful of their feelings and behaviors in everyday life.  She helps them learn skills to deal with their anxiety, family conflict, eating disordered issues, self-esteem issues, ADHD symptoms, and anger issues.  She teaches them tools that they can use in difficult situations in school, at home, and socially. 

Ariel's specialty is multicultural diversity issues.  She works with kids and adults who are experiencing racial identity issues and helps them sort out who they authentically are and heal from trauma associated with identity navigation.   They can embrace and understand their differences and feel stronger within themselves.

Ariel also works with women and men in their 20s to 50s who are struggling to find meaning in their daily lives.  She helps to identify symptoms and look under to find the real issues that are holding her clients back from being content in their lives. 

Ariel is a doctoral student for Psychology and is one of the owners of BHMS, the company that manages PS Psychiatry.

Her clients and the parents of her younger clients rave about her work and her attentiveness toward the family and to her passion to uncover every stone. 

I work with couples who are struggling with communication and want to learn how to better their relationship.  We work together to learn the story about their relationship and identify the issues that take away from enjoyment. 

 I also work with women individually to evaluate happiness in their marriage with regard to expectations and reactive behavior.  We explore reactive behavior in the relationship when a woman's needs are not being met, as well as how much dependence on a spouse is reasonable. I aim for us to think together about other ways to meet those needs through career, friendships, hobbies and activities that enrich their lives, and ultimately take pressure away from the marriage. 

 In addition, I work with women who are experiencing empty nest syndrome as their kids leave the home. We work together to process the feelings of loss and to create a life after their children move out that fulfills them on a daily basis.

Specializations: Couples Coaching, Women in  Relationships, Empty Nest Syndrome 

I work with adolescents and young adults who are struggling with anxiety, depression, body image issues, ADD/ADHD, executive functioning skills, self-harm, risky behaviors, and family conflict. I value trauma-informed, strengths-based, and individualized care because each person has their own narrative to tell.  

I work with clients using CBT, ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), and talk therapy, and assist clients in learning executive functioning skills. 

I have a double Master's from the University of Pennsylvania in Professional Counseling.  I am School Certified in Pennsylvania as well.  

Since the pandemic and virtual schooling, I also have been working with adolescents who are going through School Avoidance issues due to anxiety related to going back to the in-person classroom after virtual schooling because of the pandemic. With these students, I work with the school guidance counselor to arrange accommodations to make it possible for them to attend school daily. At this time, there are adolescents whose School Avoidance is so extreme that none of our efforts are successful. The parents may make a decision for the adolescent to learn at home, and we can assist them and work with the school. If virtual schooling becomes a factor for more than a month or two we can turn to our Educational Psychotherapist, Ellen Curthrell, for guidance on different online programs and what would be the best for both student and their family. Ellen also works with kids who are having a hard time keeping up academically and with their assignments after so much time learning virtually.  

Although I work with adolescents and young adults, there are times when it is beneficial to have the parents attend some sessions with consent.

One of my specialties is Adoption Trauma and Transracial Adoption.  I am Certified as an Adoption Competency Counselor. 

Madeline is dedicated to developing a strong therapeutic relationship with clients and is committed to fostering an environment where individuals can feel comfortable expressing themselves fully. She places emphasis on a client’s unique historical, cultural, and personal experiences to individualize and maximize treatment outcomes. Madeline believes that, while past life experiences and events play a role in shaping our thinking and behavior, we can use the therapeutic process to better understand the impact of these experiences and shift our perspective in relation to them. 

Madeline works with older teens and adults of all ages and has experience with trauma-related and attachment difficulties, anxiety, grief, life-transition challenges, and depression. She has a passion for empowering individuals who find themselves in abusive or narcissistic relationships. She sees clients as active participants in a process of healing and integrates multiple therapeutic models that cater to the specific needs of each client.

Sue Claricurzio is a Certified EFT Practitioner and works with clients of all ages...adults, children, and adolescents, to teach them tangible EFT techniques that they can do at home when they are having a tough time.  Together they do work on emotional regulation exercises and distress tolerance coping skills to manage their mental health symptoms such as anxiety, depression, phobias, PTSD, Eating Disorders, Body Dysmorphia, Health Conditions, Chronic Stress, and Test Anxiety.  

Sue also works with therapists and other mental health professionals with men and women who are experiencing symptoms of burnout in their careers.  She works with mothers who do too much in caring for their children and have. little left over to fill their tank.  Post covid she works with the first responders and those that the pandemic hit the hardest, doctors, teachers, guidance counselors, therapists, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and police officers.  They experienced trauma while they witnessed the devastation of covid on so many levels.  This has led to burnout in many of these first responders.  

Sue can work with you in sessions to talk through what you are going through and utilize EFT skills and techniques to go directly to the anxiety, fatigue, depression, insomnia, and lack of self-care.  You can experience relief in the first session. Sue sends you home from the sessions with tools to be able to do the techniques on your own in the comfort of your own home.  

Sue is also a Registered Dietician with formal training.  Sue works with clients on negative body image and disordered eating.  Sue's approach is holistic and integrative as she is trained in knowing the mind/body connection and the interconnectedness of the two together. As a holistic health coach, her goal is to treat the whole system and help clients learn to tune into their bodies and understand through trial and error what works and what doesn't for each individual.  She works with clients to heal through mindfulness eating, food, supplements, hydration, sleep, exercise, meditation, and stress reduction through EFT.

Dr. Jennifer Irvin, Psy.D. specializes in adolescent and adult therapy.  With her teen clients she also does parent support to help navigate the tumultuous adolescent year between parents and teens.   Her style is interactive and she creates a warm environment for her clients to feel safe enough to open up and speak about issues that are difficult to talk about.   She works with teens and women with anxiety, depression, sexual assault, self-harm, body dysmorphia, self-esteem issues and family conflict, and ADHD.  In addition, she provides Parent Support to parents to learn ways to better communicate with their children and walk alongside them at the challenging developmental stage of adolescence.  

Jen has a particular special interest in working with women who have husbands or partners who are narcissistic. Some of her clients come to her after leaving their relationship and to do the painful work of recovering from narcissistic abuse.  Some of her clients have not left their narcissistic partner despite well-meaning pressure from friends and family.  It is so difficult to understand how hard it is to leave this type of trauma bond, and it is in the client's time, not their family's or friends' time. The victim of narcissistic abuse already feels they can do nothing right and when friends and family say "Just leave him" it adds to the self-attack as they already believe they can do nothing right. 

For those still in the relationship, Jen begins to explore their family history, so she and her client can look for signs in their background as to why "love bombing" felt flattering to them and not suffocating or like too much too soon.  They explore all the feelings in the relationship in the hopes of healing and getting strong enough to decide to stay or go. 

Jen's other specialty interest is in working with women who were diagnosed with ADHD later in their lives.  Her joy in working with these women is that once they are diagnosed and finally have medication to help it is amazing to watch them start to truly live at their potential for the first time.   

Jen's specialties:

Adolescent Anxiety, Depression, ADHD, OCD, Self Harm, Suicidal Ideation.

Women currently in or recovering from Narcissistic Abuse in Relationship.

  Luke is a Certified Life Coach and is working on his psychology degree at Temple University.   Luke begins his graduate work in the Fall of 2023.  He works with children, adolescents, and young adults.  He works with kids with ADHD, Gaming Addiction, Teens dealing with their parent's Divorce, Anger Management Issues, Family Conflict, Depression, Anxiety, and Oppositional Defiant Disorder. He also works with kids who are in the midst of breakups in their teen romantic relationships as this can often wreak havoc in all other areas of their lives. One's reaction and feelings after a breakup can often include some of the trauma or hurt from past family relationships.  When kids are obsessing about a breakup, they can sort through with Luke what is about the present and the actual breakup and what is being thrown in from their past and making the grieving process complicated. 

Luke works with clients by talking about their feelings while he and the client begin the journey to understanding what feelings lie beneath the symptoms.   This is a difficult process and kids need time to begin to open up and make progress.  Our practice offers parent support with another therapist in the practice while their children are doing this work.  Family therapy is also available with another therapist in the practice if there is conflict in the family.  

 Luke's approach is personal and relaxed, he has a way of helping kids feel comfortable opening up to him. 

Reilly Brady is a Certified Life Coach. She has a degree in Behavioral Health and Addictions Counseling from Drexel University and is pursuing her Master's Degree in Art Therapy. Reilly works with children, adolescents, and young adults who are struggling with anxiety, addictions to alcohol and pot, depression, self-esteem issues, body image issues, disordered eating, and social anxiety. Kids struggling with social anxiety often have a hard time going to school each day, they may experience stomach aches or nausea. Reilly’s approach with kids focuses on talk therapy and art therapy to help them express their feelings on paper.  

Reilly helps kids who are coming to terms with sexual and gender identity issues. Some kids have a very difficult time talking with their families about their sexual identity. When parents are not accepting of a client who is coming out, Reilly can help her client understand that it may take time for parents to accept their new gender identity. They also explore the feelings of rejection and hurt when family members are not quite ready to accept what their client is presenting.  Reilly also may refer the teen and parent to another therapist in the practice for a family therapy session to deal with this issue.  

Reilly is also a Learning Skills Coach to help middle school, high school, and college kids organize their schoolwork and student portal and develop a study schedule and proofread papers. She also enjoys helping kids with college essay ideas and will proofread their essays. 

Samantha works with adolescents who are struggling with their dating relationships.  Her clients meet with a therapist weekly and Sam meets with them outside of the therapy session when they have a need to talk with a coach for extra support.  These kids are going through the tumultuous teenage ups and downs of dating in today's world of technology with Snapchat, Instagram, and cyberbullying. 

Often her clients find it difficult to hold on to their sense of self while dating someone.  All of their value goes into the other person as they were not on steady ground when they began dating.  When their partner begins acting differently than the person they once knew by not being faithful or treating them unkindly, this can trigger many feelings and strong reactions. Some of her clients turn the anger in on themselves, question their own worth, and begin thinking it was because of the way they looked....if only they were thinner, prettier, or taller.  All of these defenses are a way not to feel the real pain of the loss. 

 Because the loss is played out in the halls of their high school in front of peers those vulnerable feelings are difficult to feel.  At times they retaliate online with posts to get back at the person they were dating. All of these actions often lead to public shame and embarrassment.  They will do anything to hold onto the relationship, even at the expense of their mental health.  

Sam is available to listen, reflect back, and validate the pain of the loss.  And to be fully present for the intense raw feelings of a breakup, that in this day and age, is often played out all over social media and in harsh and unkind ways.  The lack of discretion and privacy of some in this technology-driven generation creates other issues with the ups and downs of dating, that their parents did not have to deal with at their age. This lack of understanding on the parent's part often leads to frustration and the "just get over it" attitude which only pushes the child away and takes them feel more alone in the world.  When a child feels profoundly alone after a loss other issues may present.  

Sam can be very helpful to parents as well to help them understand how to meet their child exactly where they are, and not try to hurry the process.  Sam emphasizes that the adolescent needs to feel supported and not alone at these troubling times as that aloneness leads to other issues.