About Us

About Michelle Culley M.Ed., LPCC-S
Owner, Middle Path Counseling Services LLC

Michelle is the founder of Middle Path Counseling. She specializes in helping anxious adults, parents, teachers, and caregivers find and maintain calm and confidence in a chaotic world. As a parent of three young adults and a former teacher, she knows how stress can sometimes take over and make daily life harder than it has to be. Using Mindfulness and Meditation along with Active Listening she guides individuals back to their authentic selves so they can rediscover the joy in their lives. Michelle founded Ride It Out LLC an equine facilitated growth and learning program, where she worked with Portage County at-risk youth and adults. Before opening Middle Path, Michelle used to teach high school English and journalism at McKinley Senior High School in Canton, Ohio. As a teacher, she received the Fulbright Scholarship and traveled to South Africa as part of an international education summit.

About Joan Lucci M.Ed., LPCC

With a deep commitment to her clients and through compassion and clinical excellence, Joan empowers clients to be at their best during a challenging time in their lives.

By integrating her education, specialized training in cognitive behavioral therapy and grief therapy, and her personal life experiences, she collaborates with clients to identify, address, and ultimately overcome obstacles to a better and more meaningful life.

Joan specializes in helping clients overcome anxiety, anger, depression, grief, addictive behaviors, and low self-esteem. She offers a personalized approach for each of her clients in a safe and supportive, therapeutic atmosphere.

Because relationships are a huge part of what makes our lives great or miserable, Joan’s passion is helping individuals and couples improve their relationships by cultivating intimacy and learning collaborative communication and conflict resolution skills.

When she’s not working, Joan can be found socializing, playing tennis or on a hiking adventure with friends.

Dawn Leymon, LPC

Dawn believes that every client is stronger than they realize and are capable of significant change. She feels sometimes we all need a little help discovering the tools necessary for making improvements in our lives. Though Dawn often works from a strengths-based approach, incorporating components of CBT and Mindfulness, she always works collaboratively with clients to see what goals and techniques work best for them. She strives to develop a safe and inviting environment for clients to feel comfortable expressing themselves. Along with encouraging openness and authentic communication, Dawn incorporates patience, understanding, and humor in her work with clients to develop a strong therapeutic relationship, which she believes is a crucial stepping stone to promoting change.

Dawn has spent time in the Middle School/High School setting as well as College Counseling Centers working with clients struggling with anxiety, stress, depression, and self-esteem issues. She has an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Akron, a Master of Arts in Education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, and a School Counseling License from the same institution.

In her free time, Dawn enjoys spending time with her family, reading when she has the chance and cheering on her favorite Ohio sports teams.

Morgan Castrigano, LPCC

Morgan has her Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Malone University and a Bachelor’s degree from Kent State University in Public Health with a concentration in Health Promotion and Education. Morgan has five years of experience working in a residential treatment facility where she provided both individual and group counseling to people struggling with substance abuse.

Morgan has a lot of knowledge on topics like anxiety, trauma, and adult ADHD. She provides an open space for you to freely express yourself, completely unfiltered. Morgan utilizes an empathetic, yet down to earth approach, to help you to become the best version of yourself by creating self-awareness which leads to resiliency, and positive change. EMDR has been proven to be extremely effective for trauma treatment and Morgan is an EMDR Trained Therapist through EMDRIA (emdria.org). Not only can she help you heal from past experiences and current stressors, she wants to help you become confident and secure with who you are.

Feel like you are stuck in fight or flight? Morgan believes the body keeps the score, so she works from an approach of helping you heal past experiences and regulate your nervous system. Morgan also helps you to reframe your thoughts in more realistic and helpful ways and to recognize tendencies of unhelpful thinking.