He is past clinical director for Gateway Foundation's community services division, past director of psychology at Chicago-Read Mental Health Center, and past director of two non-profit addiction treatment centers. He is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) and president of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) Chicago Chapter. Welches has published several articles in peer-reviewed journals on collaborative research, assessment, and therapy.