The Solace SpaceTherapy · Alpharetta, GA
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Anxiety & OCD Therapy · Alpharetta + Georgia

Everyone thinks you're
fine.

You've replayed that conversation nine times since Tuesday.

You hold it together at work, with your family, everywhere. Inside it's constant — the what-ifs, the checking, the reassurance you need but hate needing. Therapy here is warm, practical, and human.

Licensed in Georgia · Accepting new clients · In-person + virtual

Colleen Ritz, LPC — anxiety and OCD therapist in Alpharetta, Georgia, smiling with a mug in a rattan chair.

Colleen Ritz, LPC

GA #016238 · 6 yrs

  • License
    GA LPC #016238
  • Education
    MA, Antioch University
  • Experience
    6 years in practice
  • Approach
    CBT · ERP · EFT

You’re handling it.

You’ve checked the lock three times and you’re still not sure.

If any of this lands, you’re in the right place.

  • You replay conversations for hours looking for the thing you got wrong.
  • You need to know what's going to happen, and not knowing feels unbearable.
  • You ask people if it's fine, they say it's fine, and twenty minutes later you need to ask again.
  • Your life looks good on paper and you still feel wound tight most days.
  • You avoid the thing, feel relieved, and then the relief wears off faster every time.
  • You've told yourself you should be able to handle this on your own.

None of that means something is wrong with you. It means anxiety has been running the show. That’s workable.

See how I work

What I work with

Six things, done well.

I don't treat everything. I treat anxiety and what travels with it — and I'd rather be genuinely good at that than passable at everything.

Anxiety

Composed on the outside. Wired on the inside.

(nobody at the meeting can tell your chest is tight.)

Anxiety in high-functioning people is quiet. It looks like being organized, reliable, always-on. It feels like never getting to sit down inside your own head.

We work with CBT — mapping the loops (thought → feeling → what you do to cope → what happens next), then interrupting them with skills you can actually use in real time. Not a workbook. Real situations, real practice.

  • You're the calm one at work — and running worst-case scenarios in the bathroom.
  • You over-prepare for everything, then feel like a fraud when it goes well.
  • Your body's braced before your brain knows what it's bracing for.
  • You can't tell if you're actually tired or just tired of thinking.

OCD

The thoughts aren't the problem. What OCD makes you do about them is.

(you're not a bad person for having a bad thought.)

OCD hijacks the part of your brain that wants to keep you safe. It hands you a thought you'd never act on, then demands you do something — check, avoid, confess, mentally review — to be sure.

The something is the compulsion. Every time you do it, OCD gets louder. Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is the gold-standard treatment because it targets exactly that: we build tolerance for the discomfort without doing the ritual.

No white-knuckling, no shame. A plan, in steps you agree to, at a pace that's hard but doable.

Compulsions we work on

Checking

Locks, stoves, emails, your own memory of the last five minutes.

Mental review

Replaying a conversation to prove you didn't do something wrong.

Reassurance

Asking the same question a different way. Googling at 1am.

Avoidance

Not going, not touching, not thinking about it. It shrinks your life.

How I Work

Therapy that gives you something to do.

Venting has its place, but it isn't a plan. You'll leave sessions with actual tools, try them out in real life, and we'll adjust based on what happened. The goal is that you eventually don't need me.

CBT

Catching the thought before it runs

We find the specific thinking patterns feeding the anxiety and build faster ways to interrupt them. Practical, not abstract.

ERP

Facing it on purpose, in small steps

The gold standard for OCD. We gradually and deliberately approach what you've been avoiding, without the rituals, until your brain updates its own threat math. You set the pace.

EFT

What's happening between you two

For couples and for relationship anxiety. We slow down the loop you keep getting stuck in and work on what's underneath it.

Person-Centered

You're the expert on your life

Underneath all of it. I bring structure and tools. You bring the actual knowledge of what your life is like. Neither works without the other.

This isn't the kind of therapy where I sit back and nod. I'm right here in it with you.

Meet Colleen

Hi — I'm Colleen.

Colleen Ritz, LPC — anxiety and OCD therapist in Alpharetta, Georgia.

I'm a Licensed Professional Counselor in Alpharetta. Six years, almost entirely with anxiety and OCD. I ask direct questions, I'll laugh with you, and I'll tell you honestly when something isn't working.

The goal is always that you eventually don't need me — you leave with what you came for, and get your life back.

  • MA, Antioch University
  • GA LPC #016238
  • 6 years in practice

A quick hello

Take forty seconds. See who you'd actually be sitting across from.

This isn't the kind of therapy where I sit back and nod. I'm right here in it with you.

What to expect

The first session, honestly.

Most people are nervous about this part. Here's exactly what happens, so there's one less unknown.

  1. Step 1: The free consult

    Fifteen minutes on the phone before you commit to anything. You tell me what's going on, I tell you whether I think I can help, and if I'm not the right fit I'll say so and point you somewhere better.

  2. Step 2: Session one

    Mostly me asking questions and you talking. What brought you here, what you've already tried, what you want to be different. No pressure to have it organized.

  3. Step 3: A plan by session two or three

    We name what we're actually working on and how we'll know it's working. You'll know what we're doing and why.

  4. Step 4: Between sessions

    This is where most of the change happens. Small assignments, real life, then we look at what came up. It's the part that makes therapy stick.

Book a free 15-minute consult

No cost, no obligation, no intake paperwork.

Before you book

Let's make sure I'm the right person.

The wrong therapist wastes your time and your money. I'd rather be straight now.

We're probably a good fit if

  • Anxiety, OCD, panic, phobias, or relationship stress is the main thing
  • You want tools and structure, not only a place to talk
  • You're up for small assignments between sessions
  • You can commit to weekly sessions, at least at first
  • You're paying out of pocket and want it to be worth it

I'm probably not the right fit if

  • You're looking for a quick fix without work between sessions
  • You have severe, high-acuity OCD needing a higher level of care
  • Your main concern is something I don't treat

I focus on anxiety and OCD, which means there's a lot I don't treat — including trauma, depression, eating disorders, and substance use. If that's what you need, I'm glad to point you toward someone who specializes in it. Just ask on the consult call.

Investment

What it costs.

I'm private pay, which means no insurance company deciding how many sessions you get or what counts as enough progress. Here are the real numbers so you can decide for yourself.

Individual session

$185

50 minutes

Couples session

$200

50 minutes

Consult call

Free

15 minutes

Out-of-network · Superbill on request · HSA / FSA accepted

Why private pay

Insurance requires a mental health diagnosis on your permanent record and often limits how we work. Paying directly keeps the plan between us.

Out-of-network benefits

Many plans reimburse part of out-of-network therapy. I provide a superbill you submit yourself — ask your plan about “out-of-network outpatient mental health.” HSA and FSA accepted.

Is it worth it

Fair question. The goal is that you finish — that anxiety stops running the show and you stop needing weekly sessions. This is meant to end.

Book a free 15-minute consult

Questions

Things people ask.

Plenty of my clients are functioning well and exhausted by what it costs them to do it. You don't have to be in crisis to want your head quieter.

It depends — most people feel a shift within 8 sessions. With OCD and anxiety ERP, the fuller course is usually 12–20 sessions. I'll give you a realistic estimate once we've met a couple of times.

No, I'm private pay. I can give you a superbill to submit for possible out-of-network reimbursement.

Both. In person in Alpharetta, and virtually anywhere in Georgia.

No. ERP is gradual and you set the pace. We build a ladder together and start at a rung you can actually manage.

Yes — teens 13 and up, plus adults and couples.

I'll tell you on the free consult and point you toward someone better suited. That's a normal outcome, not a failure.

Small, specific assignments. That's where most of the change happens, and it's the part that makes therapy stick.

Book a consult

Fifteen minutes on the phone. No pressure.

You tell me what's going on. I tell you honestly whether I'm the right fit. If I'm not, I'll point you to someone who is.

Book the consultEmail instead

In a crisis or emergency, call or text 988.