--- title: "Health Anxiety Therapy in Alpharetta, GA" description: "ERP-informed health anxiety therapy in Alpharetta, GA. For body checking, symptom googling and reassurance seeking. In person or online across Georgia." lang: en json-ld: --- [The Solace Space Therapy · Alpharetta, GA ](/) Services Service Areas [About](/about-me)[Rates](/rates)[FAQ](/faq)[Blog](/blog-2)[Contact](/contact) [Book a free consult](https://calendly.com/thesolacespacetherapy/free-15-minute-consultation) Health Anxiety Therapy in Alpharetta, GA # The test came back normal. _You are still checking._ (certainty is the thing you keep buying. it never arrives.) Health anxiety is not hypochondria as a punchline, and it is not attention seeking. It is a fear of illness that has learned to feed itself. Something in your body does what bodies do, a twitch, an ache, a strange heartbeat, and instead of passing through you unnoticed, it gets caught and examined. Then you go looking for proof that you are fine, and the looking is what keeps it alive. People with health anxiety are often exceptionally responsible. You are not careless about your body. You are the opposite, and it has become a full time job with no days off. I treat health anxiety with ERP-informed work, which is my main specialty through OCD treatment. The mechanics are close cousins. I see clients in person in Alpharetta and by secure telehealth throughout Georgia. What it looks like ## Reassurance works for _about an hour_. - You check your pulse, your lymph nodes, a mole, or a spot on your skin more times a day than you would admit out loud. - You have read the same symptom page repeatedly, hoping it will say something slightly more comforting. - You ask your partner whether it looks normal, then need to ask again by evening. - You either book appointments constantly or avoid doctors entirely, and sometimes you swing between both. - A normal result is a relief that expires. The doubt regrows in days. - You scan your body first thing in the morning to see what is wrong today. - You avoid medical shows, news about illness, and conversations about anyone's diagnosis. How ERP-informed work applies here ## We treat the _checking_, not the symptom. (the goal is not proving you are healthy. it is living without the proof.) Here is the structure. A sensation or a thought shows up, and it carries an unbearable feeling of uncertainty. To get rid of that feeling, you perform a compulsion: you google, you check, you palpate, you ask, you book, you compare to last week. It works. The relief is real and it is immediate, which is precisely why the behavior is so sticky. But every act of reassurance also teaches your brain a lesson: that question was too dangerous to leave unanswered. So the threshold drops. Next time it takes less to set you off, and it takes more checking to feel settled. That is not weakness. That is learning, working exactly as designed, in an unhelpful direction. Exposure and Response Prevention interrupts the second half of that sequence. We expose you, in deliberate steps, to the doubt itself, and we prevent the response that normally discharges it. You notice the sensation and do not check. You read the word and do not search. You feel the urge to ask your partner and let the question stand unanswered. It is uncomfortable, and the discomfort falls on its own if you stop rescuing yourself from it. That is the entire mechanism. Two rules make this work. First, I will not reassure you in session either. If I did, I would just become the newest and most credible compulsion, and you would be back where you started with a better source. Second, we coordinate with reality: you keep your legitimate medical care, your annual physicals, and your screenings. We are not eliminating medical attention. We are eliminating the anxious loop layered on top of it, which is a different thing entirely, and I will help you draw that line clearly. We also usually recruit the people around you. Family members who have been answering the same question for years are doing it out of love, and they are unintentionally holding the pattern in place. I coach them on what to say instead, and it is kinder than it sounds. What you'll actually do ## The practice is _not doing_ things. 1. 01 ### Inventory the compulsions We list every checking, searching, asking and avoiding behavior, including the mental ones you have never told anyone about. 2. 02 ### Build a hierarchy We rank them from mildly uncomfortable to genuinely hard, and start at the bottom. You always know what you are agreeing to. 3. 03 ### Delay, then drop For behaviors that are hard to stop cold, we lengthen the delay before you give in, until the urge stops running the clock. 4. 04 ### Sit with the doubt Short, planned practice tolerating an unanswered question. This is the rep that changes the pattern, and it gets easier faster than you expect. Straight talk ## When I'm _not_ the right fit. - You have new or unexplained symptoms that have never been evaluated. See your physician first. I am not the person to rule things out. - You want me to tell you that you are healthy. I will not, on purpose, and I will explain why in the first session. - You are having thoughts of suicide or self harm. Call or text 988. That needs a higher level of care than weekly outpatient therapy. - You want insight only, without changing any behavior. Understanding health anxiety does not reduce it. Practice does. If any of that is you, I'll say so on the consult and point you toward someone who's a better fit. Common questions ## Before you book. Is health anxiety a form of OCD? They are separate, and they run on nearly identical machinery: intrusive doubt, compulsive relief, escalating threshold. That is why ERP-informed treatment fits so well. Am I supposed to stop going to the doctor? No. You keep normal, recommended care. We remove the extra, anxiety-driven visits and the endless rechecking. We define that line together in writing. How long does it usually take? Most people feel a shift within about eight sessions. A fuller ERP course tends to run twelve to twenty. Can we do this by video? Yes. ERP works well over telehealth, and I see clients anywhere in Georgia. In person is at 290 S Main St, Suite 200 in Alpharetta. ## Live without the _proof_. A free 15-minute call. You tell me what's going on. I tell you honestly whether I'm the right fit. [Book the consult](https://calendly.com/thesolacespacetherapy/free-15-minute-consultation)[See all services](/Services) Related reading - [ERP for OCD](/erp-ocd-therapy) - [Anxiety Therapy](/anxiety-therapy) - [Panic Attack Treatment](/panic-attack-therapy) - [FAQ](/faq) - [Therapy in Alpharetta](/therapy-in-alpharetta) In a crisis or emergency, call or text [988](tel:988) to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or call [911](tel:911). The Solace Space Therapy · Alpharetta, GA Helping anxious minds find solace. Anxiety & OCD therapy in Alpharetta, GA + online across Georgia. ### Contact - [colleendonahueritz@gmail.com ](mailto:colleendonahueritz@gmail.com) - [(603) 209-2168 ](tel:+16032092168) - 290 S Main St, Suite 200 Alpharetta, GA 30009 ### Explore - [All Services](/Services) - [Anxiety Therapy](/anxiety-therapy) - [ERP for OCD](/erp-ocd-therapy) - [Social Anxiety](/social-anxiety) - [EFT for Couples](/eft-couples-therapy) - [Teen Therapy](/teentherapy) - [SPACE Therapy](/space-therapy) - [About](/about-me) - [Contact](/contact) - [FAQ](/#faq) - [Book a free consult →](https://calendly.com/thesolacespacetherapy/free-15-minute-consultation) ### Find me - [Psychology Today ](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/colleen-ritz-alpharetta-ga/1134095) - [LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleendonahue/) - [Facebook ](https://www.facebook.com/61585284334210/) In a crisis or emergency , call or text [988](tel:988) for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or call [911](tel:911). The Solace Space Therapy is not a crisis service. © 2026 The Solace Space Therapy · CDR Counseling, LLC. Nothing on this site constitutes therapy until a signed agreement is in place. Colleen Ritz, LPC is licensed in Georgia only. Website by [Automaus.ai](https://automaus.ai)