--- title: "Intrusive Thoughts Therapy in Alpharetta, GA" url: https://thesolacespacetherapy.com/intrusive-thoughts-therapy description: "Therapy for unwanted intrusive thoughts using ERP and CBT. In person in Alpharetta or by telehealth anywhere in Georgia. Free 15-minute consult." lang: en --- Intrusive Thoughts Therapy in Alpharetta, GA # Intrusive thoughts are not _confessions_. (what if thinking it means something about me?) A thought flashes through your head that you would never say out loud. Something violent, or sexual, or just deeply wrong. It lands like a punch. And then the real trouble starts: you can't stop wondering what it means that you had it. Here is the short version. Almost everyone has strange, unwanted thoughts. What makes them stick is not the thought. It is the alarm that goes off afterward, and everything you do to make that alarm stop. That is the part we can change. I treat intrusive thoughts with Exposure and Response Prevention (https://thesolacespacetherapy.com/erp-ocd-therapy) and CBT. If your thoughts center on hurting someone, the harm OCD page (https://thesolacespacetherapy.com/harm-ocd-therapy) goes deeper. If most of your rituals happen silently in your head, see Pure O OCD (https://thesolacespacetherapy.com/pure-o-ocd-therapy). What it looks like ## The thought takes a second. The _aftermath_ takes all day. - A thought pops up that feels dangerous, disgusting, or completely unlike you, and your stomach drops. - You replay it to check whether you felt anything when it happened, as if that would settle it. - You try to cancel it out with a good thought, a phrase, or a mental image. - You avoid things that might set it off: certain shows, certain objects, certain people. - You search online for whether other people have this thought, then read until 2 a.m. - You feel like a fraud because nobody around you knows what goes on in your head. How ERP and CBT help ## Stop _arguing_ with your brain. (you can't win a debate with a thought. you can stop showing up to it.) The instinct is to fight the thought. Prove it wrong. Figure out where it came from. Make absolutely sure it doesn't mean anything. It feels like the responsible thing to do. The trouble is that every round of arguing tells your brain the thought was a real threat that needed handling, so it sends the thought back, louder and more often. ERP flips the approach. Instead of fighting, we practice letting the thought be there while you skip the ritual that usually follows it. No mental reviewing. No neutralizing. No asking someone to confirm you're a good person. At first that feels very uncomfortable. Then, with practice, the discomfort peaks and fades on its own, and your brain starts to learn the thought is just noise. CBT adds tools for the stories anxiety tells about the thought, like "thinking it is as bad as doing it" or "if I don't pay attention to this, something terrible will happen." We look at those beliefs plainly and test them in real life. Everything happens gradually and at your pace. We build the plan together, starting with steps that feel hard but doable. You're never surprised with an exposure. If a step is too big, we make it smaller. The goal is not a brain that never has a weird thought again. It is a brain that has a weird thought, shrugs, and gets on with the day. What you'll actually do ## Practical work, _between_ sessions too. 1. 01 ### Map the loop We name the thoughts, the alarm, and every ritual that follows, including the quiet mental ones you may not count as rituals yet. 2. 02 ### Build a ladder Together we list situations from mildly uncomfortable to hard, and you choose where to start. 3. 03 ### Practice not answering Small, specific assignments between sessions where you let the thought sit there without cancelling, checking or confessing. 4. 04 ### Change the story CBT tools for the beliefs that make the thoughts feel meaningful, tested against what actually happens. Common questions ## Before you book. Does having an intrusive thought mean I secretly want it? No. Intrusive thoughts tend to latch onto the things you care about most, which is exactly why they feel so upsetting. The distress itself is a clue that the thought goes against what you value. Why can't I just stop thinking about it? Trying to push a thought away tends to make it come back more often. The work is not about stopping the thought. It is about changing how you respond when it shows up. Will we have to talk about the thoughts in detail? Only as much as the plan needs, and at a pace you agree to. The goal is not to analyze the content. It is to practice letting the thought be there without doing anything to cancel it. Can this be done by telehealth? Yes. I offer secure telehealth anywhere in Georgia and in-person sessions at the office in Alpharetta. ## Ready when _you_ are. 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: https://thesolacespacetherapy.com/services Related reading - ERP for OCD: https://thesolacespacetherapy.com/erp-ocd-therapy - Harm OCD: https://thesolacespacetherapy.com/harm-ocd-therapy - Pure O OCD: https://thesolacespacetherapy.com/pure-o-ocd-therapy - ERP vs. Talk Therapy: https://thesolacespacetherapy.com/resources/erp-vs-talk-therapy ## Structured data ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://thesolacespacetherapy.com/#colleen-ritz", "name": "Colleen Ritz", "honorificSuffix": "MA, LPC", "jobTitle": "Licensed Professional Counselor", "url": "https://thesolacespacetherapy.com/about-me", "email": "colleendonahueritz@gmail.com", "telephone": "+1-603-209-2168", "alumniOf": { "@type": "CollegeOrUniversity", "name": "Antioch University" }, "hasCredential": [ { "@type": "EducationalOccupationalCredential", "credentialCategory": "license", "name": "Licensed Professional Counselor, Georgia (GA LPC #016238)" }, { "@type": "EducationalOccupationalCredential", "credentialCategory": "degree", "name": "MA, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Antioch University" } ], "memberOf": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "International OCD Foundation (IOCDF)" }, "knowsLanguage": "en-US", "sameAs": [ "https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/colleen-ritz-alpharetta-ga/1134095" ] }, { "@type": "MedicalClinic", "@id": "https://thesolacespacetherapy.com/#practice", "name": "The Solace Space Therapy", "legalName": "CDR Counseling, LLC", "url": "https://thesolacespacetherapy.com/", "email": "colleendonahueritz@gmail.com", "telephone": "+1-603-209-2168", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "290 S Main St, Suite 200", "addressLocality": "Alpharetta", "addressRegion": "GA", "postalCode": "30009", "addressCountry": "US" }, "areaServed": [ { "@type": "State", "name": "Georgia" }, { "@type": "City", "name": "Alpharetta, GA" }, { "@type": "City", "name": "Roswell, GA" }, { "@type": "City", "name": "Milton, GA" }, { "@type": "City", "name": "Johns Creek, GA" }, { "@type": "City", "name": "Cumming, GA" }, { "@type": "City", "name": "Duluth, GA" }, { "@type": "City", "name": "Suwanee, GA" }, { "@type": "City", "name": "Sandy Springs, GA" } ], "availableLanguage": [ { "@type": "Language", "name": "English" } ], "medicalSpecialty": "Psychiatric", "serviceType": [ "Anxiety therapy", "OCD therapy (Exposure and Response Prevention)", "Panic attack treatment", "Social anxiety therapy", "Health anxiety therapy", "Perfectionism therapy", "High-functioning anxiety therapy", "Teen therapy (ages 13-17)", "SPACE parent-led treatment", "EFT couples therapy", "Online therapy across Georgia", "Intrusive thoughts therapy", "Harm OCD therapy", "Relationship OCD therapy", "Pure O OCD therapy", "Generalized anxiety therapy", "Overthinking therapy" ], "availableService": [ { "@type": "MedicalTherapy", "name": "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)" }, { "@type": "MedicalTherapy", "name": "Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)" }, { "@type": "MedicalTherapy", "name": "Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)" }, { "@type": "MedicalTherapy", "name": "Person-Centered Therapy" } ], "provider": { "@id": "https://thesolacespacetherapy.com/#colleen-ritz" } } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "@id": "https://thesolacespacetherapy.com/intrusive-thoughts-therapy#faq", "url": "https://thesolacespacetherapy.com/intrusive-thoughts-therapy", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "Does having an intrusive thought mean I secretly want it?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "No. Intrusive thoughts tend to latch onto the things you care about most, which is exactly why they feel so upsetting. 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