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OCD Psychiatric Care in Georgia

Evaluation and medication management for obsessive-compulsive disorder across Georgia. In person in Sugar Hill or by telehealth.

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A woman in a rust sweater explaining something across an office desk while a printed checklist is reviewed. OCD psychiatric care at Ridge Way.

What OCD Actually Is

Intrusive thoughts you do not want and cannot stop, and things you do to make the anxiety they cause go away. The thoughts are frequently about harm, contamination, symmetry, or whether something terrible happened that you cannot quite rule out. Nothing you describe here will be a surprise.

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Why It Is So Often Reached Late

Most people with OCD know the thoughts are not rational. That is precisely what makes it exhausting: the insight does not stop the compulsion.

It is also frequently reached late, largely because the content of the thoughts is frightening enough that people do not say them out loud, and because many of its lesser known signs do not look like OCD at all. Medication here is an SSRI, usually at a higher dose than for depression, alongside a referral for the therapy that has the strongest evidence. See how antidepressants work.

OCD Medication Takes Longer Still

SSRIs at higher doses than for depression, and eight to twelve weeks before concluding anything, most of it at an adequate dose. Judging it sooner can write off a medicine that had not yet had its chance.

  1. Starting

    An SSRI, Built Up

    Started low and increased to an OCD dose, which is higher than for depression.

  2. Early weeks

    Slow at First

    Change is gradual, and early weeks are too soon to judge it.

  3. Weeks 8 to 12

    Judged Here

    At an adequate dose, this is when the medicine is assessed.

  4. If little has changed

    Adjust

    A higher dose, a switch, or a second medicine, alongside ERP where you have it.

The Forms OCD Usually Takes

The content varies and the mechanism does not: an unwanted thought, and something done to neutralize it.

Harm and Checking

Intrusive thoughts about something terrible happening, then checking, reassurance or mental reviewing. The distress they cause shows the thoughts are unwanted.

Contamination

Not tidiness. A specific fear of contamination, followed by washing, avoiding, or elaborate routines that gradually take over the day and then the week.

Symmetry and Rumination

Things having to be right, or a loop of mental checking that produces no answer. Often invisible from outside, which is part of why it goes unnamed for years.

Medication and ERP Together

The evidence supports two things together. SSRIs, usually at higher doses than for depression and taking longer to show an effect, often eight to twelve weeks. And exposure and response prevention, a specific therapy that is not the same as general talking therapy.

We provide the medication side. We do not provide ERP, and general counseling is not a substitute for it. When ERP is part of the plan, our medical team can refer you to a therapist trained in it.

Our scope of care →Antidepressants →
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Cost Should Not Be a Surprise

Your benefits are verified before the appointment, so you know what you owe before you come in.

Insurance and Pricing
  • Self-pay first visit $300 Evaluation or medication review, new patients
  • Self-pay follow-up $175 Follow-up or medication review, current patients
Dr. Ashar N., DNP, APRN, FNP-C, PMHNP-BC, Medical Director at Ridge Way Mental Health Services

Meet Dr. Ashar N.

Medical Director. DNP, APRN, FNP-C, PMHNP-BC. Board-certified as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and as a Family Nurse Practitioner, with a Doctor of Nursing Practice. Treats adults, teenagers and children from six: evaluation and medication management for depression, anxiety, ADHD, bipolar disorder, OCD, PTSD, sleep and alcohol use disorder.

Care at Ridge Way is delivered by our clinical team, licensed in Georgia and working with physician oversight. Your history, medication response and treatment decisions are documented in one chart, so another member of the team can review what has already been tried.

Our providers →What we do and do not prescribe →

What to Expect from the First Visit

Unhurried. You will not be asked to describe more than is needed to diagnose and prescribe safely.

  1. What Has Been Happening

    What the thoughts are about, what you do in response, and how much of the day it takes from you.

  2. What Else Is Involved

    Depression and anxiety often travel with OCD, and treating one without the other leaves gaps.

  3. What You Leave With

    A diagnosis where one applies, a plan, and a referral for ERP where that is the right step.

  4. Every Visit After

    Longer medication trials, eight to twelve weeks before judging, most of it at an adequate dose.

What We Treat, and What We Refer Out

We provide psychiatric evaluation and medication management. Knowing the limits before you book saves you an appointment spent finding them out.

Exposure and response prevention has the strongest evidence of any therapy for OCD. We do not provide it, and our medical team can refer you to someone trained in it.

Care Available Here

  • Evaluation and diagnosis, from age six
  • SSRI management at OCD doses
  • Treatment of co-occurring depression and anxiety
  • Ongoing follow-up, in person or by telehealth

Services We Refer Elsewhere

  • Exposure and response prevention, and other therapy
  • Psychological testing
  • Inpatient or intensive outpatient care
  • Benzodiazepine prescribing

OCD Questions

Why do OCD doses run higher?

OCD generally responds to higher SSRI doses than depression does, and it takes longer to respond. Eight to twelve weeks before concluding anything is standard, with most of that time at an adequate dose.

My intrusive thoughts are about hurting someone. Am I dangerous?

Harm-related intrusive thoughts are a recognized and common form of OCD, and the distress they cause is the clearest evidence that they are unwanted. This is a normal thing to describe in an evaluation and it is treatable.

Can OCD be treated by telehealth?

Yes for evaluation and medication management. How telehealth works.

Do children get OCD?

Yes, and it frequently begins in childhood. We evaluate from age six. Child psychiatric care.

There isn’t an OCD specialist near me. Can I still get treatment?

Yes. OCD specialists are not available in every community. Ridge Way provides medication management for OCD throughout Georgia and can help coordinate care with therapists who provide exposure and response prevention (ERP), the therapy most often recommended for OCD.

What if I am in crisis?

Ridge Way is not an emergency service. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911. For a mental health or suicide crisis, call or text 988, any time, or call the Georgia Crisis and Access Line at 1-800-715-4225. Crisis resources. For a second, independent read, NIMH’s overview of OCD covers the same ground.

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OCD Is Treatable, and You Deserve Care That Understands It

Intrusive thoughts and rituals can take over a day without anyone else seeing it. We’ll work out what’s happening and what medication can do about it. Book your OCD evaluation today.

Book an AppointmentCall (404) 404-4660

More on OCD

OCD often occurs with anxiety and depression.

All OCD articles →Free screening tools →Check whether we take your insurance →Patient resources →