Madeline Ritts LAPC

Hi, I’m Maddie, a Licensed Associate Professional Counselor.

If you’ve ever been told you’re “too sensitive,” “too reactive,” or “too much,” you know how exhausting it can be to constantly manage big emotions, people-pleasing, and self-criticism—while pretending you’re fine. Maybe you’ve tried therapy before and left feeling unseen or misunderstood. My job is to change that.

I work with teens and adults who struggle with anxiety, emotional overwhelm, and the lasting impact of invalidation or trauma. Many of my clients are “doing fine” on the outside but quietly burning out on the inside—stuck between caring deeply and not knowing how to care for themselves.

In our work together, you can expect a mix of honesty, compassion, and humor. I pull from DBT, CBT, and mindfulness-based approaches, but I also just show up as a real human. We’ll slow things down, make sense of what’s been heavy, and find ways to move through it that actually fit your life.

Before joining Empowering Change, I spent years in community mental health leading both individual and group therapy. I’ve worked extensively with people facing chronic stress, identity struggles, and painful relationship cycles. That experience taught me that healing isn’t about “fixing yourself”—it’s about finally being understood, and learning how to hold both strength and softness at once.

When I’m not in session, you can find me hiking, listening to podcasts, or curled up with my cat. And if you take one thing away from this, let it be this: you’re not broken. You’re just ready for something different—and that’s where we’ll start.