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What interventional psychiatry means in a specialty clinic

Interventional psychiatry adds procedure-based and device-supported options such as TMS, SPRAVATO®, and IV ketamine to comprehensive psychiatric care.

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Lisa Harding MD discusses advanced depression treatment options

Interventional psychiatry is a specialty area of psychiatric care that may include procedure-based or device-supported options alongside evaluation, medication management, psychotherapy, and other parts of a person's care. At Mood Institute, we offer TMS, SPRAVATO®, and IV ketamine treatment pathways as part of comprehensive psychiatric care. These options can be useful starting points when depression symptoms have continued despite prior care, but they are not interchangeable and do not answer whether any one option fits a particular person.

TMS, or transcranial magnetic stimulation, uses a device to deliver magnetic pulses during clinic visits. SPRAVATO® is a brand name for esketamine and has specific supervised administration requirements. IV ketamine is delivered by infusion in a monitored clinical setting. Each pathway has its own visit structure, preparation, monitoring, and follow-up considerations. A specialty consultation helps place these differences within the broader picture of your symptoms, history, current care, and goals.

Before a consultation, make a short record of what you have already tried. Include prior medications or therapies if you remember them, what changed over time, and any records another clinician may be able to send. You do not need a perfect timeline. A simple list of major treatment periods, questions, and concerns can make the first conversation easier to follow.

It can also help to ask practical questions. You might ask: What does a typical visit look like? How is this pathway different from oral medication alone? What monitoring is part of the visit? Which records would help the team understand my history? How would this fit with the care I already receive? Clear questions can help you understand the process without asking you to decide anything before you have the information you need.

The next step is a psychiatric consultation, where a licensed clinician can review your circumstances and explain what the evaluation would involve. Public information from NIMH can provide useful background on depression and brain stimulation therapies before that conversation. Use the consultation request page when you are ready to discuss your questions with the care team.

Sources: NIMH — Brain stimulation therapiesNIMH — Depression overview

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