Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation uses targeted magnetic pulses—similar in strength to those used in MRI imaging—to stimulate specific areas of the brain involved in mood regulation, emotional processing, and the systems that drive symptoms of depression, OCD, anxiety, and other conditions. The magnetic pulses pass painlessly through the skull and induce small electrical currents in the underlying brain tissue, which over the course of treatment helps restore the activity of brain circuits that have become underactive in mental health conditions.
Unlike medication, TMS doesn’t work by changing brain chemistry through drugs that affect the whole body. It works locally, on specific brain circuits, with no systemic effects—no weight gain, no sexual side effects, no fatigue, no cognitive blunting, no daily medication to remember. For many patients, this is the difference between treatment they can sustain and treatment they end up stopping.
TMS has been studied for more than 40 years and has gained significant clinical traction in the past decade. It is one of the most extensively researched mental health treatments available, with strong evidence for its safety and effectiveness in depression specifically and growing evidence for other conditions. Serenity Mental Health Centers considers TMS our signature treatment—it’s the option we reach for most often when traditional approaches haven’t been enough.
TMS is most established for major depressive disorder, with growing applications across other mental health conditions:
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). This is the primary FDA-approved indication and the most extensively studied use of TMS. TMS is particularly valuable for patients with treatment-resistant depression—those who haven’t responded fully to one or more antidepressant medications—and for patients who can’t tolerate medication side effects. It’s also FDA-approved for depression with anxious distress, which is one of the most common patterns we see.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). TMS is FDA-approved for OCD using a specific protocol that targets brain circuits involved in obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. For patients with OCD who haven’t responded fully to SSRIs and exposure-and-response-prevention therapy, TMS provides a meaningful additional option.
Anxiety disorders. While not separately FDA-approved for generalized anxiety disorder, TMS shows meaningful benefit for anxiety symptoms, particularly when anxiety co-occurs with depression. The FDA-approved indication for “depression with anxious distress” addresses one of the most common clinical presentations: patients whose depression and anxiety are intertwined.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Growing clinical evidence supports TMS for PTSD, particularly in veterans and patients with treatment-resistant trauma symptoms. The Department of Veterans Affairs has incorporated TMS into VA mental health care for some patients.
Other conditions. TMS is also used for smoking cessation (a specific FDA-approved indication), bipolar depression (under appropriate care), and other conditions where standard treatments haven’t been adequate. Whether TMS is right for your specific situation is a conversation we have during evaluation.
For most patients, TMS is much less involved than they expect. Here’s what happens:
You arrive and sit down. Sessions take place in a comfortable chair, similar to a dental chair, in our clinic. You don’t change clothes, you don’t get an IV, you don’t take any medication, and you don’t need anyone to drive you.
The coil is positioned. A magnetic coil is positioned against the side of your head, targeting specific brain areas based on your diagnosis and treatment protocol. Initial mapping during your first session determines the exact placement and intensity, and after that, the placement is consistent session to session.
Treatment begins. Brief magnetic pulses are delivered through the coil. You’ll feel a tapping sensation at the treatment site—most patients describe it as similar to someone tapping on the side of your head with a pencil. Some patients find this mildly uncomfortable in the first session or two, and most adjust quickly. Treatment cycles between pulses and rest periods over the course of the session.
You’re awake and aware the whole time. Patients can read, watch something on a phone or tablet, listen to music, or just rest. There’s no sedation, no altered mental state, no fog. Many patients use the time to catch up on email or watch a show.
Sessions typically last 19 to 37 minutes depending on the protocol for your condition. The newest TMS protocols are at the shorter end of that range; older protocols are at the longer end.
You leave and go about your day. No recovery time, no driving restrictions, no work restrictions. You can drive yourself home, return to work, pick up kids, exercise—whatever your normal day involves.
A standard course of TMS involves daily sessions (Monday through Friday) over 4 to 6 weeks—typically 30 to 36 sessions total. This is the most significant practical consideration with TMS, and it’s worth being honest about: daily clinic visits for over a month is a real commitment, especially for patients commuting to work in the broader Phoenix metro.
Why it works this way. The treatment effect builds with repeated sessions over time. The brain circuits TMS targets need repeated stimulation to shift toward a more typical activity pattern, and the treatment course is designed to deliver enough stimulation to produce durable change. Shorter courses don’t work as well.
What patients typically notice during the course. Most patients begin to notice some improvement in the second or third week, though some notice changes earlier and some later. Sleep often improves first. Mood and energy typically follow. The full benefit of treatment is usually clear by the end of the standard course.
Scheduling. We schedule sessions to fit around work, school, and family commitments. Sessions can be early morning (we open at 6:00 AM), during long lunch breaks, or late afternoon and evening. For SVT patients who commute to Phoenix or Chandler, having TMS available locally means the daily session doesn’t add an hour of cross-metro driving to the day.
After the initial course. Some patients respond well to the initial course and don’t need further TMS for an extended period. Others benefit from periodic maintenance sessions—every few weeks or months—to sustain the gains. The pattern that works best for you becomes clear over time, and we adjust accordingly.
TMS works well for many patients, but it’s particularly useful for several populations we see often in the Southeast Valley:
Patients who have tried multiple medications without lasting relief. This is the largest TMS patient population. About a third of depression patients don’t respond fully to the first medication tried, and many cycle through two, three, or more without finding sustained benefit. For these patients, TMS represents a genuinely different mechanism—not another pill, but a fundamentally different approach to the underlying brain circuit dysfunction.
Patients who can’t tolerate medication side effects. Weight gain, sexual side effects, fatigue, sleep disruption, GI issues, and emotional blunting are common reasons people stop antidepressants. TMS has none of these effects because it isn’t a drug.
First responders and others where medication side effects affect work. SVT has a substantial first responder community, and many first responders avoid antidepressants because of concerns about cognitive effects, sedation, or fitness-for-duty considerations. TMS doesn’t impair cognition or alertness, doesn’t cause sedation, and is delivered before or after shift without any duty-day implications.
New mothers and patients planning pregnancy. SVT has a heavily young-family population, and postpartum depression is common. TMS is compatible with breastfeeding (no medication passes through to the baby) and is generally considered safer than antidepressants during pregnancy, though decisions during pregnancy involve careful conversation with your OB/maternal-fetal medicine team.
Older adults on multiple medications. Many of our older patients across Florence, Gold Canyon, Apache Junction, and the surrounding retiree communities are already on multiple prescriptions for medical conditions. Adding an antidepressant introduces drug-drug interaction risks. TMS sidesteps that concern entirely because it isn’t a drug. TMS is well-tolerated in older adults and is often a better fit than yet another prescription.
Patients who simply don’t want medication. For many patients, the daily ritual of taking psychiatric medication is itself a barrier—a daily reminder of the condition, the persistent question of side effects, the practical issue of remembering to take it, the discomfort of having mental health treatment show up at the pharmacy. TMS is delivered in our clinic and then it’s done. No prescription, no pharmacy, no daily reminder.
TMS and medication aren’t competing options—they’re different tools that serve different patient situations, and many patients use both at different points in their treatment. A few key differences:
How they work. Medications work by changing the balance of neurotransmitters throughout the brain (and the body—which is where side effects come from). TMS works locally on specific brain circuits, stimulating activity in regions that have become underactive in mental health conditions. The result is improvement without systemic effects.
Time to effect. Antidepressants typically take 4-8 weeks to show full effect, and patients often don’t know during those weeks whether the medication is going to work. TMS produces gradual improvement during the treatment course, and patients can often feel changes by week 2 or 3.
Side effects. Medication side effects are common and often disabling enough that patients stop treatment before it’s had time to help. TMS side effects are minimal—occasional headache or scalp discomfort during sessions, both of which typically resolve quickly.
Duration of effect. Antidepressants work only as long as you take them daily. TMS produces effects that last beyond the treatment course—often months or longer—and some patients maintain remission for extended periods with occasional maintenance sessions or no additional treatment.
Combining them. Many patients do well on a combination—continuing medication during and after TMS. Some patients eventually taper medication after TMS produces a strong response. These decisions are individualized.
Some patients ask whether TMS is similar to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). They’re related in concept—both use forms of brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression—but the experience is very different:
ECT involves general anesthesia, induces a brief therapeutic seizure, typically requires inpatient or outpatient hospital-based delivery with significant recovery time after each session, can produce temporary memory effects, and is reserved for the most severe or treatment-resistant cases. ECT is highly effective for severe depression and remains a valuable treatment in the right circumstances.
TMS is fully outpatient, involves no sedation or seizure induction, has no memory effects, lets you drive yourself home, and is appropriate for many patients who wouldn’t be candidates for ECT or who want to try a less invasive option first. Most patients trying brain stimulation for the first time appropriately start with TMS.
TMS is appropriate for most adults with depression, OCD, anxiety, or PTSD who haven’t fully responded to standard treatments, who want to avoid medication, or who can’t tolerate medication side effects. Specific considerations:
Established diagnosis. A clear diagnosis of one of the conditions TMS treats. We confirm this through our standard evaluation process before recommending TMS.
Prior treatment history. Insurance typically requires documentation of one or more (often two or more) antidepressant medication trials that haven’t worked adequately. Some patients qualify on a first-line basis based on intolerance to medication; others qualify after a treatment history.
No contraindications. The primary contraindications to TMS are metal implants in or near the head (cochlear implants, deep brain stimulators, aneurysm clips, certain dental implants—we assess this carefully) and a history of seizure disorder or significantly elevated seizure risk. Many patients with metal elsewhere in the body, including hip and knee replacements, are fine candidates.
Treatment commitment. The 4-6 week daily session course is the main practical commitment, and we want patients who are ready to engage with it. We work with patients on scheduling, but the time investment is real.
TMS is one of the better-tolerated treatments in psychiatry. Most patients have minimal side effects, and the side effects that do occur are typically mild and temporary:
Common (most patients). Mild headache during or after the session, mild scalp discomfort at the treatment site, brief facial twitching during pulses (the pulses can stimulate nearby facial muscles). These typically resolve within minutes to hours and become less noticeable over the course of treatment.
Less common. Lightheadedness during sessions, mild jaw discomfort if the pulses affect the masseter muscle. These typically resolve with minor coil position adjustments.
Rare. Seizure during treatment is the most serious potential side effect, occurring in well under 1 in 10,000 sessions in patients without seizure risk factors. We screen carefully for seizure risk before treatment and monitor during sessions.
What TMS doesn’t cause. Weight gain. Sexual side effects. Sedation or fatigue. Cognitive blunting. Sleep disturbance. GI issues. Memory problems. Dependency. None of the side effects that drive patients to stop antidepressants are TMS side effects, because TMS isn’t a drug.
Most major insurance plans cover TMS for treatment-resistant depression, and coverage has expanded substantially over the past decade. Plans we work with that typically cover TMS include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Optum, United Healthcare, Tricare West, AHCCCS (Arizona Medicaid), Banner Health, and Medicare. Coverage details vary—some plans cover TMS only for depression, others cover OCD and additional indications—and we verify your specific coverage during the consultation process.
Prior authorization. Insurance plans typically require prior authorization for TMS, which involves documentation of your prior treatment history, current diagnosis, and medical necessity. We handle the prior authorization paperwork on your behalf as part of getting started. This typically takes 1-3 weeks, depending on the insurance company.
What patients usually pay. With insurance coverage in place, patients are typically responsible for their plan’s standard cost-sharing—deductibles, copays, or coinsurance—rather than the full cost of treatment. We walk through the financial picture during consultation so there are no surprises.
Living in the Southeast Valley creates some specific conditions that make TMS particularly appealing for many of our patients:
Heat and medication adherence. Arizona summer heat affects medication storage (many psychiatric medications shouldn’t be left in hot cars), affects sleep quality (poor sleep blunts medication response), and adds another daily reminder to an already demanding climate. TMS sidesteps all of this—nothing to store, nothing to remember, nothing affected by the weather.
Outdoor recovery weather. The cooler eight months of the year offer excellent conditions for the physical activity and outdoor time that supports mental health recovery. TMS treatment can integrate well with seasonal outdoor activity—daily morning sessions before a winter hike, or late-afternoon sessions before evening walks. Movement matters, and our climate supports the kind of behavioral activation that complements TMS treatment.
Local access avoids cross-metro driving. For SVT patients commuting to jobs in Phoenix, Chandler, Mesa, or Tempe, having TMS available locally means the daily session doesn’t require additional cross-metro driving. Daily sessions for 4-6 weeks adds up; doing them locally is a meaningful logistical advantage.
Starting TMS isn’t a same-day decision. Here’s how the process typically unfolds:
Initial consultation. A thorough evaluation that includes review of your diagnosis, current symptoms, prior treatment history, and goals. We assess whether TMS is likely to help your specific situation and answer your questions about what treatment involves.
Screening for contraindications. Review of medical history for metal implants, seizure risk factors, and other considerations that affect TMS candidacy. Most patients clear this screening without issue.
Insurance authorization. Our team submits the prior authorization paperwork to your insurance company. This typically takes 1-3 weeks. We handle this; you don’t.
Treatment planning and scheduling. Once authorization is in place, we schedule your first session and the rest of the course. Sessions are scheduled to fit your actual schedule—morning, midday, or after work.
First session and mapping. The first session takes longer (typically 60-90 minutes) because it includes initial mapping to determine optimal coil placement and intensity for you specifically. After that, sessions are at the standard 19-to-37-minute duration.
Treatment course and follow-up. Daily sessions Monday through Friday for 4-6 weeks. Periodic check-ins to track progress and adjust as needed. End-of-course evaluation and planning for what comes next—whether maintenance sessions, continued medication or therapy, or simply ongoing monitoring.
TMS is most effective when delivered as part of comprehensive psychiatric care, not as a standalone procedure. Our approach integrates TMS with medication management, therapy referrals, and ongoing clinical follow-up. We assess whether co-occurring conditions—anxiety, ADHD, sleep disorders, substance use, medical conditions—are affecting outcomes, and we adjust the broader plan as needed.
Many patients arrive at TMS after years of feeling stuck on medication or after multiple unsuccessful trials. Our goal isn’t just to deliver TMS sessions; it’s to help patients build a sustainable approach to their mental health that works after the initial course ends.
Our San Tan Valley clinic is led by two experienced psychiatric nurse practitioners with training in mood, anxiety, and related conditions:
Jason Adams, PMHNP — Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner.
Colleen Fornear, PMHNP — Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner.
Our San Tan Valley team takes a patient-first, evidence-based approach: careful evaluation, transparent conversations about what TMS can and can’t do, and a steady pace that respects how you’re actually doing. With same-week consultations, extended hours, AHCCCS and Tricare accepted, and TMS delivered on-site in SVT, we’re committed to making this signature treatment genuinely accessible for the Southeast Valley.
TMS is fundamentally an in-person treatment—it can’t be delivered remotely. That makes location matter. Our San Tan Valley clinic is at 36457 N. Gantzel Road, Suite 102, near Gantzel and Combs, easily accessible from the SR-24 connector, Hunt Highway, and the broader SVT/Queen Creek road network. Patients coming from across the Southeast Valley and Pinal County can typically reach us in 15-25 minutes—and that proximity matters when you’re coming five days a week for several weeks. We schedule sessions to minimize the disruption to your work, school, and family life.
Our clinic is located at 36457 N. Gantzel Road, Suite 102 in San Tan Valley, AZ 85140, near Gantzel and Combs. TMS therapy is delivered on-site, which means SVT-area patients don’t have to drive into Phoenix or Chandler for daily treatment sessions. We serve patients from across the Southeast Valley and Pinal County, including Queen Creek, Florence, Apache Junction, Gold Canyon, Coolidge, and Casa Grande.
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