The TMS Podcast

Which TMS machine should a psychiatry practice buy? In this episode, Dr. Steve Harvey and Dr. Greg Malzberg walk through the real-world factors clinicians should consider before choosing a TMS device. Rather than naming brands, they focus on the practical questions that matter: upfront cost, rental and per-use fees, coil replacement, service responsiveness, portability, cooling systems, exit optio...

TMS for OCD is more than just using the same treatment protocol as depression. In this episode, Dr. Harvey and Dr. Malzberg discuss how transcranial magnetic stimulation is used for obsessive-compulsive disorder, including FDA-cleared protocols, the H7 coil, symptom provocation, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate targets, and what patients can realistically expect. They also cove...

TMS gets a historical frame in this episode, using the Chestnut Lodge case and Rafael Osheroff’s lawsuit to explore how psychiatry changes when old assumptions fail patients. Dr. Steve Harvey and Dr. Greg Malzberg discuss psychoanalysis, medication, neuromodulation, and the danger of treating any one approach as the only legitimate answer. The conversation connects a famous psychiatry history case...

TMS safety risks are the focus of this episode, with a balanced look at why transcranial magnetic stimulation is considered very safe while still requiring thoughtful precautions. Psychiatrists explain the rare but serious concerns patients should understand before treatment, including hearing damage without earplugs, seizure risk during stimulation, and metal-related issues near the magnetic fiel...

How TMS works is the focus of this episode, which moves beyond the idea that depression is simply a chemical imbalance. Dr. Harvey and Dr. Malzberg explain why TMS targets the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, how that surface region may influence deeper connected brain networks. They also discuss neuroplasticity with appropriate caution, emphasizing that it is not magical brain fertilizer but...

Serotonin hypothesis of depression is the center of this episode, as two psychiatrists unpack why the low serotonin “chemical imbalance” story became so popular and why it falls short. They trace the monoamine hypothesis, discuss serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, and review evidence that challenges a simple serotonin deficiency model. The conversation also explains why this does not mean SS...

TMS practice management is the focus of this episode on how clinics fail when business decisions start overriding clinical judgment. The conversation explores patient care vs profit, physician leadership, non-medical managers, clinician autonomy, Spravato pressure, and why treatment quality is also a business strategy. For psychiatrists, TMS providers, and private practice owners, this is a practi...

TMS practice mistakes are at the center of this episode on why TMS clinics fail and what those failures reveal about better care. The conversation covers timid rollout, underestimated demand, remote management, referral boundaries, physician leadership, and the damage that happens when business pressure starts to shape clinical decisions. For psychiatrists, practice owners, and clinicians interest...

TMS research has reached a tipping point, and in this episode Dr. Harvey walks through the five studies he believes have most dramatically reshaped the field. From a Dutch randomized trial showing TMS outperforms a third antidepressant by a factor of five, to the theta burst 3D trial that compressed treatment into three minutes, to Stanford’s headline-grabbing SAINT protocol and its 90% remission...

In this episode, Dr. Harvey and Dr. Malzberg walk through the full history of transcranial magnetic stimulation, from Dr. Tony Barker’s 1985 discovery in a UK engineering lab to the 2008 FDA clearance of the Neurostar system for treatment-resistant depression. They explain how a magnetic field bypasses the skull to induce electrical current in the brain, why early TMS likely underdosed patients, a...

In this foundational episode on transcranial magnetic stimulation, Dr. Malzberg is joined by Dr. Steve Harvey… a TMS specialist and early adopter since 2013… for a clear, hype-free introduction to how TMS works and why it matters. They cover the basic physics of using magnetic pulses to create electrical stimulation in the brain, the evidence behind targeting the prefrontal cortex in depression, a...