{"id":28291,"date":"2026-03-12T10:02:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T17:02:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/?post_type=blog-post&p=28291"},"modified":"2026-03-12T10:02:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T17:02:22","slug":"common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them","status":"publish","type":"blog-post","link":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/blog\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Patient Questions About TMS (and How I Answer Them)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \n \n TMS\n<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

March 12th 2026<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

Common Patient Questions About TMS (and How I Answer Them)<\/h1>\n <\/div>\n
\n \"Common\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n
\n

By Karen Giles, MD, Breakthru Psychiatric Solutions<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patients who are exploring Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) often come into my office curious, hopeful, and sometimes a little unsure. Many have tried multiple medications without meaningful relief. Others are simply looking for a treatment that feels more aligned with their needs and values. No matter where they\u2019re starting from, I\u2019ve found that clear, compassionate education helps patients feel empowered and confident as they consider TMS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below are the questions I\u2019m asked most frequently \u2014 and how I answer them in practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. \u201cWhat exactly is TMS?\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I explain that TMS is a non\u2011invasive, FDA\u2011cleared treatment<\/strong> for major depressive disorder that uses magnetic pulses to activate the parts of the brain involved in mood regulation. It does not involve anesthesia, memory loss, or systemic side effects. Most importantly, it offers patients a new pathway forward when traditional treatments haven\u2019t worked well enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. \u201cHow does TMS for depression work?\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

TMS uses focused magnetic pulses \u2014 similar to the type used in MRI machines \u2014 to stimulate specific areas of the brain. These pulses help \u201creawaken\u201d neural pathways involved in mood, which can gradually reduce depressive symptoms. I emphasize that the treatment is targeted, measurable, and supported by decades of clinical research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. \u201cWhat does a TMS session feel like?\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I describe it as a tapping or clicking sensation on the scalp. Most patients acclimate within the first few sessions. They remain fully awake, can listen to music or chat with our technicians, and resume normal activities immediately afterward \u2014 including driving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. \u201cIs TMS safe?\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Yes \u2014 it has a strong safety profile. The most common side effects are mild scalp discomfort or headache during the first few treatments. We monitor patients closely and adjust settings to ensure comfort. TMS is also medication\u2011free, which makes it a promising option for those who experience side effects from antidepressants.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. \u201cHow long does TMS take to work?\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I share that many patients begin noticing improvement after the first few weeks, though everyone\u2019s timeline is unique. A full treatment course typically lasts nine weeks, with sessions occurring five days per week. We check in regularly and use rating scales to track progress objectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. \u201cWill TMS work for me?\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While no treatment works for everyone, TMS has strong evidence behind it \u2014 especially for patients with treatment\u2011resistant depression. I explain what factors influence response and walk patients through our evaluation process to determine whether TMS is a good fit for their symptoms and history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. \u201cCan I continue my medications or therapy?\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Absolutely. Many patients continue their current regimen while adding TMS. I collaborate closely with therapists and prescribers to ensure a unified, patient\u2011centered treatment plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. \u201cWhat should I expect day\u2011to\u2011day during treatment?\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Consistency is key. Sessions are brief, and patients quickly settle into a routine. Our clinic environment is warm and supportive \u2014 our team gets to know patients well during their treatment course. We also provide guidance for managing schedules and any early\u2011session discomfort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. \u201cIs TMS for depression covered by insurance?\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Yes \u2014 most major insurance plans cover TMS<\/strong> for depression and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) when basic criteria are met. These typically include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • A diagnosis of major depressive disorder <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Inadequate response to a certain number of antidepressant trials<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Participation in psychotherapy (varies by insurer)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Our team helps patients navigate the approval process, gather documentation, and understand their benefits. I reassure patients that we work closely with insurers and advocate on their behalf to make treatment as accessible as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A Note for Fellow Clinicians<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    By proactively addressing these questions, we can reduce uncertainty, improve engagement, and set realistic expectations from the start. TMS is a powerful, evidence\u2011based tool \u2014 and when patients understand the \u201cwhy\u201d behind it, they participate more confidently and experience treatment more fully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Conclusion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    TMS has opened a meaningful new door for many of my patients. By answering their questions clearly and compassionately, I help them feel informed, supported, and hopeful about the path ahead. As providers, our ability to communicate effectively about TMS is just as important as the treatment itself.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":28292,"template":"","blog-category":[71],"class_list":["post-28291","blog-post","type-blog-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCommon Patient Questions About TMS (and How I Answer Them) - MagVenture US<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A psychiatrist provides answers to common patient questions about TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation).\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/blog\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Common Patient Questions About TMS (and How I Answer Them) - MagVenture US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A psychiatrist provides answers to common patient questions about TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation).\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/blog\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MagVenture US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-12T17:02:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/03\/Patient-low-res.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/magventure.com\\\/us\\\/blog\\\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/magventure.com\\\/us\\\/blog\\\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\\\/\",\"name\":\"Common Patient Questions About TMS (and How I Answer Them) - MagVenture US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/magventure.com\\\/us\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/magventure.com\\\/us\\\/blog\\\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/magventure.com\\\/us\\\/blog\\\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/magventure.com\\\/us\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/Patient-low-res.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-12T17:02:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-12T17:02:22+00:00\",\"description\":\"A psychiatrist provides answers to common patient questions about TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation).\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/magventure.com\\\/us\\\/blog\\\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/magventure.com\\\/us\\\/blog\\\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/magventure.com\\\/us\\\/blog\\\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/magventure.com\\\/us\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/Patient-low-res.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/magventure.com\\\/us\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/Patient-low-res.png\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1600,\"caption\":\"Young adult female gazing thoughtfully\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/magventure.com\\\/us\\\/blog\\\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/magventure.com\\\/us\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Common Patient Questions About TMS (and How I Answer Them)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/magventure.com\\\/us\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/magventure.com\\\/us\\\/\",\"name\":\"MagVenture US\",\"description\":\"We are unlocking the science of magnetic stimulation for treatment of depression\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/magventure.com\\\/us\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Common Patient Questions About TMS (and How I Answer Them) - MagVenture US","description":"A psychiatrist provides answers to common patient questions about TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation).","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/blog\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Common Patient Questions About TMS (and How I Answer Them) - MagVenture US","og_description":"A psychiatrist provides answers to common patient questions about TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation).","og_url":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/blog\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\/","og_site_name":"MagVenture US","article_modified_time":"2026-03-12T17:02:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1600,"url":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/03\/Patient-low-res.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/blog\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\/","url":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/blog\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\/","name":"Common Patient Questions About TMS (and How I Answer Them) - MagVenture US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/blog\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/blog\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/03\/Patient-low-res.png","datePublished":"2026-03-12T17:02:21+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-12T17:02:22+00:00","description":"A psychiatrist provides answers to common patient questions about TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation).","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/blog\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/blog\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/blog\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/03\/Patient-low-res.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/03\/Patient-low-res.png","width":2000,"height":1600,"caption":"Young adult female gazing thoughtfully"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/blog\/common-patient-questions-about-tms-and-how-i-answer-them\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Common Patient Questions About TMS (and How I Answer Them)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/#website","url":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/","name":"MagVenture US","description":"We are unlocking the science of magnetic stimulation for treatment of depression","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog-post\/28291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog-post"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog-post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"blog-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magventure.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog-category?post=28291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}