Rising Psychiatry, a new clinic opened by psychiatric nurse practitioner Michael Savage in Steamboat Springs in early September, offers accelerated transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as a one-day treatment for depression, marking the first clinic outside of Denver to provide the intensive neuromodulation method in Yampa Valley.
In Plain English: The Clinical Takeaway
- Accelerated TMS: Delivers 20 three-minute magnetic pulse sessions in a single 11-hour day, rather than stretching traditional TMS across six to nine weeks.
- Mechanism of Action: Uses targeted magnetic fields—similar in strength to an MRI—to stimulate dormant areas in the frontal cortex without surgery or anesthesia.
- Adjunctive Pharmacotherapy: Patients take the medication d-cycloserine prior to treatment to temporarily make targeted brain receptors more malleable and active.
Expanding Access to Interventional Psychiatry in Yampa Valley
Michael Savage launched Rising Psychiatry at 1205 Hilltop Parkway after working as a nurse for a decade and identifying a profound gap in regional mental healthcare. A Yampa Valley behavioral health survey presented to the Steamboat Springs City Council in September revealed persistent barriers to care, high substance use rates, and chronic loneliness among local residents. While standard modalities such as psychotherapy, medication management, and traditional ketamine-assisted therapy exist in the region, advanced interventional tools remained scarce outside the state’s capital. Savage discovered accelerated TMS at a pharmaceutical conference approximately a year prior to opening his clinic, prompting him to expand his practice model. Rising Psychiatry is the only clinic outside of Denver to provide accelerated TMS.
The Protocol and Economics of Single-Day Neuro-Modulation
The accelerated TMS protocol at Rising Psychiatry begins promptly at 7 a.m. Patients receive a dose of d-cycloserine, which takes roughly an hour to metabolize. During this window, Savage performs an individual mapping session to calibrate the precise energy threshold required to activate the patient’s motor cortex and targeted neural circuits. Over the following ten hours, patients undergo 20 distinct three-minute magnetic sessions spaced 30 minutes apart. Between pulses, individuals can work, walk, or listen to music, though Savage advises against digital doomscrolling. Savage operates out-of-network and chooses not to accept insurance. By contrast, traditional TMS spans four to five weekly visits over nearly two months and frequently qualifies for insurance reimbursement.
| Treatment Parameter | Traditional TMS | One-Day Accelerated TMS (Rising Psychiatry) |
|---|---|---|
| Session Length | 20 to 40 minutes per visit | 3 minutes per session |
| Adjunctive Medication | Not typically required | d-cycloserine administered at 7 a.m. |
| Insurance Coverage | Frequently covered if criteria met | Out-of-network, no insurance accepted |
Contraindications & When to Consult a Doctor
Transcranial magnetic stimulation is not universally appropriate for all psychiatric presentations. Savage notes that individuals whose major depressive disorder responds strongly to standard psychiatric medications are poor candidates for the protocol.
Future Expansion and the Changing Field of Mental Health
Savage situates TMS within the broader historical evolution of psychiatric care, tracing a lineage from Sigmund Freud’s late-19th-century psychoanalysis to the pharmaceutical boom of the 1960s and 1970s, and finally to modern neuro-modulation. Unlike pharmaceuticals, which Savage compares to “hitting a screw with a hammer,” TMS aims to retrain the underlying neurocircuitry of a dormant frontal cortex. Clinical observations in accelerated protocols indicate that roughly 70 percent of responding patients notice positive behavioral changes within a week of treatment. Buoyed by the initial launch in Steamboat Springs, Savage is currently preparing to open a second branch centered on one-day TMS in Boulder, Colorado.
References
- Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Clearance Documentation.
- Steamboat Pilot & Today. Reporting on Rising Psychiatry and accelerated TMS in Steamboat Springs.
- Yampa Valley Behavioral Health Survey. Presented to the Steamboat Springs City Council, September.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified physician or licensed mental health professional regarding any health condition or therapeutic intervention.
Keep reading
- Mebufotenin nasal spray reduces depression in clinical trial
- Qianqian Yang, Oxford Research Team, Finds 80% Adherence to Blood Pressure Medication Linked to 11% Reduced Risk of Severe Events
- L-Fucose therapy could treat GLUT1 deficiency syndrome, study says (world-today-news.com)
- Cleveland Clinic Tests Virtual Reality for Cancer Distress (newsdirectory3.com)
