Joshua Berman, MD, PhD, discusses how careful evaluation, patient priorities, and risk-benefit tradeoffs guide the use of interventional treatments when conventional approaches fall short. Dr. Berman also explains how tools such as ketamine, TMS, ECT, and neurofeedback can be used strategically—sometimes in sequence or combination—to address different vulnerabilities within mood-related brain circuits.

Dr. Berman is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Director of Interventional Psychiatry at NYU Langone Health.

Topics

• Evaluating patients who have not improved with medications or psychotherapy
• The limitations of existing treatment guidelines for complex cases
• When and why sequencing or combining interventions may be appropriate
• Emerging approaches such as EEG-guided neurofeedback and focused ultrasound
• Building a comprehensive, patient-centered interventional psychiatry program

This episode offers a clinician-level perspective on how interventional psychiatry is practiced today, and how new technologies may expand options for patients with the most challenging presentations.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction: Caring for Patients Who Don’t Respond to Standard Treatment
00:47 What Is Interventional Psychiatry?
02:33 Evaluating Treatment-Resistant Presentations
06:31 Precision, Patient Priorities, and Clinical Judgment
09:35 Sequencing and Combining Interventions
10:40 Limits of Treatment Guidelines
12:18 The Future of Interventional Psychiatry
13:23 Emerging Technologies: Neurofeedback and Focused Ultrasound
17:15 Building a Comprehensive Interventional Program
18:13 Tools vs. Understanding Brain Circuits

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Senior Producer: Jon Earle