The most common question that people ask when they start TMS is how long it will take to get well with TMS. A recent article published in the American Journal of Psychiatry looked at the results from a six week study designed to compare theta burst and regular TMS in order to assess patterns of response over time. The authors …
Treatment Resistant Depression – More Clues to Predicting Response – VAST-D
Clues that can help us provide more effective care for those with treatment resistant depression are urgently needed. Sidney Zisook and colleagues report an analysis of the data from a large study of veterans with chronic depression (VAST-D) and conclude that two clinical features can help predict likely response to medications changes for some patients who have failed at least …
Ketamine Short Term Treatment Strategies
What are the best strategies for using ketamine to treat major depression in the short term? Although we know that ketamine (and, now, esketamine) can be helpful we really don’t know that much about what strategy works best. The most commonly used ketamine infusion protocol is adapted from studies using ketamine to treat chronic pain. An article in the March …
Gateway Welcomes New Therapist: Alana Kivowitz, LCSW
We are highly enthusiastic about our new therapist and case manager, Alana Kivowitz, LCSW joining Gateway’s team just before the new year. Alana is a San Francisco native who is returning after completing her master’s degree in social work at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she remained for a number of years working with adults and adolescents in …
Bipolar Workbook from Gateway Psychiatric
Gateway Psychiatric Services is excited to announce the release of our latest book: The Bipolar Disorder Workbook from Callisto Media. Designed to educate and motivate people who have questions, particularly about Bipolar II and cyclothymia, the workbook walks users through a series of structured exercises, beginning with a basic checklist intended to identify symptoms that may warrant further investigation. The …
Biofeedback at Gateway Psychiatric
Biofeedback is a stress management technique that uses devices that give you information about your body’s physiologic response to stress. The idea is to provide you with information that would ordinarily be outside of your conscious awareness, such as your body temperature, blood pressure, or heart rate. Generally, there are three stages of biofeedback: Developing increased awareness of the body …
Home Blood Draws
Would home blood draws (or office blood draws for that matter) be helpful? Obtaining routine blood work can be an essential part of your treatment if you have a mood disorder and are on medications as it is very important to know the levels in your blood reached by mood-stabilizing drugs. Finding time however to get your labs done can …
Gateway Staff attend APA Annual Conference in San Francisco – Chris
Recently the American Psychological Association (APA) held their annual conference here in San Francisco and Gateway staff was there to take advantage of the opportunity to update our knowledge of the most recent developments in the field. Gina Gregory, LCSW and I spent the long weekend attending workshops, presentations, and discussions in order to align ourselves with the current research …
Retrospective Mood Charting
Once again we are reminded of the power of retrospective mood charting to transform treatment. A young man who has “tried every medication” without any success and has been seriously suicidal, recently came in to see us and we convinced him to try putting together a retrospective mood chart. The process was quite time intensive, but the result was a …
Treatment Resources Index
This weekend we have done some hard work behind the scenes creating a better treatment resources index to allow clinicians and patients to quickly access information about the array of services, online applications, clinical tests, pharmacogenetics tests, online courses and online CBT therapies that are provided at Gateway Psychiatric. There are so many tools in our toolbox that it can …