When standard treatment is not enough
Interventional Psychiatry
Procedural and device-based treatments for mental health conditions that have not responded to medication and therapy alone.
About this program
Interventional psychiatry
Interventional psychiatry is a subspecialty that uses procedural and device-based treatments to manage mental health disorders — particularly those resistant to conventional pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy. It combines neuromodulation methods with targeted medication approaches, opening options for people who have not responded to traditional treatment.
This field exists for a specific person: someone who has done the work — medications, therapy, often for years — and is still suffering. Rather than another round of the same, interventional psychiatry directly targets brain function, under close supervision from a multidisciplinary team of psychiatrists, psychologists, and other clinicians.
Ambrosia Behavioral Health’s interventional psychiatry program starts with a comprehensive assessment rather than a single procedure. A multidisciplinary team builds a plan around each person, pairing advanced treatments with the therapy that continues alongside them.
What interventional psychiatry includes
The field spans a range of invasive and non-invasive techniques designed to directly affect brain function and relieve symptoms of mental illness. The main modalities are:
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
A non-invasive method that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain, used in the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders. TMS is coming soon to Ambrosia.
- Ketamine therapy
Novel medications in several forms — esketamine nasal sprays such as Spravato, ketamine infusions, and lozenges — used for treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, and other conditions.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS)
A surgical procedure that implants electrodes in specific brain regions to modulate neural activity, explored for conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder when traditional treatment has proven inadequate.
Crisis stabilization
Inpatient psychiatric procedures and structured therapeutic environments that stabilize people in acute crisis and bridge them to long-term treatment.
Who is a candidate
Candidates are typically people with treatment-resistant mental health disorders, severe acute presentations, or symptoms that standard approaches have not reached. Treatment-resistant depression — usually defined by an insufficient response to at least two standard antidepressant treatments — is the most common reason people are evaluated for options like ketamine therapy or TMS.
People with severe anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder may also be considered when conventional psychotherapy and medication have been ineffective. And for people experiencing acute manic or psychotic episodes, interventional approaches can aim for rapid stabilization so further therapeutic work becomes possible.
Brain mapping and neurofeedback
Neurotechnologies support this work on both the diagnostic and therapeutic side. Ongoing research continues to define how far these tools reach, but they are already shaping how treatment plans are tailored.
- Neurofeedback
Real-time monitoring of brain activity by EEG that trains people to regulate their own brain function, explored for anxiety, depression, and ADHD.
- Brain mapping
Functional imaging methods, such as quantitative EEG, that identify atypical brain-activity patterns linked to mental health disorders and inform a tailored treatment strategy.
Why consider it
- Potential for rapid symptom relief when medications alone have failed
- Treatment tailored to the individual, informed by neuroscience
- Often fewer sessions than standard courses of therapy
- A wider therapeutic toolbox for complex, persistent conditions
- Care coordinated by a multidisciplinary clinical team
Ready to talk with admissions?
Admissions is available 24/7 to answer questions about mental health and substance use treatment options.