Rewiring the Brain: How Deep TMS and Ketamine Are Revolutionizing Mental Health and Addiction RecoveryRewiring the Brain: How Deep TMS and Ketamine Are Revolutionizing Mental Health and Addiction Recovery
I Love Being Sober
Tim Westbrook and Dr Colleen Hanlon talk through how deep TMS and ketamine affect the brain, focusing on depression, PTSD and addiction recovery. They share real clinical and personal experiences while weighing benefits, risks and future directions for these treatments.
53:05•5 Nov 2024
Rewiring Recovery: Deep TMS, Ketamine, and the Science of Feeling Better
Episode Overview
- Deep TMS can non-invasively stimulate specific brain networks, offering durable relief for depression, OCD and smoking with minimal systemic side effects.
- Ketamine provides rapid symptom relief for severe depression and PTSD but carries addiction risk, especially for people with substance use histories.
- Clinics are increasingly combining fast-acting ketamine with slower, longer-lasting deep TMS to balance immediate relief and sustained recovery.
- Insurance requirements for deep TMS are loosening, making it more accessible as an option after fewer medication failures and even as a first-line treatment for some.
- Emerging research suggests deep TMS may support recovery in alcohol use disorder, cocaine use disorder and other addictive behaviours by targeting craving and habit circuits.
“You can think of your brain, the networks involved in the different diseases, a little bit like muscles… we need to work it out.”
Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of how brain science is changing the face of mental health and addiction recovery. This episode of *I Love Being Sober* brings together host Tim Westbrook and Dr Colleen Hanlon, Vice President of Medical Affairs at BrainsWay, for a practical, easy-to-follow chat about deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (deep TMS) and ketamine therapy. You’ll hear Dr Hanlon break down complex neuroscience with simple, everyday analogies.
She compares deep TMS to putting your phone on a wireless charger, "restoring energy" to underactive brain networks linked to depression, OCD, smoking, and addiction. Tim jumps in with his own experience of TMS, sharing how it left him "way more flexible" and less rigid in his thinking, a change he describes as making life feel easier.
The pair talk through how deep TMS strengthens “brain muscles” over several weeks, offering durable relief without the body-wide side effects often seen with medication. They also look at ketamine’s rapid impact on mood, explaining how it works on glutamate pathways and why it can be helpful for acute suicidal depression or severe PTSD, while being honest about its addictive potential—especially for people with a history of substance use.
For anyone in recovery, there’s a grounded discussion on who might be a good fit for TMS or ketamine, why timing in sobriety matters, and how clinics are cautiously combining these treatments to balance fast relief with long-term stability. Dr Hanlon also shares her journey from being judgmental about addiction to dedicating her career to neuromodulation for substance use, giving the episode a very human touch.
If you’ve ever wondered whether brain-based treatments could support your sobriety and mental health, this conversation might be the nudge you need to ask a few more questions and see what options are out there for you.
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