— FDA-Cleared · New Jersey
Your medication isn't failing you. Your brain just needs a different signal.
If you’ve tried antidepressants and still don’t feel like yourself, you’re not broken — your depression is treatment-resistant. NeuroStar TMS targets the exact brain circuits medication can’t reach, without entering your bloodstream.
100% Free — No Obligation
A physician-reviewed evaluation — not a sales call. Includes: medication history review, same-day insurance verification, personalized treatment timeline, and a written summary of your options.
Value: $350. Your cost: $0.
Your information is private and never sold. By submitting you agree to our Privacy Policy.
📍 Serving Tinton Falls, Middletown Township, Long Branch & surrounding NJ communities
FDA-Cleared since 2008
No drugs enter your body — ever
This is NOT shock therapy (ECT)
4.8 / 5 verified patient rating in NJ
Most patients pay $0–$50/session after insurance
5,000,000+ NeuroStar treatments delivered nationwide
Led by Dr. Sikowitz — Top Doc NJ, Yale-trained, 30+ years
Insurance Accepted
out-of-pocket for most patients after insurance covers treatment
of patients who failed medications respond meaningfully to TMS
minutes per session — drive yourself home immediately after
— You are not alone in this
You've already tried so hard. That matters.
One in three people with major depression doesn’t fully respond to medication. Not because they haven’t tried hard enough. Not because the diagnosis is wrong. Because their specific brain circuits need a different kind of stimulus — not a chemical one.
If any of these describe the last year of your life, TMS was designed for you:
Tried 2 or more antidepressants with limited or no relief
Stopped a medication because the side effects were unbearable
Getting through the day but not actually living it
Lost the version of yourself that used to show up at work, at home, in relationships
Told yourself "this is just how I am now" — and don't fully believe it
“I felt like I was living in a dark cave. I lost total hope and became convinced that nothing would help my depression.”
“I feel like my old self again — only better. I now know it was not my fault. It had never been my fault.”
This is a clinical reality, not a personal one. Treatment-resistant depression affects approximately 10 million Americans. Your brain simply requires a direct electrical signal to switch its mood circuits back on — something no pill can deliver.
If that’s where you are, there’s something specific happening in your brain — and there’s a specific answer for it. Not a better pill. A different kind of signal entirely.
Medication
Travels through the entire bloodstream — liver, kidneys, hormones, sleep cycles — to eventually reach the brain
NeuroStar TMS
Magnetic pulses activate only the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex — the specific circuit linked to mood regulation
Medication travels everywhere. TMS goes exactly where it's needed.
This isn’t about replacing medication — it’s about a fundamentally different mechanism. When specific brain circuits that regulate mood become underactive, antidepressants try to correct this chemically — throughout your entire body. NeuroStar TMS uses focused magnetic pulses (the same technology as an MRI) to activate those exact circuits directly.
You sit comfortably
A treatment coil is positioned near your head. No anesthesia. No sedation. You are completely awake.
What it actually feels like
You’ll hear a rhythmic clicking and feel a tapping sensation on your scalp — like a woodpecker, not a shock. It is not painful. Some patients feel mild scalp tenderness in the first 1–2 sessions that fades as treatment continues.
Pulses activate mood circuits
Magnetic pulses (identical in strength to MRI technology) stimulate underactive neurons in the brain’s mood center — with no electricity and nothing entering your body.
19–37 minutes, then done
Listen to music, scroll your phone. Session ends. You drive yourself home. Zero downtime.
Results build over weeks
Most patients notice improvement by weeks 3–4. A full course is 5 days/week over 4–6 weeks. Results typically last 12+ months after treatment ends.
8 concerns about TMS — each one answered honestly.
This is the most honest concern, and it deserves a straight answer: TMS will not work for everyone. That’s true of every treatment. What’s different is the mechanism — TMS bypasses the biochemical pathway that your brain may have already proven resistant to.
The clinical data: 50–60% of patients who failed medications experience meaningful improvement with TMS. About one in three achieves full remission. These aren’t marketing numbers — they’re published outcomes from Harvard Medical School research.
The only way to know if your brain responds is a conversation with Dr. Sikowitz. It’s free. It commits you to nothing. If you don’t qualify, he’ll tell you — and point you toward what might help instead.
TMS and ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) are completely different procedures. ECT requires general anesthesia and induces controlled seizures. NeuroStar TMS does neither.
TMS uses the same type of magnetic field as an MRI scanner — targeted, precise, and non-invasive. You remain fully awake and alert throughout the entire session. Seizures occur in less than 0.1% of TMS patients (compared to 100% in ECT — that’s the whole point of ECT).
No electricity passes through your brain. No anesthesia. No memory effects. This is not shock therapy. It never was.
This is a legitimate fear, and TMS’s answer is structural: nothing enters your bloodstream. NeuroStar TMS is entirely non-systemic — it activates specific brain circuits using magnetic pulses that don’t circulate through your body.
No medication. No chemicals. No systemic side effects. The most commonly reported side effects are mild scalp discomfort and temporary headache at the treatment site during the first few sessions — both resolve quickly.
You cannot gain weight from a magnetic pulse. You cannot lose sleep from it. Your memory is not affected. You will feel exactly like yourself after each session — because you are.
Sessions run 19 to 37 minutes. You sit in a chair, listen to whatever you want, and walk out the door. You can drive yourself. You can go back to work. You can pick up your kids. There is no recovery period because there is nothing to recover from.
The full course is 5 days per week over 4–6 weeks — but each individual visit is less time than a lunch break. We schedule around your work calendar.
Patients tell us the hardest part is committing to the schedule — not the treatment itself. Once they start, they describe sessions as the easiest part of their week.
This is the right question to ask, and the data is encouraging. A landmark multisite study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry tracked TMS patients for a full year after treatment ended. The majority maintained their improvement without needing to restart. Most patients remain in remission for 12 months or longer after a single course.
If symptoms do return — which can happen with any depression treatment — TMS can be repeated. Unlike medication, there’s no dose escalation, no tolerance built up, and no systemic effects to manage. Many patients do a maintenance course once a year as a proactive measure, the same way they’d see a dentist.
You’re not trading one dependency for another. You’re getting a reset — and if you ever need another one, it’s available.
You’re not. TMS is not a replacement for your current care — it’s an FDA-cleared addition to it. Many psychiatrists actively refer patients to TMS once medications show limited results, and TMS is routinely used alongside existing medication, not instead of it.
The more common reality is that psychiatrists manage large patient panels and don’t always raise TMS proactively until a patient asks. If your doctor hasn’t mentioned it, that’s not a signal it’s inappropriate — it’s often simply a matter of timing in the conversation.
Dr. Sikowitz’s assessment includes a full review of your current treatment plan. He coordinates with your existing provider if you’d like, and he will never recommend TMS if it isn’t clinically appropriate for your situation.
A full course of TMS is finite — typically 30–36 sessions over 4–6 weeks, then done. There’s no indefinite maintenance schedule required and no prescription to renew. You complete the course, and most patients then go months or years without needing anything further.
After treatment ends, Dr. Sikowitz will review your response and outline a simple monitoring plan. Some patients choose an optional “tune-up” course once a year to stay ahead of any returning symptoms — but that’s a choice, not a requirement.
TMS has a beginning and an end. Unlike medication, there’s no open-ended commitment built into the treatment itself.
It’s a real phenomenon, and we’d rather you hear it from us than from a Reddit thread. A small subset of patients — roughly 1% — experience a temporary period where symptoms feel worse before they improve. This is known as the “TMS dip,” and it typically occurs in weeks 1–2 as the brain adjusts to the new stimulation pattern.
It is not a sign the treatment is failing. It’s a sign the brain is responding. For most patients who experience it, the dip resolves and improvement follows. In the rare case where treatment causes genuine intolerable effects, it is stopped — and those effects resolve completely once sessions end. There is no long-term harm documented from TMS in the published clinical literature.
We monitor every patient throughout the full course. If something doesn’t feel right, we adjust. You are never left to figure it out on your own.
— Insurance coverage
Most patients pay significantly less than they expect.
NeuroStar TMS is covered by most major insurance carriers for patients who have tried and not fully responded to antidepressants. We verify your coverage before your first appointment — free, with no commitment required.
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Medicare
Cigna
UMR
UnitedHealthcare
Tricare
Aetna
VA Community Care Network
Anthem
Optum
+ Most major NJ plans
$0–$50
Typical out-of-pocket per session when insurance covers treatment. With a $20–50 copay over 30–36 sessions, total patient cost is often $720–$1,800 — vs. $6,000–$12,000 without insurance. If you’ve already met your annual deductible, your out-of-pocket cost may be near zero. NeuroStar also offers its own reimbursement program for qualifying patients. We navigate all of this for you.
— What patients are saying
TMS Testimonials — Verified NJ patients, 4.8 / 5 stars.
remission from depression:
Mariah’s patient experience with
NeuroStar
elsa’s experience:
Discovering NeuroStar & her husband’s journey
Tod’s story:
Remission from depression
Bart’s story:
From medication to NeuroStar TMS
I am so grateful to and for this place… Dr Sikowitz is a wonderful person, he truly cares, and so does every member of his staff. They are all very empathetic, and they try very hard to make patients feel comfortable. I came to this place in absolute desperation, after 30+ solid years of continuous psychiatric (medication) treatment and various types of talk therapy, some of which helped temporarily but not long-term, and 2022 ended up being the worst year of my life.
Brooke Sherman
Tinton Falls, NJ
Dr. Sikowitz and his staff are truly amazing! I believe they saved me from myself. The care I received from them is something I never received from any staff before. They actually care about everyone of their patients. TMS is an exceptional treatment that I recommend for everyone. If it can help me it could help anyone!
Joneen Smith
Tinton Falls, NJ
TMS treatment has been a revelation after suffering with depression for so long. My medication journey has been difficult, but TMS treatment not only has relieved my depression symptoms but lets me know that there is a treatment available when medication has just not been enough. Forever grateful for the care, expertise and compassion served by Dr. S and the entire staff.
J P
Tinton Falls, NJ
To say that Dr. Sikowitz and the TMS Center saved my life would be an understatement. I suffered with depression for over 35 years and have never felt better in my life! Sure it was daunting at first to make a huge commitment by coming every weekday for weeks but after the first session, I looked forward to coming back each day.
Tinton Falls, NJ
Montclair, NJ
I wanted to wait a few months before writing this review for the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) therapy I received, as I didn’t want to focus solely on the initial experience or the EXCELLENT “bedside manner” of the staff because that goes without saying. Dr. Sikowitz and his team are TOP NOTCH! Instead, I wanted to truly understand and talk about how the effects of TMS continue to benefit me months after my sessions have concluded.
Jeffrey Gove
Tinton Falls, NJ
The TMS Center of New Jersey has been instrumental in my battle against depression. The staff are all wonderful and the treatment is quick and painless. Since beginning treatment I have begun to once again enjoy the things I have in the past but which I’d slowly lost interest in due to depression.
David Stott
Tinton Falls, NJ
— Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What is TMS Therapy?
TMS stands for transcranial magnetic stimulation. It is used to treat depression by stimulating the brain non-invasively using electromagnetic fields, similar to those produced by an MRI machine. During TMS Therapy, a magnetic field is administered in very short pulses to the part of the brain that research has demonstrated to be associated with depression. The typical initial course of treatment is about 19-37 minutes daily over 5-7 weeks.
How does TMS Therapy work?
The NeuroStar Advanced TMS Therapy system uses short pulses of magnetic fields to stimulate the area of the brain that is thought to function abnormally in patients with depression. The magnetic field produces an electric current in the brain that stimulates the brain cells (neurons). This results in changes that are thought to be beneficial in the treatment of depression.
Is NeuroStar Advanced TMS therapy covered by my insurance?
It usually takes time for healthcare insurers to establish coverage policies for newly approved treatments such as NeuroStar Advanced TMS. However, many commercial and Medicare plans have recognized the effectiveness of treating depression with TMS Therapy and now cover TMS as part of their plans. See here for a full list of insurance plans that cover TMS.
Can I also take antidepressant(s) if I am receiving NeuroStar TMS Therapy?
Yes. In clinical trials, NeuroStar Advanced TMS Therapy was safely administered with and without other antidepressant medications.
How long does the antidepressant effect last? Will I need any therapy beyond the first treatment regimen?
NeuroStar Advanced TMS is the only TMS system with the durability of its effects established over 12 months. In a clinical trial, 2 out of 3 patients who had either responded to treatment or completely remitted their depression symptoms reported 12 months later that they remained at the level they were at the end of the trial. Additionally, after the trial, only 1 in 3 patients needed to return for ‘maintenance’ TMS sessions.
— Peer-reviewed evidence
TMS Clinical Trials & Academic Studies
NeuroStar TMS Therapy is backed by over a decade of published clinical research. The following peer-reviewed studies demonstrate its safety and efficacy for treatment-resistant Major Depressive Disorder.
Multisite Naturalistic Observational Study — Acute Treatment Outcomes
Carpenter LL, et al. (2012). Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for Major Depression: A Multisite, Naturalistic, Observational Study of Acute Treatment Outcomes in Clinical Practice. Depression and Anxiety, 29(7):587–596.
Sham-Controlled Randomized Trial — Daily Left Prefrontal TMS
George MS, et al. (2010). Daily Left Prefrontal Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Therapy for Major Depressive Disorder: A Sham-Controlled Randomized Trial. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 67(5):507–516.
1-Year Follow-Up Study — Durability of Benefit
Dunner DL, et al. (2014). A Multisite, Naturalistic, Observational Study of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for Patients with Pharmacoresistant Major Depressive Disorder: Durability of Benefit Over a 1-Year Follow-Up Period. J Clin Psychiatry. 75(12):1394–1401.
Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial — Efficacy & Safety
O’Reardon JP, et al. (2007). Efficacy and Safety of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in the Acute Treatment of Major Depression: A Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial. Biol Psychiatry, 62(11):1208–1216.
Dr. David Sikowitz, MD
Board Certified, American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology · Yale-Trained · Original Member, Clinical TMS Society · Top Doc NJ 2019 & 2021 · Practicing Jersey Shore Psychiatry Since 1993
Dr. Sikowitz personally reviews every new patient case at TMS Center of New Jersey. A Yale-trained psychiatrist with over 30 years of practice on the Jersey Shore, he is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and is recognized statewide as an expert in psychopharmacology, addictions, and neuropsychiatry.
He has served as Chairman of Psychiatry at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank and as a clinical professor at both Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. He was named a Top Doc in New Jersey by New Jersey Monthly in 2019 and by Healthy Living Magazine in 2021.
As an original member of the Clinical TMS Society — a national organization of TMS providers with extensive clinical and research experience — Dr. Sikowitz brings both deep clinical expertise and a commitment to advancing TMS as a mainstream treatment. When you schedule your TMS Readiness Assessment, you are speaking with him directly. He will conduct a comprehensive diagnostic evaluation, review your full medication history, and give you an honest recommendation — whether that leads to TMS or another path entirely.
Dr. Sikowitz will tell you if you qualify.
Here's what he looks for.
Dr. Sikowitz reviews every new patient’s complete history personally to determine whether NeuroStar TMS is appropriate — and if you’re a strong candidate, he’ll tell you upfront. He doesn’t offer TMS to everyone. He offers it to the right people.
Tried 1+ antidepressants
Without satisfactory relief, or stopped due to side effects
Persistent symptoms despite treatment
Depression isn’t fully controlled even with medication
Intolerance to medication side effects
Weight gain, fatigue, sexual dysfunction, emotional blunting
Preference for non-systemic treatment
You want your body — not just your brain chemistry — left alone
Ability to attend weekday sessions
5 days/week for 4–6 weeks (19–37 min each)
What to expect after treatment ends: Most patients remain in remission for 12+ months after completing a full course. If symptoms return, TMS can be repeated — no dose escalation, no dependency, no systemic effects to manage.
Metal implants near the head
Including cochlear implants or aneurysm clips (other implants are often fine)
Active seizure disorder
We discuss your history in detail during consultation
Certain cardiac devices
Pacemakers or implanted stimulators near the head or neck
Not sure if you qualify? That’s exactly what Dr. Sikowitz’s TMS Readiness Assessment is for. He reviews your specific history — not a checkbox — and many patients who assumed they weren’t candidates discover they are.
You've read everything. Now there's one question left.
You know how TMS works. You know it’s covered by insurance. You know sessions are 19–37 minutes and you drive yourself home. You know it’s not ECT. You know 50–60% of people in your exact situation respond to it.
The only thing you don’t know yet is whether your brain responds to it. There is exactly one way to find out — and it costs you nothing.
Call us or fill out the form. Dr. Sikowitz — Yale-trained, 30+ years practicing Jersey Shore psychiatry, Top Doc NJ — will personally review your history and give you an honest answer.
The TMS Readiness Assessment is free
Physician review, insurance verification, treatment timeline — $0
We respond within 24 hours
Often same business day — (732) 842-0505
No commitment of any kind
If TMS isn't right for you, we'll tell you — and point you toward what might be
Every week you wait is a week your brain goes without the signal it needs
There is no benefit to waiting
Value $350 — Your Cost: $0
Takes 2 minutes. We verify your insurance and Dr. Sikowitz contacts you within 24 hours.
Your information is private and never sold. By submitting you agree to our Privacy Policy.
Insurance Accepted