Newtown Psychiatrist Dr. John Woodall
Finally!
There is help
for those with
depression!
Newtown Psychiatrist
Dr. John Woodall
Comprehensive and Compassionate Care
12 Queen St.
Newtown, CT 06470
What Patients Are Saying
About Dr. Woodall and Newtown TMS
“Simply the best. You won’t find a doctor of the same or similar caliber anywhere.”
“Smart, compassionate and dedicated. He is a treasure.”
“Dr. Woodall is amazing!” He is a kind and genuine person. And I can tell he really cares about his patients.”
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“The combination of TMS and talk therapy have greatly improved my mental health.”
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“I can’t say enough good things… Dr. Woodall is the most caring, compassionate and brilliant doctor.”
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"With the help of Dr. Woodall and the TMS treatments I was able to climb out of a very dark hole I had been in
for a long time"
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"I made more progress in a few months than I had made in years of other therapies"
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"The therapy with Dr. Woodall has been hugely beneficial for me and I would highly recommend it to anyone going through a hard time with their mental health."
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"I can’t thank you enough! Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), has quite simply changed my life…"
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“Dr. Woodall took the time to approach my health holistically and it made all the difference. He is a caring professional and he was very knowledgeable about cutting edge advances in brain health. One modality available in his office is TMS, which I found incredibly helpful when years of other treatments didn't work. I highly recommend Dr. Woodall. “
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“… I had been surviving on therapy, medications, and a lot of personal effort. The anxiety and resulting exhaustion and depression were becoming unbearable. I felt so alone, worthless, misunderstood, and guilty for all of those feelings. The treatment (TMS) takes less than 10 minutes and is barely noticeable… No more nausea, vomiting, sweats, dizziness, fogginess, floating through life… Did I mention how happy I feel? Dr. Woodall has gone above and beyond to deliver the most supportive and individualized treatment. He truly cares, and now I can too. If you are here, you matter. You have a purpose and deserve to feel and function your best. If I could change anything, I would fight to receive this treatment sooner! There is no doubt in my healthy happy mind that the skills and experiences I gained during this treatment will affect me for the rest of my life. I could not be more grateful for the opportunity to invest in myself, making it possible to return my compassion to the rest of the world.”
TMS Offers Hope For Treatment-Resistant Depression!
​
What is TMS?
(and is it right for me?)
In depressed patients, the electrical activity in certain areas of the brain is reduced. TMS focuses on these areas with a gentle magnetic pulse to reawaken these parts of the brain and restore normal feelings and thoughts. When combined with appropriate brain nourishing supplements, the right medications and other scientifically researched breakthrough therapies, at Newtown TMS we see benefit in over 85% of our patients!
Here is a brief video that explains how TMS works:
TMS is a fascinating breakthrough to improve brain function. In fact, Dr. Woodall has been in communication with the head researcher at NASA about how TMS is being used to help our astronauts perform at optimal levels! If NASA has such confidence in TMS, so can you!
HEAD AND SHOULDERS
ABOVE THE REST!
There are other TMS services in Connecticut that offer excellent services. But Newtown TMS stands above them all in excellence and personal
service. Dr. Woodall has lived and worked in Newtown for years. He knows the needs of the community. There are good reasons that his clinic has an 85% success rate. Here are some of the key reasons why:
01
Highly personalized care at no extra cost.
Each patient receives their TMS treatment from Dr. Woodall personally every day during the 36 treatments. That is absolutely not the case at any other TMS service in the region. Period. This means:
02
No “technicians.”
You get to see the doctor every single day for 36 days to adjust your care to your needs! Newtown TMS is not a “money machine” where the doctor is pumping out as many patients as possible while being somewhere else leaving your care to an undertrained “technician.”
03
Dr. Woodall was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School for 17 years.
You get the benefit of all this expertise and personal attention at no extra cost to you.
04
“Many legs make the table more stable.”
A major reason Newtown TMS gets better results than other TMS services is the comprehensive and cutting-edge approach taken with your care. The “Full Circle of Care” pioneered by Dr Woodall gives you the best that science and personalized attention have to offer to be sure you receive care that takes your whole person into account. From the health of your cells, to the way your cells communicate with each other, to how all your body systems harmonize, to your neural networks, your psychological patterns, relationships, and your search for meaning and purpose, Newtown TMS offers holistic and comprehensive care to make sure you have the best chance possible at overcoming depression and living the life you hope for.
05
For years, Dr. Woodall has provided,
free of charge, a hugely relaxing and
anxiety reducing TMS treatment in addition to the traditional TMS treatment for depression. One patient who entered the office crying from anxiety was giggling 10 minutes into her treatment. Some have been left alone after the treatment to let them sleep as they are given such a break from their anxiety by this bonus TMS that they actually fall asleep during the treatment.
Meet Dr. Woodall
Former faculty at Harvard Medical School’s Department of Psychiatry, Dr. John Woodall is the Founder and Medical Director of Newtown TMS. For those 21 years old and over living in the area surrounding Newtown, Connecticut, Dr. Woodall provides comprehensive and effective mental health care. With over 35 years of clinical experience, Dr. Woodall believes that medication is not the only approach for mental health care. His unique “Full Circle Care” model looks at seven different areas of a person’s life that, if cared for, lead to optimal mental health, and if ignored, result in problems with mental health. Dr. Woodall has a special interest in transformative responses to trauma. He has been the director of a PTSD service for a VA Hospital and has also developed models for building resilience. The resilience building model he developed was implemented throughout the City of New York after 9/11 at the request of the Mayor's Office. The same model has been implemented in New Orleans after Hurrican Katrina, in Uganda and in communities across the US. Dr. Woodall has a life-long interest in the interactions between brain health, psychiatric symptoms and optimal health and the role of community in mental health and resilience.
Our Services
Frequently Asked Questions
We’ve pulled some of the most frequently asked questions and compiled them into one place. Should you have any other questions that we may have missed, contact us and we will do our best to help you.
Is TMS shock therapy?
No. Not at all. TMS is very different from ECT (“Shock Treatment”). ECT uses an electric current to cause a therapeutic seizure. To receive ECT, you must go to the hospital and be put under anesthesia. After ECT, you have to stay in the hospital to make sure you are ok to drive. ECT can cause headaches. A significant percentage of ECT patients have memory problems after the treatment is done.
TMS is very different. It uses a gentle magnetic pulse, not an electric current. You are awake for the entire treatment and can immediately drive and return to your day after treatment. There are no memory problems from TMS. (In fact, TMS can IMPROVE memory.)
What benefit can I expect from a TMS treatment?
We have seen people come into a session crying with anxious agitation only to be smiling and relaxed just a few minutes later. Many describe the treatment as very relaxing. The scientific literature says that the benefit is seen by the 16th session. Our experience and the experience of the vast number of doctors doing TMS is that benefit is seen within the first few sessions. This is usually in the form of decreased anxiety, improved ability to manage stress and a more rapid rebound in the event they do get overwhelmed. These benefits continue to expand and deepen over time as the anti-depressant effects and the cognitive improvement benefits of TMS emerge. Over time, you begin to have a fuller range of appropriate emotions and better control of your emotions. Sadness is no longer your baseline feeling. You become capable of real hope, joy and laughter.
How long is TMS treatment?
TMS treatments last between 4 and 15 minutes, depending on the situation. Treatment protocols require 30 core treatments that occur 5 days a week for 6 weeks. This core treatment is followed by 6 “booster” sessions to reinforce the benefits and can be arranged at your convenience. Because so many people have significant anxiety with their depression, Dr. Woodall offers for free an anxiety treatment in addition to the depression treatment that is enormously relaxing and makes the depression treatment more effective. To be clear, you will have to be available week-days for about 20 minutes for 7 weeks for the core treatment and the booster sessions. It is possible to have breaks in the treatment and still have good results.
What are the most common side effects of TMS?
TMS therapy is free from the common side effects experienced with antidepressant medications such as weight gain, agitation, sedation and sexual dysfunction. TMS treatment has virtually no side effects. Rarely, someone may have a headache or sensitivity at the treatment site. In the exceedingly rare times when this happens, it is short lived and poses no after-effects. Compare that to antidepressant medications that sees up to 80% of patients develop sexual side effects, 22% with sleep disturbance, 25% with daytime sedation, 25% with weight gain, 2-4% develop suicidal thinking. TMS has none of these and is more effective in treating depression!
What happens in a TMS treatment?
The first session involves measurements that decide where to place the magnetic coil and the strength of the magnetic pulse. This usually takes no more than 20 minutes. This is immediately followed by your first treatment. The second treatment is the next day and for each week-day for 30 treatments. The treatment involves you sitting comfortably in a treatment chair (like a dental chair). A cap is placed on your head for hygiene. Also, a mark is placed on the cap to identify the location where your treatment will occur. This avoids marking your head. Then, the magnetic coil is placed on this mark and the treatment begins.
Is TMS Covered by Insurance?
Yes. Most insurance carriers cover TMS treatment. Be aware that Newtown TMS is not in network for Medicare. This means that if you have Medicare we will not be able to provide TMS treatment for you. Remember that your health insurance may require that you have already met your deductible before your insurance coverage begins, and there may be significant copays depending on your insurance policy. Be sure to speak with our billing office to help you figure out if TMS is something affordable for you. If the need is significant and your budget is limited, in some cases we can work out a payment arrangement to be sure that you get the care you need.
We Accept the Following Insurances:
Do I qualify for TMS treatment?
While you may clinically benefit from TMS, the question is will your insurance pay for it. We will do all we can to advocate for you to your insurance company. Your insurance may require that you have tried 2 and possibly 4 antidepressant medications with limited benefit to qualify for TMS. Some insurance companies also want to see that you have tried "adjunctive" medications on top of your antidepressants, again with limited benefit. More and more, insurance companies are also requiring that you have tried psychotherapy without success before they authorize the treatment. Talk to our staff about ways to help you get the care you deserve.
Will I still need medication if I have TMS treatment?
It depends. Some patients can have their medications lowered or even stopped as a result of TMS. With TMS along with the other 6 levels of care Newtown TMS provides for you, the odds of you improving are significantly increased. The odds of the benefit of the treatment lasting longer are also increased. Everyone is different and we can’t promise you that you will come off your medication if you have TMS treatment. Although this is entirely possible. Our first goal is to help you feel better. We want to do that with as few side-effects as possible, preferably none, and with the fewest number of medications possible.