TMS for OCD in San Diego
OCD is one of the few conditions with its own FDA-cleared TMS indication. When therapy and medication haven't been enough, TMS is a legitimate next step, evaluated and planned personally by Dr. Mario Salguero, MD, PhD.
Why Patients Choose Us
Not all OCD looks like handwashing. Intrusive thoughts, mental rituals, checking, moral scrupulosity, Dr. Salguero knows the quieter presentations that get missed for years.
OCD has its own TMS clearance, a different protocol targeting different brain circuits than depression treatment. This isn't off-label improvisation.
TMS doesn't replace exposure therapy, it can make the work more possible. We coordinate with your therapist rather than competing with them.
High-dose SSRIs are standard for OCD, and getting them right takes experience. A full psychiatric practice means that expertise is in the room.
Is This You?
Our Approach
Meet Your Psychiatrist
A board-certified psychiatrist and former chief resident at UC San Diego, Dr. Salguero holds an MD-PhD and plans and delivers your TMS himself. OCD care rewards that depth: the physician who understands your obsessional pattern is the same one designing the protocol meant to quiet it.
How to Get Started
Call, text, or send the form. We respond quickly and answer your questions directly.
Dr. Salguero confirms the diagnosis and whether TMS belongs in your OCD treatment plan.
Start an OCD-specific protocol overseen by your physician from first session to last.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, OCD has its own FDA-cleared TMS indication, established on deep TMS systems, using a protocol distinct from depression treatment. Your evaluation will determine whether TMS is appropriate for your OCD and how it should be delivered in your case.
No, and be wary of anyone who says it does. ERP remains the gold-standard therapy for OCD. TMS is an additional tool, often for people whose symptoms are too severe to engage with ERP, or who've plateaued despite doing the work.
That's common, OCD is frequently misdiagnosed. A proper evaluation looks specifically for the obsession-compulsion cycle, including the purely mental forms. Dr. Salguero establishes the diagnosis before any treatment is discussed.
Usually not. TMS is typically delivered alongside existing medication, and any adjustments are made deliberately with Dr. Salguero, not as a precondition.
Call or text 858-461-8614, or send the form. We respond quickly and will schedule your evaluation.
If you're researching TMS for OCD in San Diego, here's the fact that matters: OCD is one of the few psychiatric conditions with its own FDA-cleared TMS indication, earned in clinical trials on deep TMS systems with protocols built specifically for OCD's brain circuitry. This is not depression treatment repurposed and hoped for.
At Brain Strength for Life, that seriousness carries through the whole course. Dr. Mario Salguero, MD, PhD, a physician-scientist and former UC San Diego chief resident, establishes the diagnosis, maps what you've already tried, and determines whether an OCD-specific TMS protocol is the right next step for you.
OCD treatment has a well-established ladder: exposure and response prevention, properly dosed SSRIs, and then, for the many people who need more, neuromodulation. What patients rarely get is someone qualified to run the whole ladder honestly. Because this is a full psychiatric practice, ERP referrals, medication optimization, and TMS all live in the same treatment plan, weighed by the same physician.
We see patients from across San Diego, La Jolla, Del Mar, and Carmel Valley who have spent years being told to try harder at therapy. Sometimes the honest answer is that their brain needs a different kind of help engaging with it.
Tired of Negotiating With Your OCD?
Dr. Salguero will confirm the diagnosis, review what you've tried, and tell you honestly whether an OCD-specific TMS protocol, medication changes, therapy, or a combination is the right move. No pressure, no obligation.