What Are the Best Alternative Mental Health Treatments in Colorado?
What Are the Best Alternative Mental Health Treatments in Colorado?
The best alternative mental health treatments in Colorado include Deep TMS (Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation), Spravato (esketamine), and trauma focused therapies like EMDR, delivered through coordinated care that connects your therapist and your psychiatric team. The right combination depends on your symptoms, your history, and what has or has not worked for you so far.
At WellMinded Counseling, we believe that good therapy is the foundation of lasting mental health. But we also recognize that therapy alone is not always enough, especially when depression has neurological roots that talk therapy and medication cannot fully reach. That is why we have partnered with Axis Integrated Mental Health, one of Colorado’s best mental health clinics for alternative depression treatments, to create a connected care pathway that addresses both the story behind your depression and the brain patterns that keep it locked in place.
This blog walks you through the state of mental health in Colorado, why traditional treatments fall short for so many people, what the most promising alternative treatments look like, how to find the right clinic, and what it actually costs. By the end, you will have a clear picture of what is available and a concrete path to getting started.
The State of Mental Health in Colorado
According to Mental Health America’s most recent state rankings, Colorado ranks 48th in the nation for overall adult mental health. The ranking accounts for rates of depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, substance use, and access to care.
● Nearly 2.9 million Coloradans live in designated mental health professional shortage
areas.
● In the Denver metro area, over 65 percent of people who did not receive needed mental
health care cited cost as the primary barrier.
● Adults in Boulder and Broomfield who needed care but did not get it increased from 10
percent in 2016 to 17 percent in 2021.
● And nearly half of Coloradans who skipped needed treatment said stigma was the
reason.
These are not abstract statistics. They describe your coworker who shows up every day but has not felt like herself in years. Your friend who stopped coming to weekend hikes because getting out of bed feels like too much. Your partner who tried therapy once, did not feel heard, and decided the system was not for them. The gap between needing help and getting effective help is real. And for people whose
depression has not responded to the standard approach, that gap can feel impossible to cross. Many are told they have “tried everything” when in reality they have only tried variations of the same two things: medication and general talk therapy. The truth is, Colorado is also home to some of the most innovative mental health treatment in the country. Advanced treatments like Deep TMS and Spravato are available right here along the Front Range, often covered by insurance, and producing outcomes that would have been unthinkable a decade ago. The problem is not a lack of effective treatments. The problem is that most people do not know these treatments exist.
What Happens When Therapy Is Not Enough?
Let us be clear: therapy works. Evidence based approaches like EMDR, DBT, ACT, and Brainspotting help people heal from trauma, regulate their emotions, and build lives that feel meaningful. At WellMinded, we see this every day. Therapy changes lives. But sometimes therapy alone is not enough. And recognizing that is not a failure. It is information. Research published in 2024 shows that approximately 20 to 30 percent of people with depression do not respond adequately to medication. When you add the people who respond partially, meaning they feel somewhat better but never actually reach a place where life feels full again, the number climbs even higher. For these people, the issue is often neurological. Chronic depression physically changes the brain. It reduces activity in the prefrontal cortex, the region responsible for rational thought and emotional regulation. It overactivates the amygdala, keeping the nervous system in a perpetual state of threat. And it can shrink the hippocampus, the structure involved in learning and memory. These changes mean that even excellent therapy can hit a ceiling. Your therapist might help you develop genuine insight into your patterns. You might understand exactly why you feel the way you do. But if the brain regions responsible for applying that insight are not functioning at full capacity, the understanding does not translate into lasting change. It is like knowing the directions to a destination but driving a car with a broken engine.
This is where alternative depression treatments enter the picture. They are not replacements for therapy. They are partners with it. Treatments like Deep TMS and Spravato work at the neurological level, restoring communication between brain regions and creating conditions where therapy can go deeper and land more permanently. The combination, good therapy plus the right advanced treatment, is where the real breakthroughs happen.
Why People Are Hesitant to Try Alternative Depression Treatments
If these treatments are so effective, why are more people not using them? It is a fair question, and the answer usually comes down to a handful of very human concerns.
“It sounds too good to be true.” After years of being let down by treatments that were supposed to help, skepticism is not just understandable. It is rational. You have been burned before. Someone told you a new medication would change everything, and it did not. Someone told you therapy would fix the problem in twelve sessions, and here you are, still carrying the same weight. When you hear that a noninvasive brain stimulation treatment can produce an 82 percent response rate for treatment resistant depression, your first instinct is to distrust it. That instinct protected you in the past. But in this case, the numbers come from rigorous clinical trials, FDA review processes, and real world outcomes documented across thousands of patients.
“I do not want to be a guinea pig.” This is the concern that Deep TMS and Spravato are somehow experimental or unproven. They are not. Deep TMS received FDA clearance for major depressive disorder and has been in clinical use for years. Spravato received FDA approval for treatment resistant depression in 2019 and has been administered to tens of thousands of patients under medical supervision. Both treatments have extensive safety data. Neither is new or untested. They are simply different from what most people have been offered.
“I should be able to handle this with therapy and willpower.” This one runs deep, especially for high achieving people who pride themselves on working hard and pushing through difficult things. The belief that depression is something you should be able to think or work your way out of is persistent and damaging. Depression that has not responded to standard treatment is a brain condition, not a character deficiency. Seeking advanced treatment is not giving up on yourself. It is giving your brain the support it needs so that your therapy, your willpower, and your effort can actually produce results.
“What will people think?” Stigma remains one of the biggest barriers to mental health treatment in Colorado. Nearly half of Coloradans who skipped needed care cited stigma as the reason. But the landscape is shifting. Brain stimulation treatments like Deep TMS are nonsurgical, noninvasive, and involve no visible signs of treatment. You walk into a clinic, sit in a chair for 20 minutes, and walk out. Nobody at work, at the gym, or at the school pickup line would ever know.
“I do not know where to start.” Perhaps the most practical barrier of all. The mental health system can feel overwhelming, especially when you are already struggling. Finding a provider, figuring out insurance, coordinating between a therapist and a psychiatrist. It is a lot. This is exactly why partnerships between therapy practices and advanced treatment clinics matter. When WellMinded Counseling and Axis Integrated Mental Health work together, you do not have to navigate the system alone. The coordination is built in. And, you can also schedule a free consult with our team before you book an intake if you want to learn more.
The 2 Most Promising Alternative Mental Health Treatments: Deep TMS and Spravato
There are many treatments that fall under the “alternative” umbrella, from neurofeedback to psychedelic assisted therapy to ketamine infusions. Some are promising but still experimental. Others are available but lack robust evidence. The two treatments below stand out because they are FDA approved, extensively researched, increasingly covered by insurance, and producing consistent outcomes for people whose depression has not responded to standard approaches.
Deep TMS (Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation)
Deep TMS is a noninvasive treatment that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate the deeper brain regions involved in mood regulation. You sit in a chair, a padded helmet is placed over your head, and the device delivers targeted magnetic pulses for approximately 20 minutes. There is no anesthesia, no sedation, and no recovery time. Most people drive themselves to and from treatment and return to their normal day immediately afterward.
What makes Deep TMS different from traditional TMS is the depth. Standard TMS devices use a figure eight coil that stimulates the surface of the brain. Deep TMS uses patented H coil technology that reaches broader and deeper brain structures, specifically the networks that depression disrupts. This deeper reach is why clinical outcomes with Deep TMS tend to exceed those of standard TMS. The evidence is substantial. Clinical studies on Deep TMS report response rates as high as 82 percent and remission rates over 65 percent for treatment resistant depression. For people who have already tried and failed multiple medications, Deep TMS represents a fundamentally different approach that works through different brain mechanisms than any pill.
A typical Deep TMS course involves daily sessions, five days a week, for four to six weeks. Each session lasts about 20 minutes. Side effects are minimal, with the most common being mild scalp discomfort during the first few sessions that typically resolves as your brain adjusts. There is no weight gain, no sexual side effects, no emotional blunting, and no drug interactions, because there is no drug involved.
Deep TMS is FDA cleared for major depressive disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and smoking cessation. It is increasingly being studied for anxiety, PTSD, and other conditions. Axis Integrated Mental Health offers Deep TMS at clinics across the Colorado Front Range, including Denver, Aurora, Boulder, the Denver Tech Center, and Westminster.
Spravato (Esketamine)
Spravato is an FDA approved nasal spray for treatment resistant depression. It represents one of the most significant pharmacological breakthroughs in depression treatment in decades, because it works through a completely different mechanism than any traditional antidepressant. Traditional antidepressants target serotonin, norepinephrine, or dopamine. Spravato works on the glutamate system, specifically NMDA receptors. Glutamate is the brain’s most abundant excitatory neurotransmitter, and by modulating its activity, Spravato promotes synaptogenesis, the formation of new neural connections.
In simpler terms, it helps the brain build new pathways. This is why many patients report feeling relief within hours or days rather than the four to six weeks that conventional antidepressants require. Spravato is self administered under clinical supervision. You spray the medication in your nose, then remain at the clinic for a two hour monitoring period. Most people read, listen to music, or rest during this time. The initial treatment course involves two sessions per week for four weeks, then transitions to weekly or biweekly maintenance based on your response.
One of the most exciting aspects of Spravato for people who are also in therapy is the window of neuroplasticity it creates. After each session, the brain is in a heightened state of receptivity for forming new connections and patterns. When therapy sessions, whether EMDR, DBT, or another modality, are coordinated around this window, the therapeutic work can go deeper and produce more durable results. This is where the partnership between a therapy practice like WellMinded and an advanced treatment clinic like Axis becomes especially valuable.
Learn more about how Spravato works and whether it might be right for you.
How to Find the Best Alternative Mental Health Treatments in Denver
Finding the right provider for alternative depression treatments is not the same as finding a general therapist or psychiatrist. The stakes are higher, the treatments are more specialized, and the quality gap between excellent providers and mediocre ones is wider. Here is what to look for.
Start with a comprehensive evaluation, not a treatment pitch. The best clinics begin with a thorough psychiatric assessment that considers your full history: what you have tried, why it did not work, what conditions might be contributing (ADHD, trauma, hormonal factors, sleep issues), and what your goals are. If a clinic jumps to recommending a specific treatment before understanding your situation, that is a warning sign. You want a provider who evaluates first and recommends second.
Look for providers who offer more than one treatment. Depression is not one thing, and no single treatment works for everyone. A clinic that only offers TMS will recommend TMS. A clinic that only offers ketamine will recommend ketamine. The best providers, like Axis Integrated Mental Health, offer multiple treatment options, including Deep TMS, Spravato, medication management, therapy, and integrative approaches, so the recommendation is based on what you need, not on what the clinic happens to sell.
Ask about coordination with your existing therapist. If you are already in therapy, your advanced treatment provider should be willing and able to communicate with your therapist. The combination of therapy and brain stimulation or Spravato works best when both sides are informed. If a clinic treats you in isolation without any interest in your broader care team, you are not getting coordinated care.
Check whether they accept your insurance. Alternative treatments can be expensive out of pocket. The best clinics actively work with insurance companies to get treatments approved and covered. Some, like Axis, have dedicated staff who handle insurance authorization and navigate denials on your behalf.
Checklist for Choosing the Best Alternative Mental Health Treatment Clinic
Not all clinics are created equal. If you are comparing options in Colorado, use this checklist to evaluate what you are looking at:
Awards and recognition. Has the clinic been recognized by independent organizations for the quality of its care? Axis Integrated Mental Health has been named ColoradoBiz Magazine’s Top Startup of the Year, won the Best of Mile High award two years in a row, and received the Denver Business Journal’s Partners in Philanthropy Award. These are not self given titles or pay-to-play awards. They are external validations from patients and the business and healthcare community.
Provider qualifications. Who is actually delivering the care? Look for board certified psychiatric providers, including psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and physician assistants with advanced mental health training. Check whether providers have specific training and experience with the treatments they are offering. A clinic can have the best equipment in the world, but the person operating it matters just as much.
Patient testimonials and outcomes. What do real patients say about their experience? Look for clinics that share genuine patient stories, not just curated five star reviews. Axis publishes detailed patient testimonials and patient stories that describe what the treatment journey
actually looked and felt like, including the difficult parts. Transparency about real experiences is a mark of confidence in outcomes.
Partner network. Does the clinic work with therapy practices, counselors, and other providers to create connected care pathways? A clinic that operates in isolation, taking your money and sending you on your way, is providing a procedure, not a treatment plan. The best clinics, like Axis, build partnerships with therapy practices like WellMinded Counseling so that your treatment is coordinated across all the people involved in your care.
Community involvement. Is the clinic invested in the community beyond its patient base? Axis runs The 266 Project, an initiative addressing suicide risk among the 266,000 Coloradans at highest risk each year. They have written off over $400,000 in pro bono mental health services. They offer Deep TMS to Medicaid patients when no other clinic in the state does. Community investment signals a mission driven practice, not a profit driven one.
Locally owned, not a corporate chain. Large national mental health chains may offer name recognition, but they often operate on standardized protocols that do not account for individual complexity. Locally owned practices are more likely to have deep roots in the community, strong relationships with local providers, and the flexibility to adapt treatment to what you actually need
rather than what a corporate playbook dictates. Both WellMinded Counseling and Axis Integrated Mental Health are locally owned Colorado practices.
Insurance Coverage and Fees for Deep TMS and Spravato
Cost is one of the most common reasons people hesitate to pursue alternative treatments. The good news is that both Deep TMS and Spravato are increasingly covered by insurance, and the landscape has improved significantly in the past few years.
Deep TMS insurance coverage. Most major commercial insurance plans now cover TMS for treatment resistant depression, typically after documentation that you have tried and not responded to at least two antidepressants. Axis Integrated Mental Health works directly with
insurance companies to handle the prior authorization process, and they advocate on your behalf if a claim is initially denied. They are also the only Colorado clinic offering Deep TMS to Medicaid patients, which eliminates a major access barrier for lower income Coloradans.
Check your TMS coverage and estimated costs.
Spravato insurance coverage. Because Spravato is FDA approved for treatment resistant depression and major depressive disorder with suicidal ideation, it is covered by most commercial insurance plans and Medicare. Many Medicaid plans in Colorado also cover Spravato. Axis has a dedicated team that handles Spravato insurance authorization, and most patients receive approval within 5 to 10 business days once documentation is submitted.
Use the Spravato cost calculator to estimate your out of pocket expense.
Therapy fees at WellMinded. Individual therapy sessions at WellMinded range from $75 to $165, depending on the therapist’s credentials. We accept several insurance plans, and you can check specifics on our insurance and rates page. For clients coordinating therapy with advanced treatments at Axis, we work to align scheduling and communication so the process is
as seamless as possible. Cost should not be the reason you give up on finding something that works. Both WellMinded and Axis are committed to helping you understand your coverage, maximize your benefits, and find a way to access the care you need.
The WellMinded and Axis Partnership: What It Means for Your Healing
Navigating mental health care usually means assembling your own team and hoping the pieces fit together. You find a therapist, separately find a psychiatrist, separately research advanced treatments, and then spend months trying to coordinate everyone while also dealing with the condition that made all of this necessary in the first place. It is exhausting and it should not be your job.
The partnership between WellMinded Counseling and Axis Integrated Mental Health was built to eliminate that burden.
Here is how it works in practice. WellMinded provides the therapy foundation, offering evidence based modalities like EMDR, Brainspotting, DBT, ACT, and other approaches tailored to your specific needs. Axis provides the psychiatric and advanced treatment layer, including comprehensive evaluations, medication management, Deep TMS, and Spravato. When both sides communicate, your treatment plan operates as one coordinated strategy rather than two separate efforts running in parallel.
What does that coordination actually look like?
If you are doing EMDR at WellMinded and your therapist sees that trauma processing is stirring up symptoms that need psychiatric support, that information reaches your Axis provider without you needing to carry it.
If you are doing Deep TMS at Axis and the treatment is creating a neurological opening for deeper therapy work, your WellMinded therapist knows about it and can adjust the session to take advantage of that window. If a medication change is affecting how you show up in therapy, both teams are aware and can adapt together.
This is not theoretical coordination. It is how the partnership is designed to function. For people dealing with complex depression, treatment-resistant symptoms, or trauma that has not resolved through standard approaches, this kind of connected care is not a luxury. It is the difference between treatment that manages symptoms and treatment that actually moves the
needle.
WellMinded offers individual therapy in person at our Denver, Longmont and Broomfield locations and online throughout Colorado. Axis offers psychiatric evaluations, Deep TMS, and Spravato at clinics in Denver, Aurora, Boulder, the Denver Tech Center, and Westminster, with telehealth available statewide.
Ready to get started?
For therapy: Contact WellMinded Counseling for a free 15 minute consultation.
For advanced treatments: Contact Axis Integrated Mental Health at (720) 400 7025 or book online.
You do not have to navigate this alone. And you do not have to settle for treatments that are not working.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best alternative treatments for depression in Colorado?
The most effective alternative depression treatments available in Colorado are Deep TMS and Spravato, both of which are FDA approved and increasingly covered by insurance. Deep TMS uses magnetic pulses to stimulate deeper brain regions involved in mood regulation, with clinical studies showing response rates as high as 82 percent for treatment resistant depression.
Spravato is a nasal spray that works on the glutamate system to promote new neural connections, often providing relief within days. When combined with evidence based therapy like EMDR or DBT, these treatments produce the strongest outcomes. WellMinded Counseling provides the therapy foundation, and Axis Integrated Mental Health offers Deep TMS and Spravato across the Front Range.
How do I know if I need alternative treatments instead of regular therapy?
If you have tried two or more antidepressants without meaningful relief, or if you have been in therapy for months and the emotional weight has not shifted, you may benefit from alternative treatments. This does not mean therapy failed. It often means your depression has neurological components that therapy and medication alone cannot fully address. A comprehensive psychiatric evaluation can help clarify whether a treatment like Deep TMS or Spravato would complement your current care. Learn more about treatment resistant depression.
Can I do therapy and Deep TMS or Spravato at the same time?
Yes, and the combination is often more effective than either approach alone. Deep TMS restores brain communication patterns that depression has disrupted, and Spravato creates a window of heightened neuroplasticity. When therapy is coordinated around these treatments, the processing can go deeper and the changes tend to last longer. The WellMinded and Axis partnership is designed specifically for this kind of coordinated care.
Does insurance cover Deep TMS and Spravato in Colorado?
Most major commercial insurance plans cover Deep TMS for treatment resistant depression after documentation of prior medication failures. Spravato is covered by most commercial plans, Medicare, and many Medicaid plans. Axis Integrated Mental Health handles the insurance authorization process and advocates on your behalf if claims are denied. Check your TMS coverage or estimate your Spravato costs.
What makes the WellMinded and Axis partnership different from seeing
separate providers?
When you see a therapist and a psychiatrist who do not communicate, you carry the burden of coordinating your own care. With the WellMinded and Axis partnership, your therapist and your psychiatric team share information and align treatment plans. If trauma processing in therapy stirs up symptoms, your Axis provider knows about it. If a medication change affects your sessions, your WellMinded therapist is aware. This coordination is built into the partnership, not something you have to manage yourself. Start with a free consultation at WellMinded or book with Axis.