At Ketavita Wellness Clinic, we offer FDA-cleared TMS therapy for smoking cessation—a non-invasive brain stimulation treatment that helps reduce cigarette cravings and supports your quit attempt. When conventional smoking cessation methods like nicotine replacement therapy or medications haven’t provided lasting success, TMS offers a different approach that directly targets the neural circuits involved in addiction and craving.
Located in Wyckoff, New Jersey, and serviing all of Bergen County, Ketavita Wellness Clinic provides evidence-based care from experienced medical professionals who understand how challenging it is to quit smoking. We create personalized treatment plans designed to help you achieve and maintain tobacco-free living, addressing both the neurobiological and behavioral aspects of nicotine addiction.
Every treatment journey begins with a comprehensive evaluation where we review your smoking history, previous quit attempts, current motivation level, and any medical or psychiatric conditions that might affect treatment. We work closely with you throughout the process, monitoring your progress and providing support as you work toward lasting smoking cessation.
Tobacco smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, responsible for approximately 480,000 deaths annually. Nicotine—the addictive substance in tobacco products—creates powerful physical and psychological dependence that makes quitting extremely difficult despite strong desire and motivation to stop.
Nicotine addiction involves complex changes in brain chemistry and neural circuitry. When you smoke, nicotine rapidly reaches the brain and activates nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, triggering the release of dopamine and other neurotransmitters that produce pleasurable sensations. With repeated exposure, your brain adapts to nicotine’s presence, leading to tolerance (needing more to achieve the same effect) and dependence (experiencing withdrawal symptoms without it).
Withdrawal symptoms when attempting to quit include intense cravings, irritability and mood changes, difficulty concentrating, increased appetite, sleep disturbances, anxiety, and restlessness. These symptoms peak within the first few days of quitting but can persist for weeks or months, making early cessation attempts particularly challenging.
Beyond physical dependence, smoking becomes deeply ingrained in daily routines and associated with specific situations, emotions, and activities. These behavioral patterns and conditioned responses create powerful triggers that can prompt cigarette cravings even after physical withdrawal has resolved.
Successful long-term cessation requires addressing both the neurobiological addiction and the behavioral habits surrounding smoking.
While approximately 68% of adult smokers report wanting to quit, only about 7.5% achieve successful long-term cessation in any given year. The difficulty of quitting reflects nicotine’s powerful addictive properties and the complex nature of tobacco dependence.
Current evidence-based smoking cessation treatments include nicotine replacement therapy (patches, gum, lozenges) with 6-month abstinence rates around 19%, varenicline (Chantix) with abstinence rates approximately 33%, bupropion (Zyban/Wellbutrin) with modest efficacy, and behavioral counseling either individually or in groups. While these approaches help many people quit, a substantial proportion of smokers either don’t respond adequately to available treatments or experience side effects that prevent continued use.
Many smokers make multiple quit attempts before achieving lasting cessation. You may have tried several different approaches without sustained success. Previous unsuccessful attempts don’t mean you can’t quit—they simply indicate you may benefit from a different treatment approach that works through novel mechanisms.
The health benefits of quitting smoking begin immediately and continue to accrue over time. Within 20 minutes, heart rate and blood pressure drop. Within 12 hours, carbon monoxide levels normalize. Within 2-12 weeks, circulation improves and lung function increases. Within 1-9 months, coughing and shortness of breath decrease. Within 1 year, risk of coronary heart disease is cut in half. Long-term abstinence dramatically reduces risks of cancer, heart disease, stroke, and chronic lung disease.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) received FDA clearance in 2020 as an aid for smoking cessation in adults. This non-invasive brain stimulation technique uses focused magnetic fields to modulate activity in brain regions involved in nicotine addiction and craving.
Research shows that TMS directly affects neurocircuitry involved in addiction. Brain imaging studies demonstrate that people with nicotine dependence show altered activity patterns in prefrontal and insular regions. By modulating activity in these circuits, TMS may help normalize brain function and reduce the intensity of cigarette cravings that often lead to relapse.
Your smoking cessation journey at Ketavita begins with a comprehensive evaluation. We’ll discuss your smoking history in detail including how many years you’ve smoked, current cigarettes per day, previous quit attempts and what happened, nicotine replacement therapy or medications you’ve tried, your motivation level and readiness to quit, any medical or psychiatric conditions, and current medications you’re taking. This assessment helps us determine if TMS for smoking cessation is appropriate for you.
During TMS sessions, you’ll sit in a comfortable chair while a TMS coil is positioned over specific areas of your scalp. Before stimulation begins, you’ll be briefly exposed to smoking-related cues (images or scenarios) to activate craving-related brain circuits. The TMS treatment then delivers focused magnetic pulses to targeted brain regions over approximately 20-30 minutes. The magnetic pulses create a tapping sensation on your scalp but are generally well-tolerated.
TMS for smoking cessation doesn’t require anesthesia or sedation, and you can resume normal activities immediately after each session. You can drive yourself to and from appointments. The most common side effects are mild and temporary—scalp discomfort at the stimulation site and mild headache. These typically resolve quickly without intervention.
The treatment protocol requires commitment to daily sessions for three weeks, followed by weekly sessions for three additional weeks. During treatment, you’ll work toward complete smoking cessation with support from our team. Many people find that cigarette cravings begin to decrease during the first week of treatment, making it easier to resist smoking urges and maintain abstinence.
Success with TMS is enhanced when combined with behavioral support and commitment to quitting. We encourage you to remove cigarettes and smoking paraphernalia from your environment, identify and avoid high-risk smoking triggers when possible, develop alternative coping strategies for stress and boredom, and reach out to friends, family, or support groups for encouragement during your quit attempt.
TMS therapy for smoking cessation may be appropriate if you’re a motivated adult smoker ready to make a serious quit attempt. You may be a candidate if you’ve been smoking for at least one year, smoke at least 10 cigarettes daily, have made at least one previous unsuccessful quit attempt, are motivated to quit smoking, and haven’t responded adequately to conventional cessation methods like nicotine replacement or medications.
TMS represents an adjunctive treatment, meaning it’s designed to support your quit attempt rather than serve as a standalone intervention. The treatment works best when you’re actively committed to quitting and prepared to engage fully with the cessation process. Your motivation and readiness to quit are important factors in treatment success.
Certain conditions may affect TMS candidacy. We’ll review your complete medical history including any neurological conditions or history of seizures, implanted metal devices in your head or neck (like cochlear implants or deep brain stimulators), cardiac pacemakers or other implanted electronic devices, psychiatric conditions including active psychosis, current substance use disorders, and medications you’re taking. Most people with common medical conditions can safely receive TMS, but a thorough evaluation ensures appropriate treatment planning.
It’s important to understand that while TMS has shown significant efficacy in clinical trials, individual results vary. Not everyone who receives TMS achieves complete smoking cessation, but many people experience meaningful reductions in cigarette consumption and craving intensity even if they don’t achieve complete abstinence during initial treatment. Reduced smoking and reduced cravings represent important progress toward eventual cessation.
Our TMS protocols for smoking cessation follow the FDA-cleared treatment parameters established through rigorous clinical research. The pivotal trial demonstrating TMS efficacy for smoking cessation represents the first large-scale randomized controlled trial of brain stimulation in addiction medicine, providing strong evidence for this approach.
Safety is paramount in all our treatments. TMS has been used safely for psychiatric and neurological conditions since 2008, with an excellent safety profile. The most significant potential risk—seizure induction—is extremely rare (less than 0.1% risk) even in individuals taking medications that affect the central nervous system. We follow established safety protocols and carefully screen all patients to minimize any risks.
We recognize that quitting smoking is one of the most challenging health behavior changes you can make. Our team provides compassionate, non-judgmental support throughout your treatment journey. We understand that relapse is common and doesn’t represent failure—it’s often part of the process of achieving lasting cessation. If you experience a smoking lapse during or after treatment, we work with you to get back on track rather than viewing this as treatment failure.
Insurance coverage for TMS smoking cessation varies by plan and may be more limited than coverage for TMS used to treat depression. Many insurance companies are still developing policies for this newer indication. We recommend contacting your insurance provider to verify coverage and understand your out-of-pocket costs for TMS as an aid to smoking cessation.
For patients paying out-of-pocket, we provide transparent pricing information during your consultation. While TMS represents an investment in your health, consider the long-term costs of continued smoking—both health costs and the direct financial cost of cigarettes. A pack-a-day smoker spends thousands of dollars annually on cigarettes alone, not including healthcare costs associated with smoking-related illness.
Your initial phone consultation is free of charge. During this conversation, we’ll answer your questions about TMS for smoking cessation, discuss costs and insurance considerations, and determine if you’re a good candidate for treatment.
If you’re ready to quit smoking but previous attempts haven’t led to lasting success, TMS therapy for quitting smoking at Ketavita wellness Clinic may offer the breakthrough you need. This FDA-cleared treatment provides a new option for addressing the neurobiological aspects of nicotine addiction and reducing the intense cravings that often derail quit attempts.
Call us at (201) 588-6471 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation and learn more about how TMS can support your journey to tobacco-free living.
Addiction & Behavioral Health
Conditions Treated
365 Franklin Avenue, Wyckoff, NJ 07481