Changing Mental Health: Dr. Rebecca Cohen, MD

By Christy Pessemier | January 2024

When Interventional Psychiatrist, Medical Educator, and Psychopharmacologist Dr. Rebecca Cohen talks about her work, her entire face lights up. 

Though she’s been practicing as a psychiatrist for over 20 years, Dr. Cohen’s passion for brain health is tireless. Knowing she’s applying her years of experience, research, and education to bring hope and relief to those suffering from a wide range of mental health struggles is deeply meaningful to her.

Cohen manages a full-time adult psychiatry practice here in Sarasota, she’s an independent contractor for a consulting group—a private practice in Massachusetts, and she’s on the Board of Directors of the International Clinical TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Therapy) Society. In addition, she’s a regular lecturer for interventional psychiatry residents at Massachusetts General Hospital, and she just added a precision TMS Center to her office. 

But that’s not all. She’s also the ABC7 Suncoast View’s Brain Health Expert, and she’s featured in regular segments on mental health awareness airing to the public in the Tampa Bay Area every other week. Some recent topics include postpartum depression, the effects of quality sleep on mental health, as well as suicide risk and prevention, among many others. 

“People often ask me, ’Are you going to slow down? You’re working around the clock!’” Cohen says. “But really, I can’t get enough of this. It’s so fun to see people get better. It’s the best part of my day.” 

Cohen is also passionate about finding effective medication alternatives and using the latest innovations in technology for treatment-resistant mental health issues. With her TMS program launching this month at Cohen & Associates, she’s thrilled to be bringing precision TMS therapy to the Sarasota and Tampa Bay area and the state of Florida. 

Cohen calls precision TMS a game changer, because of its ability to better target and resolve treatment resistant depression without the common life altering side effects like low libido, weight gain, and sedation that come with many antidepressant medications. 

“I believe in doing the best thing that you can offer, and I think that’s always been my mentality,” she said. “I’m very excited to help more people get access to this innovative treatment option.”

As a physician who was involved in national outcome studies for TMS, a Board member of the International Clinical TMS Society, along with her experience as a lecturer for Interventional Psychiatry Residents at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Cohen is uniquely qualified to provide these treatments. 

“Accelerated and precision TMS is very hard to find here,” she said. “There are places that provide TMS, but it’s what we call one-size-fits-all, which means it doesn’t matter the size of your head, or the anatomy of your brain, they’re all treated with the same numbers.”

During this TMS procedure, Cohen uses an MRI-assisted and MRI-informed precision neuronavigational device (neurosurgeons use it for taking measurements) that gives her a 3D picture of the patient’s individual brain so she knows the location they’re treating is in exactly the correct spot. In this way, each TMS treatment is highly individualized. 

She says these targeted treatments can make an important difference in patient outcomes.

“What’s really nice is I’m not just a doctor running TMS, and then sending them out the door,” she said. “I also manage a busy private practice and have patients under my care. I know their families, their spouses, and their kids. And I regularly have siblings, spouses, and parents come in and say, ‘all of us are better.’”

She adds, “It’s endlessly rewarding. When one person gets better, everybody feels better—because when one person in the house is depressed, you don’t realize everyone is absorbing that pain and that tension.”

Though no one else in her family went to medical school, Cohen says her interest in medicine stemmed from her own lifelong curiosity about science and helping others.

“I loved learning about the brain and behavior during medical school rotations,” she said. “Psychiatry allowed me to combine my interest in neuroscience and form meaningful connections with patients to improve their lives.” 

Initially from Boston, Cohen attended Tufts University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biopsychology. She went on to also receive a Master of Arts in Medical Sciences from the Boston University Graduate School of Science, and a Doctor of Medicine degree from Boston University School of Medicine with a specialty in Psychiatry. 

Cohen has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Hugh H. Hussey Teaching Award for Excellence in medical student teaching two years in a row from Georgetown University School of Medicine, the Psychiatry Resident Award of Excellence from the Janssen Pharmaceutical Foundation, and the Boston University Medical Center Department of Psychiatry Malamud Award in 1997. In addition, Cohen has been recognized as a Doctor of Distinction for multiple years by Sarasota Scene magazine.  

On top of the patients she sees in Sarasota, Dr. Cohen travels every 4 to 6 weeks to see patients at her Massachusetts adult psychiatry practice.  

Despite the many accolades she gets for her groundbreaking work, what Dr. Cohen is most excited about is educating the public about mental health and actively working to make a dent in today’s grim statistics on mental health. 

In the past few years, Americans’ mental health has taken a toll. The American Psychological Association reports 45% of adults ages 35 to 44 are experiencing a mental illness, and 50% of those ages 18 to 34 suffer from mental distress. With statistics like these, it’s clear there’s an ever-increasing demand for mental health experts like Dr. Cohen. 

“I love what I do, and I keep driving myself and my colleagues to do better and be better,” she says. “And I think the environment here in this office speaks to that. Everyone here…they love what they do. We energize each other, we’re always reading, and we’re always improving what we offer.”

In addition to precision TMS, and her tailored approach to each patient’s psychiatric needs, another new technology Cohen is excited to offer is pharmacogenetic testing. Dr. Cohen says offering these options for her patients goes along with her commitment to continually staying on top of the latest improvements in interventional psychiatry and pharmacology. 

“We give them the very best of what neuroscience technology can offer,” she said.

According to Cohen, pharmacogenetic studies are genetics-based tests that give information in two major areas: how your body will tolerate medicine, and whether a medicine is most likely to benefit you. She says it provides helpful information about medication efficacy and about better medication choices for each person. 

“Medicine in general is geared toward what’s called precision medicine, which is leveraging the science we have now, as it continues to evolve and improve, to deliver the best possible evidence-based care.”

So much of what Dr. Cohen offers, though, is due to her specialized training and education. 

“It’s tricky in different parts of the country to find physicians who can offer that,” she added. “But it just fuels me and inspires me to see people get better because of these alternative options and because we did these tests.” 

Dr. Cohen regularly sees patients virtually—through telemedicine visits, something she says started during the pandemic that provided improved access to care for patients who would not have been able to do in-person visits. She’s been told government regulations for prescribing through virtual care will change this year, mandating that patients show up in the office to be treated. Given how vital mental health care is in today’s times, she’s hoping there will be some leniency in the requirements for mental health and telemedicine prescribing practices. 

Patients needing TMS treatments do require in-person visits, though the treatment period is usually short, and treatments themselves can be as quick as three minutes. After TMS treatment is completed, follow-up visits can be done through telemedicine. 

Even though precision TMS therapy isn’t covered by insurance, Cohen says most patients are willing to pay for it because they desperately want to feel better, and they value their health and improved treatment options. 

Though paying out-of-pocket isn’t always easy, she says that many who invest in precision TMS treatments are not just wealthy patients—but the people that value remission and who are investing in themselves. 

“What I’ve found is once people have failed other treatments, their chances at getting better from TMS are vastly better than chasing more medication options,” she said. “And most patients know that. They don’t want to take more meds.” 

“It’s about making quality decisions about not just what gets someone well, but what keeps someone well.” 

Dr. Cohen’s new TMS program at Cohen & Associates opened January 1, 2024. 

Find out more about TMS and the latest innovations in mental health treatments at drrebeccacohen.com.

Watch Dr. Cohen on ABC7 here: drrebeccacohen.com/abc7/