Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) remains one of the most complex and disabling conditions in psychiatry. For individuals who do not respond to conventional antidepressants, the path to recovery is often prolonged, fragmented, and frustrating. Recognizing this unmet need, UTHealth Houston has updated and expanded its Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD) Program to become one of the most comprehensive and innovative models of care in the nation—integrating advanced clinical services, interventional psychiatry, research, and education into a unified continuum.
What Is Treatment-Resistant Depression?
TRD is generally defined as major depressive disorder that has not adequately responded to two or more evidence-based antidepressant trials of sufficient dose and duration. Patients with TRD often experience higher relapse rates, greater medical and psychiatric comorbidity, impaired functioning, and increased suicide risk. These realities demand a specialized, stepwise, and interventional approach beyond standard outpatient care.
Core Program Components: A True Continuum of Care
A defining innovation of the updated TRD Program is its fully integrated structure, allowing patients to move seamlessly across levels of care as clinical needs evolve. Few programs nationally offer this degree of coordination under a single leadership and clinical framework.
TRD Outpatient Clinic
TRD Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)
TRD Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP)
TRD Inpatient Unit
This vertical integration of care significantly reduces treatment delays, fragmentation, and unnecessary transitions—key drivers of poor outcomes in TRD.
What Makes This Program Truly Innovative
Unlike most TRD programs that offer only one or two advanced treatments, UTHealth Houston provides direct access to the full spectrum of interventional options, including:
This breadth enables mechanism-based, personalized treatment planning and rapid escalation when clinically necessary—an approach rarely available within a single program.
A dedicated multidisciplinary team delivers care of psychiatrists, advanced practice providers, psychologists, nurses, social workers, and research staff. Treatment decisions are guided by measurement-based outcomes, using standardized symptom and functional scales to monitor progress and adjust interventions in real time.
The TRD Program is tightly integrated with ongoing clinical trials and translational research, offering eligible patients access to novel therapies while ensuring that clinical practice remains aligned with the latest scientific advances. This bidirectional model—where care informs research and research informs care—is a hallmark of leading academic programs.
The program plays a central role in training the next generation of interventional psychiatrists. Through residency rotations, medical student experiences, and an emerging Interventional Psychiatry Fellowship, UTHealth Houston is helping define national standards for advanced TRD care.
Our Aim
The mission of the updated TRD Program is ambitious but intentional:
To become for depression what comprehensive cancer centers are for oncology—an integrated, high-expertise destination for the most complex and treatment-resistant cases.
By combining clinical excellence, interventional breadth, research, and education within a single, coordinated system, UTHealth Houston is redefining what is possible for individuals living with treatment-resistant depression.
Contact
Disclaimer
This article was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance clarity and readability. All medical content has been reviewed and approved by Joao L. de Quevedo, MD, PhD, Director, UTHealth Houston Center for Interventional Psychiatry. This information is intended for educational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice.