Product Description

Known For: The only academic medical center-based Spravato program in Rhode Island — run through Butler Hospital’s BRAIN Program with Brown University faculty oversight and potential access to cutting-edge clinical trials for treatment-resistant depression.

HealingMaps Take: Butler Hospital’s BRAIN Program (Behavioral Research and Innovation Network) is Rhode Island’s gold-standard option for Spravato and broader interventional psychiatric care. As part of the Care New England health system and affiliated with Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School, the program benefits from academic-grade clinical rigor, research-informed protocols, and faculty psychiatrists with specialized training in treatment-resistant depression. For patients who want the highest level of clinical oversight for their Spravato treatment — particularly those with complex presentations including suicidal ideation or failed responses to multiple prior treatments — an academic setting is qualitatively different from private-practice alternatives. Butler’s eligibility criteria are clinically appropriate: non-bipolar major depressive disorder, failed multiple antidepressants, no recent substance use or significant neurological disorders. The academic affiliation also means patients may have access to emerging treatments and clinical trials not available elsewhere in New England. The Blackstone Boulevard campus is a historic psychiatric hospital setting that signals clinical seriousness. The primary limitation is that Butler is a formal medical program with referral-and-evaluation intake — less convenient than walk-in private clinics — but the trade-off is a level of clinical rigor unmatched in the Rhode Island market.

Patient Review

“Butler was the right call for my treatment-resistant depression. Being in an academic medical setting with psychiatrists who actually research this stuff made me confident the treatment plan was evidence-based, not just marketing. The REMS protocol was strict, but I’d rather have that than cut corners with something this serious.”

About Butler Hospital BRAIN Program

Butler Hospital’s BRAIN Program (Behavioral Research and Innovation Network) offers Spravato (esketamine) nasal spray treatment at 345 Blackstone Boulevard, Providence, RI 02906. Butler is part of the Care New England health system and affiliated with Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School. The Spravato program follows standard protocol: twice-weekly induction for 4 weeks, weekly continuation for 4 weeks, then weekly-to-monthly maintenance based on clinical progress. Eligibility requires age 18+, non-bipolar major depressive disorder, failed response to multiple antidepressants, no recent substance use, and no significant neurological disorders or uncontrolled blood pressure. Patients must have a responsible adult to provide transportation home after sessions.

For more on how ketamine therapy works, see our complete guide to ketamine therapy.

What People Like

Only academic medical center Spravato program in Rhode Island. Brown University Medical School faculty oversight. Care New England health system integration means continuity with other medical services. Potential access to clinical trials and emerging treatments. Rigorous clinical evaluation ensures appropriate patient selection. REMS-certified facility with full medical safety protocols.

What People Don’t Like

Referral-and-evaluation intake model less convenient than walk-in private clinics. Strict eligibility criteria may exclude some patients (bipolar, recent substance use). No IV ketamine option — Spravato only. No KAP model. Academic setting may feel more clinical than some patients prefer. Transportation requirement can be a barrier.

Getting Started at Butler Hospital BRAIN Program

Contact the BRAIN Program at (401) 455-6632 to request an evaluation, or have a referring provider submit a referral form via fax to (401) 455-6686. Email BRAIN@CareNE.org or call the general line at (844) 401-0111. Located at 345 Blackstone Boulevard, Providence, RI 02906. An evaluation determines whether you meet eligibility criteria for the Spravato program.

Learn more about the evidence behind ketamine for depression at the National Institute of Mental Health.