Dr. Erin Amato, MD, was raised in Billings, Montana and attended medical school at the University of Nevada School of Medicine.  Upon graduation from medical school, Dr. Amato was awarded the Lillian Orchow Prize for Outstanding Student in Psychiatry and was designated as an AMA Foundation Rock Sleyster Scholar.

 

She completed her internship and residency in General Psychiatry at Long Island Jewish Medical Center-Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, New York.  She then pursued fellowship training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry through the NSLIJHS-Albert Einstein College of Medicine program in New Hyde Park, New York.  She served as the chief fellow during her second year of the fellowship and was awarded the Clinical Excellence Award upon completion of her program.

 

After finishing her Child Psychiatry fellowship, Dr. Amato returned to Billings with her family to start clinical practice.  She founded Montana Psychiatry in 2009 along with Drs. Deborah Malters, MD and Belinda Hartley, MD.  She is currently the Medical Director of YBGR’s residential campus and community-based services. Dr. Amato has double board certification in General Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

 

Dr. Amato is passionate about finding cutting-edge, innovative ways to prevent and treat mental health disorders that have not responded to traditional interventions.  She received training in Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and other non-invasive brain modulation techniques at the Brain Stimulation Laboratory of Medical University of South Carolina and has been providing TMS to patients in the region since 2015.  She has been providing IV ketamine therapy for treatment of depression and other mental health conditions since April 2016.  She is an integrative psychiatrist who looks to blend traditional treatment tools, like medication and talk therapy, with specialized integrative medicine testing, genetics, nutritional supplementation, and lifestyle education and interventions to design personalized treatment approaches that target the root causes of illness.  She is certified as a health care provider for FirstLine Therapy® through Metagenics and is participating in the Advanced Fellowship in Anti-Aging, Metabolic and Functional Medicine through the Metabolic Medical Institute of A4M.

 

Dr. Amato believes that early intervention is critical when people are affected by emotional, behavioral, cognitive and learning disorders.  Mental health should be looked at in the context of an integrated mind-body approach.  Especially in cases of children and adolescents, early diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders is essential in promoting healthy development.