Amy Banks

Amy Banks, M.D.
Amy Banks
Amy Banks, M.D.
Director of Advanced Training at the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute
In addition to her work at JBMTI, Amy is also an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. After graduating magna cum laude from Tufts University she earned her medical degree at Georgetown University and her psychiatric training at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center, a Harvard residency program. Amy was the psychiatrist-in- charge of The Women’s Treatment Program, a residential and day treatment program at Mclean Hospital based on relational-cultural theory; she was the team psychiatrist for the Victims of Violence Program at Cambridge Hospital, and Medical Director for Mental Health at the Fenway Community Health Center in Boston, MA. Over the last ten years at the JBMTI, Amy has been integrating emerging neuroscience information with relational-cultural theory. She has spoken throughout the country on “The Neurobiology of Relationship” and has an ongoing passion to spread the message that we are “hard-wired for connection”.
Amy co-edited The Complete Guide to Mental Health for Women published by Beacon Press in 2004. She has written numerous articles on the treatment of childhood trauma including a popular manual “PTSD, Relationships and Brain Chemistry, published as a Project report at the Stone Center, Wellesley College. She has been a co-investigator of the “National Lesbian Family Study, a 20+ year longitudinal study (led by principle investigator Nanette Gartrell MD) and has co-authored numerous journal articles describing the findings. Most recently, Amy has been exploring the field of energy psychology, integrating unified field theory into an understanding of how and why connections heal. Amy has a private practice in Lexington, MA specializing in “relational psychopharmacology” and the therapy and pharmacology of traumatized individuals.
Books Amy would recommend:
- The Neuroscience of Human Relationships by Louis Cozolino
- The Brain that Changes Itself by Norman Doidge
- Women’s Growth in Connection by Judy Jordan et al.
- The Healing Connection by Irene Stiver and Jean Baker Miller
- How Connections Heal by Wendy Rosen and Maureen Walker

Connecting through Technology with the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute
Connecting through Technology with the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute
Reflections and perspectives from Amy Banks, M.D., JBMTI director of advanced training
“I am so glad you are offering the webinars. Twenty years ago I went to the Wednesday evening Stone Center Colloquia and loved them. But then I moved to Texas and had kids so I couldn’t travel. These allow me to feel a part of it again.”
These words were shared with me last October by a participant who attended the pilot webinar, “I Feel Your Pain,” offered by the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute (JBMTI) at the Wellesley Centers for Women. This webinar was part of a new lecture series, The Neurobiology of Connection. Clinical trainings are not new for the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute. We have been teaching Relational-Cultural Theory to mental health providers, educators, and social policy advocates throughout the United States and abroad for almost 30 years.

FREE Test Webinar: I Feel Your Pain – The impact of social rejection on pain pathways
Dates: August 25, 2009 -- REGISTRATION IS FULL FOR THE AUGUST 25th WEBINAR. THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST.
Presenter: Amy Banks M.D.
Location: Wellesley, MA

JBMTI 2010 Spring Workshop: New Developments in Relational Mindfulness
Presenter: Jean Baker Miller Training Institute.
Location: Wellesley, MA

JBMTI Summer Advanced Training Institute: Empowering Relationships, Enacting Change
Host: Jean Baker Miller Training Institute.
Location: Wellesley, MA

Lunchtime Seminar: The Heart of Change: What Really Moves Us
The Grace K. Baruch Memorial Lecture
Date: March 11, 2010 • 12:30 - 1:30pm
Presenter: Amy Banks, M.D.
Location: Cheever House, Wellesley College

The Human Brain: Hardwired for Connections
The Human Brain: Hardwired for Connections: Q&A with Amy Banks, M.D. and Judith Jordan, Ph.D

Webinar: I can read you like a book – how mirror neurons help us connect
Dates: November 18, 2009
Presenter: Amy Banks M.D.
Location: Wellesley, MA

Webinar: It is never too late to change – Neuroplasticity and the hope of change
Dates: January 20, 2010
Presenter: Amy Banks M.D.
Location: Online

Webinar: The “Smart Vagus” – the social wisdom of our 10th cranial nerve.
Dates: December 16, 2009
Presenter: Amy Banks M.D.
Location: Wellesley, MA

Webinar: Are you my mother? – Developing the capacity to connect in early childhood relationships.
Webinar: Are you my mother? – Developing the capacity to connect in early childhood relationships.
Presenter: Amy Banks M.D.
Location: Online

Webinar: I Feel Your Pain – The impact of social rejection on pain pathways
Dates: September 30, 2009 (NEW DATE)
Presenter: Amy Banks M.D.
Location: Wellesley, MA

Webinar: If it feels good, do it...right? - The dopamine reward system as friend and foe.
Webinar: If it feels good, do it...right? - The dopamine reward system as friend and foe.
Presenter: Amy Banks M.D.
Location: Online

Webinar: What do our children need? Exploring the way American culture shapes our children's brains
Webinar: What do our children need? Exploring the way American culture shapes our children's brains
Date (SUBJECT TO CHANGE): April 14, 2010 • 12:00 - 1:15pm Eastern Standard Time
Presenter: Amy Banks M.D.
Location: Online

Webinar: When love goes wrong: Understanding the devastating impact of interpersonal violence.
Webinar: When love goes wrong: Understanding the devastating impact of interpersonal violence.
Presenter: Amy Banks M.D.
Location: Online

Webinar: Your Head is connected to your… Body!
Dates: October 21, 2009
Presenter: Amy Banks M.D.
Location: Wellesley, MA