Wendy Oliver-Pyatt, MD, FAED, CEDS
Dr. Wendy Oliver-Pyatt uses a bio-psycho-social model to help patients with all types of mental health conditions and a variety of undiagnosed health problems, move onto a pathway for a healthful, creative, and meaningful life. She provides and oversees psychiatric assessments and treatment, a variety of psychological modalities of care, functional and integrative medicine, and traditional medical interventions, to deliver exceptional care to all of her patients. Dr. Oliver-Pyatt believes that the relationship between the patient and their doctor, therapist, and entire treatment team must be built on knowledge, compassion, and empathy.
Described by colleagues as warm and wise, Dr. Oliver-Pyatt is known for her holistic approach to psychiatry—an approach that marries compassionate care with scientifically sound, multi-dimensional treatment, that explores and heals the underlying factors that drive whatever the conditions are faced by her patients.
A clinician, educator, and advocate, Dr. Oliver-Pyatt discovered her passion for psychiatry her third year in medical school while treating a psychotic patient at Brooklyn King’s county hospital. Originally intending to be an OBGYN, she found herself assigned a young man who was suffering from hallucinations and delusions.
As she saw the stunning impact that treatment and psychotropic medication had on this individual and the relief his healing brought his entire family, Dr. Oliver-Pyatt discovered her true calling.
She later realized that it was her own experience healing from an eating disorder that fostered her deep sense of compassion for those facing psychiatric challenges and disorders and passion for helping them transition back to mental health.
Though deeply interested in the neurobiological basis of mental health conditions, Dr. Oliver-Pyatt recognized the importance of relationships, connections, and attachment to wellbeing, and, therefore, also placed great value on the role of psychotherapy. Thus, at a time when mental health professionals generally had to choose between being pharmacologists or analysts, Dr. Oliver-Pyatt wanted to find the meeting ground, where she believed the greatest healing could occur.
Dr. Oliver-Pyatt received her specialty training at New York University-Bellevue Hospital in New York City, where she served as Chief Resident. She has held faculty positions at New York University, Albert Einstein School of Medicine and University of Nevada School of Medicine.
She was the Medical Director for the State of Nevada Division of Mental Health and Disability Services where she created a holistic, whole-person approach to mental health care. She served as Medical Director and Chief of Staff of Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health and has received Senatorial Recognition for her work as a psychiatrist and commitment to the mental health community.
A leader in the field of eating disorders, Dr. Oliver-Pyatt, has developed innovative eating disorder treatment programs, served as the AED Advocacy Committee Chairman, and Co-authored AED Guidelines for Obesity Prevention. She is a Fellow of the Academy for Eating Disorder and Fellow of International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals. She serves on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals and is current Chair of the Board of Directors of the Binge Eating Disorder Association.
She founded Center for Hope of the Sierras, and is Co-Founder, Executive Director and Chief Medical Officer of Oliver-Pyatt Centers, which include: The Comprehensive Eating Disorder Treatment Centers for Women; Clementine Adolescent Treatment Program; and Embrace, the Binge Eating Disorder Treatment Program.
Dr. Oliver-Pyatt served on the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations Technical Advisory Committee, has given frequent presentations at national and international eating disorder conferences, and has been featured on WebMD.
