Amen Clinics

Amen Clinics is a group of mental and physical health clinics that work on the treatment of mood and behavior disorders. It was founded in 1989 by Daniel G. Amen, a self-help author and psychiatrist. The clinics perform clinical evaluations and brain SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) imaging to diagnose and treat their patients. Amen Clinics uses SPECT scans, a type of brain-imaging technology, to measure neural activity through blood flow. It has a database of more than 100,000 functional brain scans from patients in 111 countries, and several locations throughout the United States. The American Psychiatric Association has criticized the clinical appropriateness of Amen's use of brain scans, and in 2006 published a statement saying that "the clinical utility of neuroimaging techniques for planning of individualized treatment has not yet been shown".