Scranton native Peter Amato, Ph.D., comes from an entrepreneurial family who owned an automotive parts business. His father, a World War II veteran, had suffered from several health issues, including chronic fatigue syndrome and congestive heart failure, but he took measures such as juice fasting, vitamins and steam inhalation to help improve his health. “I think it bought him some time,” Amato recalls. “That had an influence on me.”

Amato and his siblings later took over the family business. In his late 30s, he entered drug and alcohol rehab. He found solace through meditation, which propelled him to explore other natural wellness modalities. During the mid-1990s—well before integrative holistic therapies such as meditation, acupuncture, massage, nutrition and energy work were recognized by the mainstream—Amato attended conferences and workshops and got to know wellness pioneers such as Dr. Andrew Weil and Deepak Chopra.

Amato earned a bachelor’s degree in nutrition from Westbrook University, and he went on to get a master’s degree in transpersonal psychology. He then earned a doctorate in mind-body medicine and integrative health sciences from Saybrook University.

        In 1997, Amato opened his first wellness center, Inner Harmony. He worked with Weil to form the National Integrative Medicine Council and served on the board of the foundation. He helped spearhead the United States National Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine (NCCIH) by working with U.S. senators, industry leaders, labor and insurance persons. A report he co-wrote, “A Journey Toward New Medicine,” further legitimized integrative medicine and was presented to President Bill Clinton. “The gavel went down and five million dollar funding was allocated to form NCCIH,” he said. The NCCIH, housed under the National Institutes of Health, is still prominent today as a go-to resource for complementary and alternative medicine research.

Amato had also worked with Weil to develop the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, a teaching program for M.D.s and DOs at the University of Arizona - Tucson medical school. Amato had also developed integrative protocols for Mercy Health System and led community wellness workshops with the company of Dr. Deepak Chopra and Marianne Williamson.

After operating an Inner Harmony Wellness Center in the Caribbean, on St. Maarten Island, Amato now brings his mission of fostering holistic transformation among individuals, families and the recovery community back home to Pennsylvania. Inner Harmony Center for Well-Being is his new “country gentleman doctor’s office,” where he employs nutritional consultation, along with lifestyle and wellness coaching, to peel the onion and get to the underlying layers of one’s emotional, psychological, physiology and spiritual health issues.

Amato uses methods including SCIO, a quantum physics-based biofeedback scan that checks up to 12,000 positive and negative frequency signatures in the body to locate imbalances in the cellular makeup or energy fields. Amato is also highly educated and trained in two schools of muscle testing—applied kinesiology and Quantum Reflex Analysis (QRA), which is a cellular resonant analysis. The QRA cross-references a patient’s medical history and other metabolic testing to get an idea of a patient’s nutritional needs. He specializes in Lyme disease.

Amato notes that conventional blood work can sometimes miss health issues, because it doesn’t detect the root cause. “With cellular resonant testing and biofeedback, we are able to identify the precise core issues,” he explains. “Then we can focus on proper diet, nutrition, restoring the body’s alkaline and pH balance, targeting and eliminating chronic infections, detoxification, and finally send the patient on a path of rejuvenation.”

Detoxification methods include tinctures, herbs and nutraceuticals. Amato also uses autonomic response testing (ART), which helps restore the body’s biofield, or extacellular matrix. He has trained at the Klinghardt Academy. World-renowned medical doctor Dietrich Klinghardt predicts that neurodegenerative diseases will be the next leading cause of death. “We’re already seeing it with autism, brain fog and sleep issues caused by environmental factors like electric and magnetic fields (EMF), dirty electricity, glyphosate and smart TVs, which are waking up human indigenous viruses,” he states.

Amato offers patients environmental tips on how to remediate their homes from dirty electricity, such as installing a nominally priced shut-off timer on wi-fi routers and keeping electronic gadgets out of the bedroom. He offers informational sessions and workshops at Inner Harmony, as well as two free talks per month at Thrive Wellness Center, in Kingston.

“It motivates me to see results and how what I do works!” Amato concludes. “Seeing people regain a bounce in their step makes it all worth it for me.”

Inner Harmony Center for Well-Being is located at 131 Reynolds Rd., Dalton, Pennsylvania. For more information, call 570-319-6073 or visit InnerHarmonyWellness.com. 

Sheila Julson is a freelance writer and regular contributor to Natural Awakenings magazines across the country.