Distinctly Montana Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.distinctlymontana.com/i/1060178
D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A • W I N T E R 2 0 1 9 58 Dr. LaToya Floyd is a child and adolescent psychiatrist who guides young people through vulnerable situations. Her knowledge and experience are enhanced by her natural ability to build trusting relationships, essential in paving the road to wellness. She feels privileged to make an impact on children, whose resilience she admires. Is there substantial need in Montana for pediatric and adolescent mental health services? The challenges Montana faces are many. It is sparsely populated—while the fourth largest state in size, it is 44th in population with just over a million people—and it has less than a quarter of the mental health providers required to serve its residents, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration. Suicide has been a persistent problem in Montana—and it's getting worse. The state saw nearly double the national average for suicides in 2016, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's age-adjusted data. How has your previous experience set you up for success in treating Montana's youth, and what do you hope to accomplish going forward? I have worked in partial programs, residential treatment facilities, detention and community outpatient clinics, and been the medical director for in-home services. In some way, all these positions inform my treatment practices in Montana. I would like to be involved in establishing a continuum of care for children's services in Great Falls, and I believe having a menu of services will allow children to have more speci c interventions at different entry points. What do you enjoy about working with young people? I enjoy helping families. While the child is identi ed as the patient, the entire family structure can bene t. For example, I have had patients' parents say, "I went through the same thing when I was a kid and never understood how it affected the way I have raised my children." Get to Know the Great Falls Pediatric Psychiatrist Who Is Impacting the Mental Health Crisis