Welcome!

We all have the potential to lead a fulfilling life.

Difficult challenges may keep us from reaching that potential though, and we can find ourselves stuck in repetitive cycles of suffering.

I am a licensed psychologist in Petaluma. I run a group practice where we offer individual psychotherapy and neurofeedback, all focused on the alleviation of symptoms through inner transformation.

With close attention to the unresolved emotional pain and nervous system dysregulation that drive symptoms, my associate therapists and I help clients create a more satisfying way of living, while finding the transformative potential that life’s difficulties often carry.

“The wound is the place the light enters you…”
-Rumi

My Approach

Based on years of training and experience, and my enduring belief in the restorative capacities of the body and the psyche, I have developed an effective approach that integrates time-tested and evidence-based methods that help you resolve the patterns that keep you stuck, cultivate self-acceptance and meaning, reconnect with lost parts of yourself, and overcome painful symptoms.

I offer a safe, confidential space in which we loosen the grip of old wounds and nervous system dysregulation to uncover the possibility of the life you envision.

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Services

Neurofeedback for Children, Teens, & Adults

Individual Psychotherapy for Adults

Areas of Expertise

Anxiety | Panic

Trauma

ADD | ADHD

Concussion | TBI

Migraines & Headaches

Depression

Chronic Pain | Fatigue

Shame | Inadequacy

LGBTQ+

Grief | Transitions

Men's Issues

...and More.

“What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Mary Oliver

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What Former Clients Are Saying...

“I came to see Dr. Machado for neurofeedback after years of struggling with anxiety, insomnia, and ‘brain fog’ following a head injury. I knew in our first few minutes together that Dr. Machado was an incredibly sensitive, intuitive practitioner. After our first neurofeedback session, I felt different – immediate results!”

Former Neurofeedback Client

“We completed our neurofeedback with my son’s anxiety virtually non existent and some typical ADHD behaviors tha were now easily managed by a very small/low dosage of medication. We are so appreciative of Sil’s work!”

Parent of a Former Neurofeedback Client

“Before neurofeedback, my daughter’s anxiety was preventing her from doing many things. On bad days, she would even feel anxious being in a crowded store, and might need to leave. She had trouble with anxiety during driving. Neurofeedback “saved her life,” she said. The effect for her was dramatic, and rapid…I don’t know if she would have been able to work if she hadn’t have done the neurofeedback.”

Parent of a Former Neurofeedback Client

“I cannot praise Dr. Sil Machado and his neurofeedback too highly. I have my life back—the quality of my life has improved immeasurably since I received neurofeedback for post-concussion symptoms suffered in a car collision over four years ago.”

Former Neurofeedback Client

About Sil Machado, Ph.D.

My Name is Dr. Sil Machado (he/his/him). Over the last 17 years, I have worked with children, adolescents, adults, elders and couples providing counseling, psychotherapy, neurofeedback, supervision, and consultation services in non-profit, public health, community mental health, medical, and private practice settings.

As a psychotherapist and neurotherapist, I consider it a privilege to cultivate meaningful, collaborative relationships in my work – relationships specifically intended to support resilience in clients. I work with clients to find relief from and deeper meaning in their difficulties, and believe that, when carefully attended to, dark moods, unwanted habits, difficult symptoms, and disturbing thoughts, feelings, and dreams serve as doorways through which a deeper relationship with oneself is possible.

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