Victor Silva-Palacios, P.h.D., Clinical Psychology

For over 35 years, Dr. Silva-Palacios has provided psychotherapy services to individuals, couples, and families experiencing various relationships problems in their home and work environment.  

 

His compassionate interventions with people struggling in the areas of conflict resolution, emotional intimacy, depression, major illness, or death help them develop the skills to cope effectively with these challenges.

About Dr. Silva-Palacios

Dr. Silva-Palacios has lived and worked in San Luis Obispo County, California, for more than 25 years.  Now in fulltime private practice in San Luis Obispo, he spent 12 years as a clinical-forensic psychologist on the medical-psychology staff at Atascadero State Hospital.  

 

Born in Ecuador, Dr. Silva-Palacios moved to Southern California with his family and attended school in the Los Angeles area, earning his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the Wright Institute, Los Angeles, in 1985.  He has worked with children, adolescents, couples, and families in private practice and community mental health centers, such as the San Fernando Valley Child Guidance Clinic and Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center in Culver City, California.  

 

This early training and clinical experience with young children and their parents prepared Dr. Silva-Palacios for his current work of treating adults and couples; many of the struggles these families had centered around bonding and attachment.

 

Dr. Silva-Palacios volunteered his time at the San Luis Obispo Women's Shelter, facilitating a support group for Latina victims of violent crime and training peer counselors for seven years. He is a former member of the board of directors of Family Care Network, a community-based, non-profit organization that seeks to enhance the well-being of children and families in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.

 

While at the state hospital, Dr. Silva-Palacios worked with the mentally disordered offender (MDO) population, providing psychological assessment, psychotherapy, and forensic evaluations.  He provided expert testimony on MDO cases in San Luis Obispo County and other counties in California.  Dr. Silva-Palacios also has expertise in evaluating and diagnosing individuals who fake mental illness to avoid facing legal consequences (malingering).  This is part of his extensive experience in evaluating incompetent-to-stand trial cases.  In addition to his clinical and forensic responsibilities, Dr. Silva-Palacios served on various hospital committees, such as bioethics, internship, and peer-review.  He also supervised and precepted many psychology interns in the course of his tenure at the hospital and conducted multicultural seminars for the interns for many years.

 

Dr. Silva-Palacios is a member of the California Psychological Association (CPA) and the Central Coast Psychological Association (CCPA).