Dr. Ellen A. Machikawa
MD · Board-Certified Psychiatrist
Quick facts
Conditions Dr. Machikawa treats
What patients say
"Dr. Machikawa is brilliant, attentive, and truly cares about her patients. She makes a real difference."
"Outstanding psychiatrist. Very thorough, compassionate, and takes time to explain everything."
"Dr. Machikawa has been instrumental in my recovery. She's professional, kind, and highly knowledgeable."
"Excellent care. She listens, understands, and develops effective treatment plans."
About Dr. Machikawa
Dr. Ellen A. Machikawa is a compassionate, board-certified psychiatrist with over 20 years of experience helping adults achieve mental wellness. She combines evidence-based medication management with psychotherapeutic techniques to provide comprehensive mental health support tailored to each patient's unique needs.
Dr. Machikawa is particularly skilled in treating depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder, OCD, and geriatric psychiatric conditions. She believes in collaborative care, taking time to thoroughly understand each patient's situation, medical history, and treatment goals before developing a personalized treatment plan.
Dr. Machikawa earned her MD from the Keck School of Medicine at USC and completed her psychiatry residency training at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Her extensive training and experience span both inpatient and outpatient psychiatric settings, giving her a comprehensive understanding of complex mental health conditions.
She is committed to reducing mental health stigma and providing accessible, compassionate care to all patients. Her specialty in geriatric psychiatry reflects her deep understanding of the unique psychiatric challenges older adults face and her dedication to improving quality of life across all ages.
How Dr. Machikawa approaches treatment
With over 20 years of clinical experience spanning both inpatient and outpatient settings, Dr. Machikawa brings a depth of pattern recognition to complex cases that shorter careers simply don't produce. For conditions like bipolar disorder, OCD, and treatment-resistant depression, that experience matters most at the evaluation stage, where distinguishing between overlapping presentations and avoiding misdiagnosis determines whether a treatment plan works from the start or requires costly correction later.
Her geriatric psychiatry specialty adds a clinical dimension that most psychiatrists at SavantCare don't cover. Older adults present differently, with psychiatric symptoms frequently entangled with medical conditions, polypharmacy risks, and cognitive changes that require a provider trained to read that picture accurately. For patients seeking care for an aging parent, or for older adults managing long-standing conditions, Dr. Machikawa's training in this area is a meaningful distinction from a general adult psychiatrist.
Her patients also have access to SavantCare's 1:1 trauma-informed yoga sessions, which she incorporates alongside treatment for patients managing PTSD, anxiety, and mood disorders where regulating the nervous system supports and sustains what medication and therapy are working to achieve.