ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) - SagePoint Intensive Outpatient Program held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its new location on April 18, marking an expansion of the Elk Grove company’s services for individuals confronting mental-health or substance-use disorders.

SagePoint owner Caroline Bentley thanked the Elk Grove Chamber of Commerce, which organized the event, for its support of small businesses.

Bentley, a licensed marriage and family therapist, told attendees that SagePoint operates in the middle of the continuum of behavioral health care. Behavioral health treatment can be divided into three general levels of care. The highest level is inpatient or residential care, in which patients spend 24 hours a day under supervision; at the lower levels of outpatient care, patients live independently and might see a therapist once a week.

“We’re kind of that mid-level, where we’re offering nine hours of treatment per week,” Bentley said. “So it’s three hours a day, three days a week, so people get a lot of great structure and care and support but they can still maintain family commitments, they can go to school, they can go to work. They can fit it into their daily lives.”

SagePoint’s patients could transition out of inpatient treatment or increase the intensity of their outpatient treatment after finding they need more support.

With the new, larger space at 3137 Dwight Road, Suite 600, in Elk Grove, SagePoint has expanded its services. In addition to its existing treatment for substance-use disorders, the company now offers treatment for mental health. Currently, it works with clients 18 and older; Bentley said it accepts most insurance, except Kaiser Permanante.

Audrey Nelson, an associate marriage and family therapist at SagePoint, said the additional service is “really, really exciting.”

“I think any time you move buildings and expand, it just becomes so much more real. … It’s just been such a testament to her hard work to be able to expand,” Nelson said. “It means this model is successful and she’s poured her heart into it, and so it’s just been really exciting to see that come to fruition for her.”

The new building has two separate rooms to host group therapy sessions for mental health and substance abuse. 

Bentley said in an interview that the rooms are designed to avoid feeling like “a big, sterile hospital setting.” Clients sit on wooden armchairs, each with a pillow and blanket; decorations include potted plants and wall art.

“I wanted it to feel like a little less institutionalized care. I wanted it to feel like people were coming in, and this is their living room and cozy here,” Bentley said.

Nelson explained the benefits that SagePoint sees in holding group therapy sessions, with new patients joining on a rolling basis and other patients “graduating” to lower-level treatment.

“The groups get really close. (There’s) such a healing component to therapy when you feel like you’re really not alone.”

Some patients have found the chance to interact in person with a group of familiar people helpful as they recover from COVID-19 pandemic isolation, Nelson said, noting that participants spend session breaks socializing with each other.

“This group is so connected that it’s been so fun to watch everyone migrate outside and still choose to be with one another, after coming in the first day and saying that they’ve felt really isolated for numerous years. It has been to me the most special part of working in a group setting, just seeing people get their confidence back,” Nelson said.

SagePoint has been in business for about two years, and Bentley said the business’s name represents the goal she has in mind for clients.

“‘Sage’ to me represents wisdom. I think of the sage person that is wise and traveled on the journey of life and has gained experiences and insights,” Bentley said. “Point” is related to the company’s philosophy that clients “know what’s best for them, and we’re going to help them access that.”

“So it’s kind of like coming back to the center point within them that holds all the wisdom that actually does the healing for them,” Bentley said.

For more information about SagePoint Intensive Outpatient Program, visit its website, sagepointiop.com, or call 916-896-1061 for a free consultation.