A Antelope treatment center built around the conviction that recovery sticks when the whole family is part of the work.
Dr. Helena Marsh spent eleven years as an attending psychiatrist on the inpatient addiction unit at a large Sacramento-area hospital. She watched the same families return through the ER doors month after month — partners holding overdose-reversal kits, parents carrying their adult children's belongings in trash bags — and saw that the discharge plan rarely included anyone but the patient.
In 2013 she left hospital practice and opened AXIS Rehab on Walerga Road with a simple commitment: the family unit would be treated as the unit of care. Every clinical decision, from medication titration to discharge planning, would be made with parents, partners, and adult children in the room.
Thirteen years later, the building has grown to 42 beds and 87 staff, but the founding promise hasn't changed. Families do the work alongside their loved one — and the data on our alumni outcomes shows why that matters.
To deliver clinically excellent, measurement-based addiction and mental health treatment to Sacramento-area families — with outcomes tracked, reviewed quarterly, and published to the people we serve. Clinical excellence is not a tagline at AXIS; it is the audit standard our medical director holds every program to.
Strengths-based recovery. Our clinical assessments map what is already working in a patient's life — relationships, skills, sources of meaning — and build the treatment plan around amplifying those, not just patching deficits.
Creative expression as healing. Music room sessions, ceramics workshop time, and guided journaling are programmed into the weekly schedule because verbal therapy alone reaches only part of how people process trauma.
Neuroscience-based care. Treatment teams are trained in current research on addiction neurocircuitry — reward systems, executive-function recovery timelines, the role of stress hormones — so interventions match what the brain actually needs in each phase.
Founder & Medical Director
Board-certified psychiatrist with subspecialty training in addiction medicine. Eleven years on a Sacramento-area inpatient addiction unit before founding AXIS in 2013. Sets the clinical standards every program is audited against.
Director of Family Programming
Licensed marriage and family therapist who designs and supervises the multi-family workshops, parent coaching, and partner support tracks. Twenty years in family systems work across the Sacramento region.
Director of Clinical Psychology
Oversees CBT, DBT, and trauma protocols. Trains the clinical staff on neuroscience-informed practice and reviews every dual diagnosis treatment plan.
Director of Nursing & Detox
Leads the 24/7 nursing team that staffs medical detox. Manages medication protocols and is the family liaison during the detox phase.
Alumni & Peer Support Lead
Coordinates the alumni program, weekly Saturday meetings, and peer mentorship pairings. Personally in recovery, with eight years on the AXIS team.
Registered Dietitian
Designs the farm-to-table kitchen menus and runs nutrition counseling for early recovery. Specializes in restoring metabolic and cognitive function disrupted by long-term substance use.
"Dropping out of Sacramento State mid-semester felt like a permanent failure. The clinical team at AXIS reframed it as a planned pause — and built a return-to-school plan with my dean's office before I even discharged. I'm graduating this spring."
— Marisol G., college-student-reset arc
"As a mother, I needed a place that would stop talking around me and start talking to me. The family clinician here called me weekly with concrete updates — not vague reassurance. That changed everything about how I trusted the process."
— Karen P., parent-perspective arc
"Coming back as staff is the most accountable thing I've ever done. Every Saturday I sit in the same chairs I sat in as a patient. The clinicians treat alumni as colleagues, not cautionary tales."
— Devon R., alumni-giving-back arc
Our compassionate team is ready to help you take the first step.
