SAGE Counseling, Inc has earned a reputation as a leader in our industry. We are successful because of the individual contributions made by each of our employees. We have always held to a very simple philosophy: exceptional service for our clients in order to serve our customers. We want to ensure that these relationships continue well into the future.
SAGE Counseling’s treatment programs were developed for criminal offenders and our overall philosophy and clinical approach are grounded in the empirically validated standards for that population. As is recommended by the leaders in the field of offender treatment, our programs have focused, structured counseling groups that are supplemented by individual counseling, utilize multiple treatment components and methodologies, and emphasize specific skill development, e.g., conflict resolution, anger management, positive coping, positive self-talk, refusal skills, stress management, and lifestyle balance.
SAGE Counseling, Inc. was formed in 1998 to provide evidence-based services to the criminal justice system and court-referred clients. We utilize Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, the Stages of Change Model, Interactive Journaling, and empirically-validated assessment tools. Almost all of our clients are under court supervision, in a diversion program, incarcerated, or referred by the Arizona Department of Child Safety.
Executive Director
Steve is the owner and Executive Director of SAGE Counseling, Inc., an agency he founded in 1998. He began working with the criminal justice populations in 1985 serving as a psychotherapist…
in a maximum security prison in Pittsburgh. Over the course of his career, Steve has worked with a wide variety of criminal justice and social service agencies, and he has served as a counselor, clinical supervisor, administrator, and consultant. Steve brings a unique combination of business and counseling skills to his role as Executive Director.
Chief Operations Officer
Michael has been working in the behavioral health field since 2012, primarily doing clinical work with the substance abuse population as a counselor…
Michael is licensed by the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners as a Licensed Associate Substance Abuse Counselor, has Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Arizona State University, and has a Master’s Degree in Addiction Counseling from Grand Canyon University. Michael has served on several leadership teams and has extensive knowledge of state licensing requirements, BMFL regulation, JCAHO accreditation, AHCCCS, and quality improvement initiatives. Michael leads the Quality Improvement department and is also the chairman of the SAGE Quality Improvement committee.
Chief Operations Officer
Linda has thirty years’ experience working in Behavioral Health, and has expertise building strong community relationships and collaborations.
Initially she was a Psychiatric Social Worker, working with Adults and Adolescents in Inpatient Settings. Linda has held various management positions, including Director of Adolescent Services, Chief Operations Officer and Chief Executive Officer. She served as the CEO for The Guidance Center in Flagstaff for over 8 years, where she was responsible for Inpatient, Residential and Outpatient services for Adults and Adolescents. Most recently, Linda was the CEO of Native Americans for Community Action, an agency that provides primary care, behavioral health, suicide prevention, and several grant funded programs. She is a member of the Task Force that originally implemented the Coconino County Drug Court, and also served on its Advisory Board for 9 years. Linda is a past member of the Coconino County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, and the Integrated Family Court Advisory Board.
Chief Clinical Officer
Brandy has worked in the helping profession for the past 16 years. She received her Master of Social Work from Portland State University and a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Portland.
Brandy has worked in a number of non-profit and government settings. Positions have included family reconciliation, counseling, employment, skills training, program coordination and program management. Prior to SAGE, Brandy held the position of Director of Community Development at Native Americans for Community Action (NACA) where she managed to two federal grant programs providing suicide prevention and mental health work. Brandy began work with SAGE Counseling, Inc. in 2015, as a Clinical Supervisor. Since then, she has held a variety of roles, including Clinical Director, Compliance Manager and Revenue Cycle Manager. Brandy has extensive knowledge in contract management and the Arizona Medicaid requirements related to the documentation, billing and credentialing.
Clinical Director
Cassidy has a Master’s degree in Social Welfare (MSW) from UCLA and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Supervisor with the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners.
Cassidy started her career as a social worker providing crisis response and harm reduction outreach to adults with severe mental illness and substance use concerns. She then worked as a clinician in the county jail prior to transitioning to supervisory and management positions in outpatient and field-based settings. Immediately prior to joining SAGE counseling, Cassidy supervised a case management and medication assisted treatment program for adults with concurrent mental health and substance use diagnoses at a federally qualified healthcare agency in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Cassidy also worked for the preceding six years in the San Francisco Bay Area providing both direct service and oversight for mental health specialty courts, a treatment collaboration between the county behavioral health department and superior court for criminal justice-involved adults with severe mental illness. In this role, she managed program development and implementation of mental health treatment for county-level felony diversion, alternative sentencing, and veteran’s treatment courts. Cassidy is certified in CBT and trained as a Trauma Specialist in Trauma and Addiction, harm reduction, and crisis intervention modalities.
Director of QI/Compliance
Justin has a Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Arizona State University. Prior to his current position, Justin worked in the DCS In-Home Programs as an intern, clinician, clinical supervisor and program manager.
Justin is licensed by the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners as a Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist. Justin has worked in both agency and private practice settings helping individuals, couples, and families. Under the general direction of the agency COO, Justin will assist in the development and execution of the organization’s strategic goals and objectives with an emphasis on administrative and technical operations. In conjunction with agency management team, the Director of Operations contributes to the agency’s quality assurance programs, strategic planning, as well as the development and implementation of agency policies and procedures.
The SAGE offices will be closed on Monday, January 20th, 2025 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr Day.
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