A few small needles stick out of the ear of a man sitting in a circle of patients as soft music and the sweet aroma of incense waft through the Balance Studio Spa in Felton.

The man is receiving acupuncture in a low-cost outpatient session at the spa. For $20 each session, a patient can drop in and receive acupuncture, 15 minutes of Reiki energy work, massage and time in the sauna.

Owner Melissa Stone does not make money on the low-cost clinics, but she sees them as a necessary step to help people move past substance abuse in the San Lorenzo Valley.

“The community wants and needs it,” Stone said. “People come for a while, and it helps so much, they move on to private sessions. It gets people back into their lives.”

Stone, a former employee of Camp Recovery Center in Scotts Valley, truly believes in physical detoxification when someone is trying to quit drugs or alcohol. She says sweating out toxins and using acupuncture, Reiki and massage to relax the body in a comfortable environment is more effective than using medication to counteract drug use.

“Some people need meds,” Stone said. “But, at the same time, people need to be pulling stuff out of their body.”

One patient, identified only as Susan, is a pharmacy technician who has battled substance abuse for much of her life.

“I have detoxed many times,” Susan said. “It has never been as easy as this time. They made it easier than any hospital. The pain and shakiness has been lifted from me.”

Stone has enlisted the help of a group of healers, including acupuncturist Robin Jacobi, who has practiced since 2001 after he received his master’s in traditional Chinese medicine from Five Branches University.

“People freshly detoxing, they are looking for a safe place, and they come here without being judged,” Jacobi said. “It’s a safe place — that’s not always possible wherever you go (to get help).”

Jacobi has people sit together in the spa while he provides acupuncture.

“It’s a group of people treating people,” he said. “It’s a space where they are getting better together.”

Other practitioners include nutritionist Melissa Davidson, detox specialist and massage therapist Kate Roberts, Reiki specialist Kate Walters and psychotherapist Bonnie Eskie.

Stone recently started taking insurance coverage for treatment, and she wants to make it affordable for people who need it. She has set up a membership program, and people are invited to drop in from 1 to 6 p.m. each Wednesday and Friday.

“We’d like to see this grow,” Stone said.

Her dream is

eventually to have a

30-day inpatient holistic detox center among the redwoods.

“Some people come with a heavy heart,” Stone said. “They just want to go where they feel better.”

Editors note: Not every person who attends the spa is recovering from substance abuse problems. Some attend to simply relieve stress or to relax.

At a glance

• WHAT: Low-cost treatments for people recovering from substance abuse, including accupuncture, Reiki, massage and sauna time

• WHEN: 1 to 6 p.m. Wednesday and Friday

• WHERE: Balance Studio Spa, 912 Lakeside Drive, in Felton

• INFO: melissa@balancestudio.org or www.balancestudio.org