Addiction Treatment Staff

Rita Obi

Program Director

Rita is an international public health professional, with 12+ years of experience in managing million dollar research grant portfolios, conducting multimillion-dollar clinical research trials, developing community health-based intervention and professional development training programs throughout the United States and West Africa. She highly skilled at developing, implementing and evaluating community health-based interventions, and liaising with multidisciplinary healthcare professional teams, stakeholders and key industry experts within nonprofit organizations and hospital facilities throughout New York City and Washington DC to launch impactful Health programs covering topics such as addiction, spinal cord injury, chronic diseases and breast cancer.

Rita has a Masters in Public Health from CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College and a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Pace University.

Kim Ragan

Clinical Director

Kim Ragan, LCSW, CSAC completed a Bachelor of Science in Psychology at Virginia Tech and a Master of Social Work at the University of Georgia. She is currently a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Certified Substance Abuse Counselor in the state of Virginia. Most recently, Kim served as a licensed therapist at the Inova Medical Group’s Gainesville office through the Integrated Behavioral Health Program. She saw primary care patients as well as OBGYN patients at that location, including both male and female clients ranging in age from 14 years to 80+ years of age. Before working for Inova, she was the Clinical Supervisor of both the Intensive Outpatient Program at Novant Health UVA Prince William Medical Center, and the Transitional Recovery Service at Novant Health UVA Haymarket Medical Center from 2007-2017. She maintained a private practice from August of 2006 through June of 2012. Prior to that, she lived in Atlanta, GA and worked for Emory University’s School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences conducting research on the treatment of psychiatric disorders during pregnancy and postpartum, and in the Department of Psychology conducting research on the impact of maternal mental illness on infants. She has published articles in peer reviewed journals and co-wrote the 2006 Obstetrics and Gynecology guidelines for the treatment of psychiatric, neurologic, and addictive disorders during pregnancy and the postpartum. She has experience working in the foster care system, in the inpatient psychiatric setting, working with the older adult population, and providing home-based counseling services. She is specially trained in cognitive-behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and interpersonal psychotherapy, and is certified in Virginia as a Substance Abuse Counselor.

Before establishing Bear Tracks, she was a private accountant at a government contractor based in Reston, Virginia attending to the entire accounting function, Human Resources & Administration as well as representing the Company as their Contracts Manager. Sandra has a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management and is a certified as a Pro-advisor in QuickBooks online and has over 15+ years of experience in the various QuickBooks Desktop versions.

Outside the office, you can possibly find Sandra walking with her husband and dogs, cooking for her family, going to church or enjoying weekend road trips to Deep Creek, Maryland and/or Ocean City, Maryland as well as other fun local and far-away spots.”

Kristen Nilsen

Therapist

Kristen E. Nilsen is a National Certified Counselor (NCC) and Resident in Counseling, working toward Licensed Professional Counselor status in the State of Virginia. Kristen is originally from Portland, Maine, but also calls Virginia home. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Government from The College of William & Mary, with a focus in Psychology. After 8 years working in the technology/start-up space in DC, she followed her passion for helping others into a career change, and earned her Master’s of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of Southern Maine in 2018. Kristen is especially interested in creative approaches to counseling and integrates alternative self-expression modalities into her practice with CBT, DBT, and person-centered theories. In addition to substance use disorder counseling, Kristen has experience working with adolescents as they navigate through this unique stage of life. She has a lifelong connection to the ocean, where she finds her inner peace. In her spare time, Kristen enjoys spending time with family and friends, refinishing furniture, and painting oceanic and beach landscapes. She and her two cats, Zack and Mary, currently reside in the DC Metro Area.

David Haugen

Primary Residential Therapist

David Haugen is a Primary Residential Therapist here at Sagebrush. He has 2+ years working in the addiction field. David facilitates psychoeducational and process groups, as well as seeing individual clients. David has previously worked at a halfway house in Pennsylvania, as well as Fairfax Methadone Treatment Center. David has made it his personal and professional goals to helping people. David has an undergraduate degree from Loyola University Maryland, and a Master of Arts in Professional Clinical Counseling from La Salle University. David is a big reading a movie enthusiast.

Hilary Therit, MA, NCC, Resident In Counseling

Residential Therapist

Hilary is a native of Pennsylvania, but has lived in the DC area for the past three years. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Mental Health from Mary Baldwin University, and her Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Marymount University. Throughout her undergraduate and graduate career, she sought out opportunities to be involved with the mental health profession, including internships with both inpatient and outpatient drug and alcohol treatment programs.As a Nationally Certified Counselor, and a member of the American Counseling Association, Hilary is dedicated to providing the best care for her clients, and has a deep passion for providing guidance and support for those recovering from addiction. She takes a holistic approach to healing and recovery by utilizing various therapeutic methodologies such as Cognitive Behavioral Theory, Motivational Interviewing, Attachment theory, and Gestalt theory. In her free time, she enjoys reading, spending time with friends and family, traveling, and practicing yoga.

Shyanne Ninham

Addictions Counselor

Shyanne has just moved down here from Syracuse, NY where she grew up and attended graduate school. Shyanne got her master’s in counseling because she wanted to spend her life helping people and advancing our knowledge of trauma-informed and culturally competent treatment. After receiving master’s, Shyanne went to work as a crisis line worker at a call center where she answered the suicide lifeline, a local crisis line and helped connect people to local health and human resources.

Jake DiGeranimo

Program Assistant

Matthew Russell

Executive Chef

Matthew was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. He was culinary trained in Washington DC with 10+ years of experience. Matthew collaborated with celebrity Chef Cindy Hutson at Ortanique on the mile in Miami, FL. He is a culinary expert in various cuisines including French, Asian, Italian, Southern, Latin, and Caribbean. Matthew has been featured in numerous publications such as Bon Appetite Magazine, Washingtonian, DCist, Eater and Washington Post.

Hannah Ryan

Chef

Hannah is so excited to be new chef at the men’s house! She has been cooking since before she can remember, and in the industry since she was 13. Hannah studied Hospitality at Penn State before heading to Colorado to complete a certificate in Baking & Pastry Arts. While she has spent the last several years in Hospitality Management & Event Planning, Hannah is happy to be back home in a kitchen. Hannah says: “If you don’t find me in the kitchen then you can easily find me at a concert, camping or playing with one of my 4 dogs. When I grow up I hope to become a millionaire animal whisperer but for now I will continue being a PASSIONISTA.”