As Director of Outpatient Services, Jennifer Walden oversees NCTR’s Assessments and Admissions Department as well as the agency’s Counseling Center outpatient programs. She previously worked for NCTR from 2004 to 2015, holding multiple clinical positions. After leaving NCTR, she worked as a therapist at Potomac Health Services, before rejoining NCTR in her current role in 2022. Jennifer is a licensed professional counselor and licensed substance abuse treatment practitioner and holds a Master of Science in education (community agency counseling) from Old Dominion University. “I am motivated by the changes I see in our patients every day -- I have the honor of watching our patients bravely confront an often-stigmatized illness.”

Carolyn Raufer is the program manager of NCTR’s Counseling Center, which provides several levels of outpatient treatment, including intensive outpatient (IOP), outpatient (OP) and partial hospitalization. She first joined NCTR in 2016 as an intern and was hired as a primary counselor at the Counseling Center in 2017. She has continued working at the Counseling Center ever since, taking on increasingly responsible roles. She has a Master of Arts in counseling from Marymount University. “I am consistently motivated by our caring, skilled, and creative treatment staff,” Carolyn says, “as well as by watching patients grow and heal over time.”

Susan Spies manages the Office Based Addiction Treatment (OBAT) program at NCTR’s Counseling Center, where she prescribes Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for patients suffering from opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder. She also provides MAT education to patients and staff. She has 20 years of experience in nursing, including nine years in addiction medicine. Prior to her current position she held several positions at NCTR, including family nurse practitioner in the residential programs and director of nursing. Before joining NCTR, she worked for several years at Neighborhood Health, where she provided primary care as a family nurse practitioner. She derives great fulfillment and gratitude from “the patients that check in with me one, two, even three years later to let me know how they're doing and that they are still sober.” Susan holds a master’s in nursing and master’s in public health from Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Sakran was born and raised in Fairfax, Va. He received hismBachelors of Science in Biology from George Mason University and obtained his Doctorate in Medicine from The University of Saint Eustatius School of Medicine. He completed his General Adult Psychiatry residency at Hennepin-Regions Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota and his Child and Adolescent Psychiatry sub-specialty training at Georgetown.

Dr. Sakran strives to thoroughly understand the needs of each patient. He approaches treatment by focusing not just on the individual, but rather by working closely with all those involved in the patients’ care to create a personal and effective treatment plan unique to each client. He has extensive training and experience in treating a wide array of disorders including Substance Use Disorder, ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, OCD, Bipolar, anxiety and depressive disorders.  

 Dr. Sakran has worked with National Capital Treatment & Recovery in various roles since 2016. Originally working with our adolescent programs, he transitioned to focused on adult residential treatment and adult outpatient treatment. Dr. Sakran is now our Medical Director of our Office Based Addiction Treatment (OBAT) program, and our collaborating physician with Susan Spies, FNP. The OBAT program serves both adult and adolescent patients.