Cedric Wilson’s favorite spot at Roanoke College has always been the Chaplain’s Office porch at Morehead Hall.
The 2009 graduate spent so much time having great conversations on that porch that his friends began to jokingly refer to Wilson’s “office hours.” It probably comes as no surprise to them that, 16 years later, Wilson is a licensed professional counselor and the owner of his own therapy practice in Roanoke, Seeking Wellness.
“Being able to connect with my friends there and have really deep conversations — and working for the Chaplain’s Office and incorporating spiritual components — ended up being this anchoring moment that I look back on in my professional career,” he said. “I love that.”
Wilson, who majored in sociology at Roanoke and earned a master’s degree in professional counseling at Liberty University, was selected as one of Roanoker magazine’s “40 Under 40” for 2025. His anonymous nominator mentioned his passion for helping others lead authentic lives and his interest in the intersection of mental health and culture. In fact, his practice is becoming known for providing culturally aware therapy for marginalized groups, including women, people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ population.
“I have always had a strong love for people,” Wilson said. “I think I have a strong sense of intuition and a connection to my emotions — and how all those things come together to create my own life experience,” he said. “And I know that one of the big pieces for me becoming a therapist was wanting to let people be known and seen, and to help people live life more intentionally in ways that they wanted to.”
Before opening his own practice, Wilson was acting director of the counseling center at Shenandoah University. He has also worked as a mental health clinician and therapist at Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare. In those roles, he observed some of the constraints of the mental health system. He also became aware of the dearth of Black male therapists in the Roanoke area. All that put him on the path to opening his own practice. He now employs nine mental health professionals who specialize in everything from PTSD to substance abuse, and he enjoys the freedom to be creative in addressing mental health.
In 2024, Wilson was awarded the Suzee Leone Grant to create a therapeutic gaming program, which allows middle schoolers to confront and manage their challenges through video games and tabletop/role-playing games. This is an example of the kind of creative, outside-the-box therapy that Wilson hopes to expand within the Roanoke community. He has also received the BIPOC Sponsorship Award from the Virginia Counselors Association Leadership Academy and was named a Roanoker magazine 2024 Health Hero.
Wilson, a Baltimore native, said he’s glad that he and his wife, Caroline (Lance) Wilson ’11, chose to stay in the Roanoke Valley and build both a business and a life here with their children.
“I love Baltimore, and I love visiting and seeing my family,” he said, “but there is something about Roanoke that is intangible. I knew this was where I was supposed to be.”