Today, we invite you on a photo tour of the Counseling Center. Conveniently located at Ancora Compassionate Care's East Campus in Wentworth, we share our space with the Serious Illness Care clinic and the Robin's Nest, Ancora's boutique resale shop. All proceeds from the Robin's Nest help fund Ancora Compassionate Care's programs in the community: hospice care, serious illness care, and bereavement services, as well as our work here at the Counseling Center.

Park on the right side of the building.
Follow the ramp around to the rear entrance.
Ring the doorbell, and we'll let you in!

Our waiting area: we have magazines, coloring books and crayons, and a free coffee, tea, and water station so you can relax while you wait. Strategically placed white noise machines in the waiting area ensure every client's privacy during their sessions.

Our meeting room is set up for those seeking family or couples' counseling. We also use this space for sessions with children while our room for them is being furnished. We have toys, books, games, and other activities for kids to enjoy before and during their therapy sessions.

Finally, cozy seats, soft lighting, and fidget toys for restless hands await you in Megan and Kristi's offices for use during your sessions. 

We want every person who comes to the Counseling Center to feel welcomed, accepted, and comfortable, and leave feeling a little lighter and more hopeful than you did when you arrived.

Ready to schedule your first session? Give us a call at (336) 427-9022, and our intake team will help you get started. 

We're ready when you are!

Deciding to start therapy can feel intimidating.
Feeling anxious about getting started, even if you’ve had therapy before, is a completely normal part of the process.

Here are a few tips to help you know what to expect, from referral through your first session, as a client at
Ancora Compassionate Care Counseling Center:

• Find out if your insurance requires a referral from your primary care doctor. If it does, give your doctor's office a call. They will send us a referral with your contact information, and our intake team will give you a call.
• If no referral is needed, you call Ancora's intake department at (336) 427-9022 to refer yourself. We will ask for some basic information, including:
• Your name and date of birth
• Your mailing address
• Your email address
• Whether you prefer in-person or virtual sessions
• Your insurance information
• A little bit about what's going on
• Once we have this information, our billing department will verify that we are in-network with your insurance, determine what copays or deductible you may owe for sessions, etc. This information will be reviewed with you by our intake department so there are no expensive surprises!
• If everything sounds good, you will receive a link, to your email address or via text message, to complete our intake and consent forms online. These forms explain our policies and procedures and ask you some questions about what's leading you to seek therapy. There are also screenings for anxiety and depression. These forms are very important, and we can't start working together until they are signed.
• Unable to complete the forms online? No problem! We can mail them to your home, or you can plan to come in a few minutes early before your first session to fill them out. 
• Once the forms are complete (or we have a plan to get them completed by hand), the intake team will work with you to schedule your intake session with your therapist.
• If you request a virtual session, you will receive an email from your therapist with a Zoom link. You will want to click on the link at least a day or two before your first session to make sure you don't have any trouble getting logged in.
• If you request an in-person session, we will see you here at the Counseling Center, located at 8380 NC 87, Reidsville, right across the street from Mom's Kitchen in Wentworth. Park on the side of the building farthest from the Dollar General and follow the ramp to the very back door of the building. Ring the doorbell, and we'll let you in.
• In your first therapy session, your therapist will explain the flow of the session, explain crisis procedures, and answer any questions you have. Then, we'll have lots of questions for you to get to know you and better understand why you are seeking therapy at this point in your life. Some things we may ask about include:
• Your family composition (as a child and as an adult)
• Your current symptoms (changes in mood, sleep, appetite, etc)
• Your current strengths, coping skills, and support system
• Any relevant physical or mental health treatment history
• The goals you hope to achieve from your time in therapy

Our goal is for every client to feel safe, comfortable, heard, and supported throughout the intake process and throughout
their work with their therapist. 

It is a big decision, and a sign of strength, to recognize when you need help and to reach out to ask for it. 

We honor the strength it takes to admit when you are
struggling, and are here to help you recognize how very worthy and capable you are of hope, healing, and peace. 

Give us a call today to get started on your healing journey.
(336) 427-9022

Welcome to Ancora Compassionate Care Counseling Center!

 For our first post, we want to introduce you to the
Counseling Center by sharing our history.

The Counseling Center is part of Ancora Compassionate Care, formerly known as Hospice of Rockingham County, the only free-standing, non-profit hospice serving Rockingham County, proudly serving our community since 1987.

In 2023, we rebranded to Ancora Compassionate Care to acknowledge and celebrate that we were now offering more than hospice care and were serving Rockingham, Caswell, Guilford, and Stokes Counties. In 2021, we added the service line of Serious Illness Care (palliative care), offering services for those coping with serious and/or chronic illnesses seeking relief from their symptoms and the stress of their illness.

Ancora Compassionate Care's services have always included grief and bereavement support for the loved ones served by our hospice, and to members of our community seeking grief counseling after a loss on a time-limited basis. This includes our free weekly virtual support group, our quarterly caregiver support groups and surviving spouses and partners' events, and our annual Camp Good Grief for children grieving a loss.

Beginning during the COVID-19 pandemic, the bereavement team found themselves receiving more and more calls from community members seeking support in coping with their grief. Referrals poured in from hospitals, doctor's offices, even other therapy practices. Our bereavement team met the need head-on, but the need quickly outpaced our capacity. We tried to help people seeking care find other providers, only to learn how difficult it was to find a therapist without a long waiting list, or having to drive to Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Burlington, or Danville. 

Simultaneously, as the Serious Illness Care program grew, we recognized that quite a few participants on that program were in need of mental health support, but the same barriers affected them, with the added dilemma of these often being older adults without access to smartphones or internet to utilize virtual appointments, and health issues that limited their ability to leave home. 

Ancora's mission statement is, "to be a supportive presence for life's journey." We recognized that the next step towards fulfilling our mission was to meet the community's need for high-quality, local mental health counseling services. In July 2024, we held our first counseling session with a patient under our Serious Illness Program. In August 2025, our two therapists completed over 120 counseling sessions, and have over 75 clients under our care. 

Our providers, Megan Cole, MSW, LCSW, and Kristi Rakes, MSW, LCSW, are proud to be deeply rooted in Rockingham County. Megan has worked at Ancora since 2011, first as a hospice social worker, then as the Director of Support Services, and now as Director of Counseling Services. Kristi, a lifelong resident of Rockingham County, first worked at Ancora several years ago as a hospice social worker, and joined the Counseling Center in May of this year. 

Megan and Kristi are accepting new clients for in-person and virtual sessions, and accept Medicare, managed Medicare, and most major commercial insurance plans. We work with clients with a range of diagnoses, including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and people coping with stressors from life transitions, grief and loss, caregiver stress, chronic pain/ disease, infertility, and other concerns. We work with children, families, and adults of all ages. Please note that we are not substance abuse counselors, and are unable to offer medication management services, but are happy to help refer you to providers who can meet these needs.

It is our honor and privilege to serve our community, walking alongside each of our clients as they set and accomplish their mental health and wellness goals. 

If you would like more information about the Counseling Center, or would like to make a referral, please call (336) 427-9022. Our Intake team is happy to walk you through our intake process, and most new clients can be seen within 1-2 weeks of their referral. 

We look forward to using this blog to help educate our community about the Counseling Center, about our providers, and about mental health in general. If you have an idea that you would like us to write about, please email Megan Cole at mcole@ancoracc.org.

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