✩ ABOUT PEYTON RICHARD, LMFT
A THERAPIST WHO LISTENS FIRST
I’m Peyton Richard, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in helping couples navigate relationships, connection, and the hard stuff in between. My work is backed by years of education and specialized training in couples therapy, including the Gottman Method and Discernment Counseling—but my approach is personal, practical, and judgment-free.
PEYTON RICHARD
Marriage & Family Therapist
✩ MY STORY
PEYTON RICHARD, LMFT
LICENSED MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPIST
YOU DON’T HAVE TO KEEP DOING RELATIONSHIPS THE SAME WAY.
Maybe you’ve had the same argument more times than you can count. Maybe you and your partner have stopped arguing altogether—but the distance between you feels just as painful. Maybe you’re questioning whether your relationship can get back to the way it used to feel, or whether you even want it to.
Or maybe the struggle is more personal. You’re anxious, overwhelmed, disconnected from yourself, or carrying experiences from your past that continue to affect how you relate to the people you love.
Whatever brings you to therapy, you don’t have to figure it out alone.
I’m Peyton Richard, a Marriage and Family Therapist, and I help individuals, couples, and families understand the patterns that keep them stuck so they can communicate more honestly, reconnect more deeply, and create healthier relationships.
I HAVE A PARTICULAR PASSION FOR COUPLES WORK.
I believe a good relationship can be one of the greatest sources of support, connection, and joy in our lives. But even strong relationships can become strained. Over time, resentment, misunderstandings, unmet needs, conflict, or simply the demands of everyday life can create distance between two people who genuinely love each other.
My goal isn’t to decide who is right or wrong. It’s to help you understand what is happening underneath the conflict and learn new ways of relating to each other.
I believe in the idea of a 100/100 relationship—not a relationship where each person keeps score and gives exactly 50%, but one where both people show up fully and intentionally choose to give generously to one another.
As a woman who has been married for more than 20 years and a Gottman-trained therapist, I know firsthand that a strong marriage doesn’t happen by accident. Connection requires intention. It requires vulnerability. And sometimes, it requires learning how to do things differently than you have before.
WHAT IF YOU AREN'T SURE YOU WANT TO STAY?
Not every couple who walks into therapy knows whether they want to save their relationship.
Sometimes the hurt has gone on for so long—or the cycle of conflict, anger, avoidance, and disconnection has become so painful—that one or both partners are questioning whether they should stay together at all.
That’s where Discernment Counseling can help.
As a Certified Discernment Counselor, I work with couples who are considering separation or divorce and want clarity about what to do next. Discernment Counseling is different from traditional couples therapy. The goal isn’t to solve the relationship in the room. The goal is to understand the relationship, understand each other, and determine whether there is a path forward worth pursuing.
That may mean committing to repair. It may mean separating respectfully. Or it may mean taking the time to understand what has happened before making a life-changing decision.
You don’t have to know the answer before you come in.
MY APPROACH TO THERAPY
I believe I have to earn the right to advise you.
Especially in the beginning, that means I listen more than I speak. I want to understand your story—not just the problem that brought you through my door. I want to understand your experiences, your patterns, your strengths, your pain, and what you hope could be different.
You help guide the process. We start with what feels most important right now and build from there.
My approach draws from research-based therapies including Gottman Method Couples Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Family Systems, and Imago Therapy. I use these approaches flexibly because you are not a textbook, and your relationship isn’t a formula. Therapy should be responsive to the people in the room.
You can expect a space that is calm, compassionate, honest, and without judgment. There may be laughter. There may be tears. There may be moments that challenge you. But throughout the process, my goal is for you to feel seen, heard, and supported.
I want therapy to help you better understand yourself, trust your own voice, communicate what you need, and make meaningful changes in the way you relate to yourself and others.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME
My path to becoming a therapist wasn’t exactly a straight line.
I earned my degree in Hospitality from Johnson & Wales University in Charleston, South Carolina, and spent several years working as a wedding and events coordinator before moving into the corporate world.
Eventually, I found myself wanting something different—a career centered around deeper, more meaningful connection with people. That realization led me back to school, where I earned my Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy from Liberty University.
During my internship at Emerge Family Therapy in South Carolina, I worked with couples and families and quickly discovered how much I loved helping people find their way back to one another.
In 2021, my husband and I moved from South Carolina to Alabama, along with our beloved dog, to begin a new chapter. Since then, I’ve continued to develop my clinical skills and deepen my work with couples and individuals.
I have completed Level 2 training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy and am a Certified Discernment Counselor.
At the heart of my work is a simple belief: people are capable of meaningful change, relationships can heal, and feeling more connected—to yourself and to the people you love—is worth working toward.
You don’t have to have everything figured out before you reach out.
You just have to be ready for something to change.
✩ CREDENTIALS & TRAINING
GROUNDED IN RESEARCH, GUIDED BY CARE
Maybe you’ve had the same argument more times than you can count. Maybe you and your partner have stopped arguing altogether—but the distance between you feels just as painful.
LMFT
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
DISCERNMENT COUNSELOR CERTIFIED
Specialized training for couples on the brink.
GOTTMAN METHOD LEVEL 1 TRAINED
Research-based couples therapy
GOTTMAN METHOD LEVEL 2 TRAINED
Research-based couples therapy
M.A. IN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPY
Liberty University.
✩ READY WHEN YOU ARE
GROUNDED IN RESEARCH, GUIDED BY CARE
You don't have to have everything figured out before you reach out. You just have to be ready for something to change.
You just have to be ready for something to change.