Robert Richards

About Robert Richards

Robert is curious about why people do what they do. He likes looking underneath the obvious problem to see what past experiences, relationships, beliefs, or emotional patterns may still be shaping the present. Understanding the “why” is not the end of therapy for him, but it can make the next step a lot clearer.

Robert’s route to counseling was not exactly a straight line. He earned his Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Southern New Hampshire University, but before that he studied anthropology at the University of Virginia and completed graduate work in sustainable food systems at the University of Vermont. To Robert, those fields are not as unrelated as they might sound. All of them ask you to look closely at people, environments, histories, and the forces that shape how we live.

Robert primarily enjoys working with adults and is also continuing to build experience with adolescents. Clients often come in dealing with anxiety, depression, chronic stress, relationship patterns, or simply the feeling that life is not going the way they thought it would. He often looks at attachment and trauma to understand how earlier relationships or emotional wounds may still be influencing what someone expects from themselves and other people.

Robert combines insight with practical skills such as emotional regulation, mindfulness, distress tolerance, and self-compassion. He can be empathetic and nonjudgmental without being vague. If he notices a pattern, he is willing to name it. He wants clients to feel safe enough to be honest and to know that honesty can go both ways.

For Robert, progress has to show up somewhere outside the therapy room. It might look like speaking up for a need, making room for self-care, responding differently in a relationship, letting an emotion exist without immediately trying to shut it down, or making a choice that feels more like your own.