About Rita Quintero, LMHC
Addiction therapist. Licensed Mental Health Counselor.
Someone who understands that change rarely begins with having all the answers.
I'm Rita Quintero, a Florida Licensed Mental Health Counselor specializing in addiction, substance use, and recovery. I work with adults who may be questioning their relationship with alcohol or drugs, trying to make a change, rebuilding after a setback, or learning how to live differently in recovery.
My approach is direct, compassionate, and deeply respectful of the person sitting across from me. I don't believe shame helps people change. I believe being able to talk honestly about what's happening—sometimes for the first time—does.
I Understand This From More Than One Side
My understanding of addiction isn't only professional. I also know what it is like to experience addiction personally—and what it takes to begin rebuilding a life.
That experience doesn't mean I assume I know what you're going through. Your story is your own. But it does mean that when you talk about shame, fear, denial, ambivalence, relapse, damaged relationships, or the uncertainty of trying to change, I'm not approaching those experiences only from what I've learned in a classroom or a clinical setting.
I know that recovery can be complicated. I know that people can desperately want things to be different and still struggle to change. And I know that being judged rarely makes any of it easier.
That's one of the reasons I created Just Start Here Counseling. You don't have to arrive ready to call yourself an addict. You don't have to promise that you'll never drink or use again. You don't have to convince me that you're serious enough to deserve help.
You just have to be willing to start the conversation.
Experience That Goes Beyond the Therapy Room
Before opening Just Start Here Counseling, I spent years working in behavioral health and addiction treatment, providing counseling and eventually leading clinical and multidisciplinary teams serving adults with substance use disorders, co-occurring mental health concerns, and complex life circumstances.
My experience includes residential and outpatient addiction treatment, assessment and treatment planning, crisis intervention, relapse prevention, discharge planning, and helping people transition from structured treatment back into everyday life. I've also worked extensively with individuals involved in the criminal justice system and with people whose recovery is complicated by relationships, housing, employment, health concerns, and other real-world challenges.
As a behavioral health leader, I supervised clinicians and multidisciplinary professionals and helped oversee services across a large residential treatment program. That experience taught me something I bring into every therapy session: addiction rarely affects just one part of a person's life, and meaningful recovery requires understanding the whole person—not simply focusing on whether someone is using a substance.
Today, I've chosen to bring that experience into a smaller, more personal practice where I can focus on the part of this work that has always mattered most to me: sitting with one person, hearing the whole story, and figuring out together what comes next.
Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC)
State of Florida · License MH23709
Master of Science in Counseling Psychology
Nova Southeastern University
Bachelor of Music in Studio Music & Jazz
University of Miami
Professional Focus
Addiction · Substance Use · Recovery · Relapse Prevention · Co-Occurring Mental Health Concerns · Motivational Interviewing · Brief Solution Focused Therapy
Clinical Training & Credentials
My clinical training provides the foundation for my work, but I believe good therapy requires more than credentials. It requires curiosity, honesty, compassion, and the ability to listen closely enough to understand the person behind the symptoms.
Life Doesn't Always Follow a Straight Line
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Life Doesn't Always Follow a Straight Line *
Before becoming a therapist, I spent more than 25 years as a professional musician. I performed, toured, and recorded extensively, building a career in an industry where creativity, pressure, identity, relationships, and performance are often deeply intertwined.
Eventually, my life took me in a very different direction. I returned to school, entered the behavioral health field, and built a second career centered on addiction, recovery, and helping people navigate change.
Those two careers may look completely unrelated, but I've come to see an important connection between them. Both have taught me to listen closely—to what someone is saying, to what they're not saying, and to the patterns underneath it all.
They've also taught me that a life can change direction without losing everything that came before it.
Sometimes starting over isn't really starting over. It's taking everything you've lived through and figuring out what comes next.
A first career that taught me a lot about listening:
Where You Are Now Is Enough
You don't need to have your future figured out before starting therapy. You don't need to know exactly what you want to change, and you don't need to have the right words to explain what's happening.
We can start with where you are today.
If you're questioning your relationship with alcohol or substances, trying to maintain recovery, finding your way back after a setback, or simply wondering whether it's time to talk to someone, I'd be glad to meet you.