Licensed Mental Health Counselor
Hello,
My name is Daniel Garner-Quintero and I am beyond excited and humbled to be joining the Life Skills Resource Group Team! I am hoping what follows here will serve as an introduction to myself and my work! Mental health is a field in which I have always been interested and becoming a therapist is the fulfillment of and the beginning to a lifelong dream!
“Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.” -Leo Buscaglia
I’ll let your beliefs determine how you interpret and interact with this quote, but for me I believe the work I do is nothing less than my calling. I consider it an honor to sit with my clients and serve as a witness to their beauty, strength and pain.
I initially entered this field keenly interested in human gender and sexuality and this is still a large part of my work in therapy. I currently work full-time at UCF working with students in the counseling center. My work there includes helping clients manage and deal with depression, anxiety, and stress. I also serve as the facilitator for the GLB Support Group and help LGBTQ++ clients address concerns related to relationships, coming-out, family, mental health, social pressures, cultural expectations, and an assortment of other concerns. I work with our Trans* Care Team to provide gender affirmation services – both in therapy and through letters of support for adjunct services (i.e. HRT letters). This is work that I love and about which I am passionate.
As I have continued to learn and grow as a therapist, I have come to believe that experience is the greatest teacher and that my clients come to therapy with a lifetime of experiences which have shaped them. I also believe that therapy can create a space for new experiences. My work has now expanded to work with people who have experienced trauma – both “big T” and “little t.” I have sat with those who have experienced daily traumas of invalidation or chronic relationship disconnection (and yes, that is traumatizing) and with those who have experienced horrific instances of interpersonal violence. I have been struck by their capacity to learn and grow! I have watched them work to accept their experience while simultaneously refusing to allow it to define them.
I would be so privileged to have the opportunity to work with you and would encourage you to contact our office today for a phone consultation with myself or one of our other counselors – 407/355.7378.