Today we’d like to introduce you to Brenton Guice.
Hi Brenton, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I knew since high school that I wanted to be in a helping profession. Before I became a therapist, I spent my career working as a registered dental hygienist. Due to my own dental needs, I spent a lot of time visiting the dental office throughout my childhood which eventually grew into curiosity of the field. Fast forward a few years and I graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Dental Hygiene from the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Dental Hygiene program.
As the years passed, I fell into moments of burn out and displeasure toward my career. This led to an internal longing for self-discovery and change. I took a brief hiatus from dental hygiene and attempted to take my deep interest of photography into starting my own photography business which quickly became too difficult to maintain. Due to a variety of reasons, I made the decision to return to dental hygiene.
I woke up on a random day pondering what my future would look like. My 30th birthday was just a few years away and I made a pact with myself that by the time I turned 30, I would have a plan. Knowing that I still wanted to separate from dental hygiene, I started to focus more on what I enjoyed most about being a dental hygienist. I realized that my favorite part of my work was the people. Greeting them, shaking their hands, hearing their stories, and ultimately wanting them to enjoy coming to the dental office. I particularly loved helping patients with dental fear feel as comfortable as possible, improve on their confidence, and finding ways to get them to want to come back (fearful patients deserve adequate care, too)!
I’ll never forget the day when everything finally clicked. A patient I had been seeing regularly walked into the operatory. I could sense that something was off and after getting her seated, I sat down in my chair and asked, “Are you doing okay?” She immediately began crying and shared multiple grief related experiences. My hygienist time-oriented brain knew that we were running out of usable time for full clinical work. After offering active listening and compassion, I had to inform her of this realization. She was incredibly apologetic to which I replied “No apologies necessary. Let’s do what we can for today and let’s look for a time to reschedule the cleaning.”
At the end of the appointment, she began gathering her personal items. Before walking out of the operatory, she grabbed my forearm, looked me in the eyes and said “Thank you.” Embarrassingly, I didn’t know why she was thanking me because I was just doing what I always did – extending kindness. She said, “You listened to me. You didn’t judge me. I’ve shared some things with others and they always had something to say or told me what needed to happen. You actually listened. So thank you.”
When I got home that evening, it felt like the largest light bulb in my mind turned on. I realized that while my time as a dental hygienist was certainly not a waste, my career was meant to shift in a new direction. I took a chance on applying to the University of Saint Mary’s Master’s of Art in Counseling Psychology graduate program in Overland Park, KS. Ironically enough, I received the acceptance letter on my 30th birthday! In that moment, it just felt right. I eventually graduated and completed all the necessary hours to obtain full licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor!
It’s so surreal to think I now own and operate a small business/therapy practice. Especially as I remember years past when it felt like it was too late to pursue a career shift. Younger me would be floored to realize that this is where we are right now! I am incredibly grateful that I took a chance and through the fear and the unknowns, trusted myself enough to own a therapy practice and walk alongside the therapeutic journeys of anyone who needs it.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The graduate program and the provisional licensure process were definitely some of the biggest hurdles. Not just because of the academic load and intense financial and time commitments, but because life did not pause to let me get through it.
Those four years included many major personal events, life transitions, the weight of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the pressure of trying to balance being a dental hygienist, student, and husband. It took a lot of patience and recommitting to the dream I set out to pursue. I leaned heavily on my support system to which I am forever grateful. My husband, our fur babies, family, chosen family, and colleagues were the reminder that the work was worth it, even on the days when it didn’t feel easy. Their belief in me became a huge part of why I kept going.
And honestly, one of the major obstacles was myself. I’ve struggled with self-doubt for a long time, and during grad school it became impossible to ignore. So I made the decision to start my own therapy journey while I was in the middle of becoming a therapist myself. That work changed everything. It helped me begin healing old wounds, make sense of my own trauma, and rebuild parts of my self-worth that had been heavily guarded for years.
Looking back, these challenges played a huge role in shaping the kind of person, therapist, and business owner I am today.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I get asked about my business name, The Mental Hug, all the time and the truth is it didn’t start as a brand idea. It started as a moment.
Before I could build anything, my brain needed a name to anchor the vision. I hyper-fixated on it for weeks. I knew I could always default to my own name, but I wanted something that felt like me. Something that carried meaning, warmth, and intention.
One evening, my husband was out, the house was quiet, and our dogs were curled into me. I found myself thinking about my great-grandmother. Someone whose presence still feels like comfort long after she’s been gone. Grief has its own timing, and that night it came in soft but heavy waves. As I was sitting there crying, I felt this sudden warmth settle over me. Without thinking, I said out loud, “Thanks, Grandma. It felt like you just gave me a hug … like a mental hug.”
I sat straight up.
“That’s it,” I said, “The Mental Hug!”
From that moment, everything immediately fell into place. The name wasn’t just a label, it was the feeling I wanted people to experience. Something interpretive and personal, something people could connect with in their own way.
The Mental Hug has become the heart of my work. I want people to leave my space, whether it’s a therapy session, an event, or even just reading something I’ve written, feeling like their soul has been hugged. Hugs don’t have to be physical; sometimes they’re energetic, emotional, or simply felt in the way someone sees you.
My therapy practice focuses on adults (ages 18 years and older) navigating grief, trauma, life transitions, and LGBTQIA+ journeys. And soon, I’m expanding into community-centered gatherings for connection, care, and shared healing. In a world where so many people feel isolated, these gatherings will hopefully feel like a collective exhale.
The dreamer in me has big plans for The Mental Hug and I’m excited to keep growing it into something even more meaningful as the years pass by.
What matters most to you? Why?
This is really difficult to answer. As I have aged, I have found meaning and importance in many things so I am not quite sure how to gauge what matters the most. But perhaps, in this moment in time what matters most to me is connection. The kind that reminds people they’re not alone.
I think that comes from a time in my life when I didn’t feel that.
The Mental Hug didn’t start as a business idea, it started as a feeling. There was a season when I dealt with my own grief, identity questions, and that heaviness of trying to hold everything together. What I remember most from that time wasn’t one big moment, it was the lack of genuine connection. I sought out to create a space for others that I wish I had in my most vulnerable moments. A space where you don’t have to explain or defend who you are just to be heard and understood. And most importantly, valued.
When it comes to connection, I’m thinking about those moments: when someone finally exhales because they feel safe, when their shoulders drop because they don’t have to perform, and/or when they feel seen without having to say much at all.
I am working to continue fostering connection in any way I can. In therapy sessions, in the community events I aim to eventually host, in the mental health merchandise that I will soon make public. It’s all rooted in the same hope of helping people feel seen, understood, and less alone.
Pricing:
- At this time, $125 per session.
- Sliding scale rates are available.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thementalhug.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thementalhug/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thementalhug
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@thementalhug
