Anita Bentata is a psychotherapist based in Melbourne who specialises in domestic abuse within relationships. Growing up, Anita had a troublesome childhood as she was neglected by her own parents. Leaving home at 16, she married a man who was extremely emotionally abusive and often threatened Anita that he ‘had a place to bury her dead body’. Anita eventually left the man who had made her life hell and tuned to therapy as a way to deal with the baggage from her relationship. Now, 23 years later, Anita is using her experience to help women who are/ have been suffocated by emotional abuse by telling her story, listening to others and helping survivors move onto the next chapter.
Anita became employed at Southern Family Life counselling, she then became qualified as a Soul Centred psychotherapist and counsellor at the Kairos Centre, Melbourne. In 2001, she opened her own psychotherapy practice.The recognition of the close connection between stress, trauma, disease and ill health led her to further train as a Certified Integrative Health Coach. In 2014, Anita was invited to be a keynote speaker at a White Ribbon event and this began her work and direction as a public speaker about domestic violence. She wrote her first book in 2016 ‘The Wolf in a Suit’. Anita now runs her own workshops, talks, books, consultation and domestic abuse training.
My conversation with Anita opened my eyes to the science behind emotional abuse and why it is often not as recognizable as physical abuse. It also enlightened me to the psychological reasons why people feel trapped and unable to escape despite their relationship causing them despair.
Anita centers her beliefs around the ‘feminine principle hemispherectomy’ which she describes as the forceful act of removing the feminine principles as unnecessary, and so only valuing the masculine principle.
I will be posting a link to my Soundcloud where you can listen to bits of my interview with Anita very soon.
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