“I do lots of different things, including writing, speaking, running events and workshops, which all centre around supporting mothers to feel seen and to reconnect with who they are after having children,” she said.
Mrs Bensch previously worked as a life and small business coach before having children, but after experiencing periods of mental illness and a loss of confidence, she decided to specialise in supporting mothers.
“About four years into my motherhood journey, I hit what I call the black hole, where I felt like I was invisible and I’d lost myself,” she said.
This led her to study matrescence; the emotional, psychological, physical, spiritual and social transition of becoming a mother.
“The way of thinking of it, it is like adolescence, where in adolescence, we go from being a child to an adult, but that doesn’t happen overnight,” Mrs Bensch said.
“Matrescence is the same.
“It is the transition from becoming a woman to becoming a woman and a mother.”
Her book, Seen Again, explores that profound change.
“It takes the reader through five stages,” she said, describing a journey from feeling invisible through to feeling seen.
She refers to a mother's true self as her ‘inner campfire’.
“It is about helping people to know and love the new version of themselves, rather than fighting to get back to this pre-motherhood self that we grieve for,” she said.
Mrs Bensch said the desire to be seen was universal.
“Wanting to be seen and heard is a very human thing, meaning the sense of being acknowledged, validated and understood for who you truly are and feeling safe to be yourself,” she said.
“You start to question, where did I go, who is this new version of me?”
Benita Bensch will appear at Campaspe Libraries in Echuca on Thursday, July 30, at 6.30pm.
This event is free; however, bookings are required by calling 03 5481 2400.
