Thomas Ambrose Bowen was born on 18 April 1916 in Brunswick, Victoria, Australia, a suburb of Melbourne. From the 1950s until his death on 27 October 1982 he developed his unique soft-tissue therapeutic technique that is now known as The Bowen Technique. He had no formal training or qualifications in any therapeutic background; he had worked in various labouring jobs, including milk carter and general hand at a woollen mill.
He was married in the early days of World War 2 to Jessie and lived with Tom's parents in Geelong, Victoria. Keen Salvationists, Tom Bowen ran a Salvation Army Boy's Club, which was hugely popular and where he would coach youngsters in various sports especially swimming and he developed an interest in massage and body work and observed football trainers and others involved with sports.
Tom Bowen helped Rene Horwood the wife of his friend Stan Horwood, who credited Rene’s recovery from a stroke to Bowen's hands-on therapy. It was In 1957 Stan and Rene invited Tom Bowen to use their home for seeing patients in the evenings after work. The front room of their home at 100 Autumn Street, Geelong, became Tom Bowen's first clinic.
Rene Horwood was receptionist and business manager in Bowen's practice. Rene together with Ossie Rentsch helped Tom Bowen develop some of his techniques. Rene died in September 2001 at the age of 93. Tom Bowen was under no restrictions about how he should run his clinic and as such, and as the clinic times were only two hours long, and Bowen worked at a rate of something like 14 patients per hour, his clients wait would rarely be a long one.
Talk was minimal in Bowen's clinic, with patients being told not to see any other therapist and that "If I don't get you in two (sessions) go away and save your money". Both points were good advice as Bowen was able to 'see' whether clients had indeed been treated by another therapist. In addition, the majority of treatments were first or second visits, Bowen not believing in extended therapy. Another reason for the minimising of chat, was that Tom Bowen was profoundly deaf and wore two hearing aids. His assistants escorted the patients into the treatment rooms, took their histories, helped get them onto the treatment beds in the appropriate position, and loosened their clothing so that Bowen could make best use of his time often using a method of clicking his fingers to signify to his assistants when he had finished what he was doing.
His uncanny ability to assess each person's needs with little verbal or hands-on interaction. He was aware of the specific 'moves' that were needed (as well as how much hands-on work might be too much for them) by observing them in the waiting room and treatment room.
Before Tom Bowen rented his first outside clinic, he went to the authorities to register his practice. They told him that only physiotherapists were required to register; if he called himself anything else, he wouldn't have to register. He called himself an osteopath because that was his philosophical and practical approach to healing. In the early 1970s, however, the regulations were changed; osteopaths, chiropractors, and naturopaths would be required to be licensed and to register with the government.
Tom Bowen later allowed only a few therapists to come and learn from him. Oswald Rentsch, a natural therapist practicing massage and osteopathy became Tom Bowen's apprentice and scribe, documenting his treatments.
Tom Bowen asked Oswald Rentsch to accompany him and together be assessed by the Osteopaths & Chiropractors Board of Victoria for registration. Their application was denied on the grounds of not having a diploma from a registered academy and refusing to answer abstract questions – saying instead that they had to see and touch clients in order to know which moves would be appropriate in each particular case. According to evidence that he gave to the Osteopathy, Chiropractic and Naturopathic Committee Enquiry in 1973, he said that the only study he had undertaken was from books that he found useful and that all he had learned was self taught. After being denied recognition as osteopaths they changed their titles from ‘osteopathy’ to ‘manual therapists'.
Tom Bowen was demoralised by this rejection, in part because his patients would not become eligible for insurance coverage for his treatments. His concern for his patients' wellbeing and his lack of interest in money were legendary. Tom Bowen's work was not a systemised series of moves or techniques, but more a piece of music that would change according the mood of the orchestra and the temperament of the conductor. What Bowen could 'see' was not something that could be verbalised or classified in the strictest sense as of diagnosis. He just knew where there was an imbalance and had the ability to know when that imbalance was changing.
Oswald Rentsch started teaching his interpretation of the work in 1982 after Bowen's death. He has claimed that Bowen commissioned Rentsch to document the work and on his 'deathbed' told Rentsch to go and take it out into the world. This claim, along with many other stories and claims subsequently demonstrated to be untrue has never been independently verified, but it was certainly due to Oswald Rentsch that the work did indeed become as widespread around the world as it is today.
In the summer of 2003 Tom Bowen’s daughters Heather Edmonds and Pam Trigg, were invited to the UK by ECBS to undertake a speaking tour. This massively popular event took in four venues in the UK and one in Holland. Pam and Heather spoke movingly and humourously about their father Tom, their memories of his work and the relationships he formed with people as a result.
Description and benefits of the Bowen Technique
Bowen Technique works primarily through the nervous system on both structural and energetic levels. The work consists of a series of soft tissue moves performed over muscles, tendons and ligaments which stimulate energy flow. There are frequent important pauses between sets of moves, which give the body time to benefit from each set. By selecting appropriate combinations and sequences of moves, the practitioner is able to address the body as a whole, and/or to target one or more specific problems. The physical, chemical, emotional and mental aspects of each person receiving Bowen Technique can all respond as needed. The practitioner discerns stress build-up in muscle groups and utilizes Bowen Technique moves to release that stress. Bowen Technique allows the body to reset and heal itself.
Bowen Therapy works because it releases stored energy that can cause dehydration of muscles and muscle tension within the body. The Bowen Technique application releases the blood trapped in these muscles and redistributes it through the body. Blood flow is vital as it carries all the nutrients and minerals our bodies need to maintain health. The ideal time for a Bowen Technique session is immediately after an injury. That way, your body can overcome the trauma before it begins to compensate for it. Application of the technique involves stimulation of precise points on the body, points generally progress from the torso/core of the body outward. In most first sessions, the points used are on the back, buttocks, hamstrings, shoulder, neck, and knees. The hands-on work usually lasts between 15 and 45 minutes and worked in groups of 2 - 8 points at a time.
The benefits of Bowen Technique is a deep sense of overall relaxation and lessening of muscular tension and pain, resulting from the body’s balancing and improved flow of internal energy. The restorative process begins once the body is relaxed. It is common for people to fall asleep during a session.
Governing bodies of the Bowen Technique
Bowen Therapists' European Register (BTER) Europe's largest and only independent Bowen organization.
European College of Bowen Studies (ECBS) training here is recognised for membership in the Bowen Therapy European Register (BTER).
The Bowen Association of the UK (BA(UK)
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