How Bowen Therapy Came To Be

In the early Sixties in Australia, Thomas Ambrose Bowen (1916–1982) pioneered the healing practice that is now referred to as Bowenwork or Bowen Therapy.

As a young man, it was his passion for soccer that placed him on the field offering massage to injured players. But it wasn’t till 1959, while working at a cement factory in Geelong that an accident involving a fellow laborer brought his healing powers to light. Without hesitation, Tom Bowen felt inspired to reach over and “do a few little moves” on the injured man.

From then on, his reputation only grew. Soon he was treating people after hours in his home. One year later, he began a full-time practice in what he called “soft tissue manipulation.”

Tom Bowen was gifted with unusually sensitive hands that allowed him to trace nerve pathways and blockages through the muscular system. Over time, he developed a system which activates the nervous system to restore deep innate patterns in the body. In 1973, the Victorian government documented him as treating 280 people per day, or 13,000 clients in a year, with the help of one receptionist and several assistants.

At the time of his death, there were only six men who had been trained in his technique—“his boys” as he called them. One of these men, Ossie Rentsch, spent eight years documenting Bowen’s work. Though Tom did not formally teach the technique himself, he authorized Ossie to “take the work to the world after I die.” Ossie and his wife Elaine taught their first seminar in 1986 in Perth, Australia, and they continue to spread the work throughout the world.

I feel most fortunate to carry on the legacy of Tom Bowen’s genius. At the heart of this work remains the concept that “less is more”, as well as a commitment to serve with compassion. Bowenwork has now been taught in 25 countries to over 18,000 people. In the United States, we have eleven instructors and 250 registered practitioners, with numbers rapidly increasing.