the history of his method

The miraculous work that has helped thousands and touched countless others the world over owes so much to this man's tireless efforts, who continued to refine his methods right up to the last day upon his death. 

The principle of his method, known generally around the world today as Bowen / Bowenwork Therapy was to instigate a change in the body which would reactivate the body's innate healing capabilities and allow the body to heal itself.  Through his methods and his enormously successful practice, Tom Bowen was able to do this so well that he became famous during his lifetime in Australia and a legend after his death all over the world.  

Thomas Ambrose Bowen was born in April, 1916, in Brunswick, Australia and died in October of 1982.  He devoted his lifetime to pioneering and developing a unique and innovative healing approach in Geelong, Australia that he referred to as soft tissue therapy.  In 1975 it was documented by the Australian Government in a survey on natural therapies, that he was treating around 13,000 patients per year, a remarkable number considering that the majority would only receive two treatments each.  His work was based on his approach of “resetting” the tension in dysfunctional muscle groups, with mandatory time delays between sets of moves.

As a youngster, Tom left school at the age of 14 and worked at a series of laboring jobs, eventually taking up his father's trade of carpentry and working as a general hand at Geelong cement works.  It was at that time that he began to treat people, eventually expanding to a full time practice.  He started practicing on the local junior football clubs and treated the general public after hours until his practice began to flourish.  His practice grew to amazing proportions and it is said that he treated between 50 to 60 patients a day.  He regularly treated disabled people free of charge and would make home visits to those who could not reach his clinic.

Tom Bowen did not believe in long-term treatments and the majority received only two or three treatments each.  He soon became famous for curing the incurable and his reputation grew in leaps and bounds.  

Despite the popularity of Bowen Therapy, very little is known of Tom Bowen himself or of how he developed his method, which has further added to the mystery behind this method.  It has been often said that he was a relatively quiet man who had a sincere concern for humanity as well as a passion for sports, especially swimming, and he was actively involved in coaching young people.   He married in the early nineteen forties and had three children.  He considered himself an osteopath.  Many accounts reported that Tom Bowen had what was described as a hypersensitivity of the fingers and hands which allowed him to find blockages in the muscular and nervous systems of the body.  He claimed that he could sense nerve vibrations.  His work did not stop with just humans as he also achieved great success for his methods on animals such as race horses and house pets.  

Despite his miraculous method that had treated thousands, he was refused membership to the osteopathic council in 1982, a major disappointment to him as it meant that his patients could not claim his services on their medical insurance.

Tom Bowen has passed on, but before he died, he taught his work to Oswald Rentsch who, along with his wife Elaine, have undertaken the enormous task of teaching this valuable technique in many countries around the world. Since 1986, Ossie and Elaine (the principals of The Bowen Therapy Academy of Australia) have taught people from all walks of life, including doctors, nurses, chiropractors, physical therapists and massage therapists who have been so inspired, to include the work into their practices.

Today, over 40 years after his death, the legacy of Tom Bowen is still alive and grows year by year with each success story.  Due to its amazing success, the Bowen method continues to grow in popularity among a variety of therapist groups including osteopaths, chiropractors, physiotherapists, massage therapists, doctors, dentists, kinesiologists, sports doctors, psychologists, naturopaths and many other health professionals.