Bowen History

Thomas Amborse Bowen (1916—1982) began developing his technique in the 1950’s in Geelong, Australia. He notice that certain moves on the body had particular effects. He had no previous formal training in any modality or discipline. He explained his work was a ‘gift from God’. Tom Bowen was very busy in his Geelong clinic, performing about 13000 treatments a year.

Mr. Bowen met Oswald (Ossie) Rentsch in 1974. Ossie asked if he could learn from him. For the next two and a half years, Ossie studied Mr. Bowen’s Technique and was ultimately authorized by Tom Bowen to document the work. Mr. Bowen had no notes, charts or manuals, but with the help of Rene Horwood, Ossie produced a true representation of Mr. Bowen’s original technique.

In 1976, Ossie and his wife Elaine began utilizing Mr. Bowen’s methods in their clinic in Hamilton, Victoria, Australia.

Honouring Tom Bowen’s request to teach the work after his death, Ossie and Elaine named it ‘The Bowen Technique' and held their first seminar in Perth, Australia in 1986. By 1990, Mr. and Mrs. Rentch were teaching full time throughout Australia. Dedicated to preserving the technique and ensuring it was taught in its original form, they founded the Bowen Therapy Academy of Australia in 1987, eventually naming the technique ‘Bowtech—the Bowen Technique’. Since then, Ossie and Elaine have introduced Bowtech to many countries throughout the world. Health care professionals are impressed by the effectiveness of this treatment and the diversity of problems addressed by Bowen Therapy.