Bowen Technique & Therapy, frequently asked questions

The Bowen Technique is a remedial therapy tool. It is used by therapists to mainly help people who are in pain or discomfort for one reason or another. It is a gentle therapy that works over the soft tissue of the client and features lots of rests in between moves to allow the body to start working with the information. Developed by Tom Bowen, many valid forms of his work exist in the world today.

A Bowen therapist uses thumbs and fingers on precise points on the body to make rolling-type moves which aim to disturb the muscles, soft tissue and energy within the body. The moves are very small and gentle and many clients are surprised at how effective the treatment is, with many falling asleep during the session. At certain points during the treatment, the therapist will leave the room for short periods of time in order to allow the body to absorb and respond to the changes being asked of it. By initiating a deep sense of relaxation, the body is therefore encouraged to heal itself.

It is important to point out that Bowen is NOT a form of massage.

Bowen can be safely and effectively practiced on people of all ages, from newborn babies and pregnant women (especially when experiencing back and pelvic pain during pregnancy) to geriatrics and everyone else in between. It can also be used to treat animals.

The Bowen Technique is a holistic treatment, therefore it treats the body as a whole however it has been useful in the treatment of many ailments and conditions including:

back pain and sciatica	sports injuries
skeletal and muscular problems	frozen shoulder
RSI	tennis elbow
allergies and hay fever	respiratory problems (including asthma)
digestive problems	migraine and headaches
fibromyalgia	back pain during pregnancy

Since Bowen is NOT a form of massage and oils are not used in the treatment, most of the work can be done through light clothing.

The treatment itself usually lasts around one hour, during which there are short periods of time in which the client is left resting to absorb the gentle moves that have been performed. Many people can feel the effects of Bowen immediately after treatment, but for others the body may need up to 3- 4 days to respond to the treatment. This is quite normal. Two or three treatments at weekly intervals are often sufficient to achieve lasting relief from even long standing pain, although further treatments may be required on a maintenance basis.

Bowen is a holistic treatment and following a detailed discussion between client and therapist, all treatments are tailored to individual needs.

The Bowen Technique differs from any other forms of therapy in that it does not attempt to inflict the will of the therapist or a specific outcome onto the patient. By treating the whole body, Bowen allows the body to select what it needs to heal, realign and rebalance itself. You may think you have a problem with your shoulder when in fact, the problem stems from your lower back. By treating holistically, Bowen therapists aim to find the source of the pain rather than the pain itself - we treat the 'criminal' not the 'victim'.

All these therapies are excellent therapies, but Bowen differs in several respects. Osteopaths and chiropractors often use adjustments, or 'cracks' to realign the structure of the body. They will make a diagnosis of the patient and treat the area of concern. With Bowen therapy the approach is rather different. The therapist will take a case history, but the treatment does not set out to treat specific conditions or ailments. Instead the body is treated as a whole unit, without referral to named disease. For instance if someone came to a Bowen therapist with cancer, we would not claim to be able to help the cancer or even to treat it. Instead we are trying to help the person.

While one can see that there are points that are on or very close to acupuncture points, this is not the approach that is taught. Many practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine comment on the moves and their relationship to meridian points, but there is nothing consistent enough to draw comparisons. Tom Bowen drew much of his knowledge from books and an understanding of meridian points seems quite probable.

There are no guarantees here, because everyone responds differently, but on average the number of treatments required for say, a stiff neck or back is around three. Some problems need more treatments and some even less, but what won't happen is that you will be required to have a long course of treatment, only to find that it hasn't helped. Although there are never any promises, you should in most cases start to see change fairly quickly.