Instructors

	Meet Our Instructors The following individuals are registered Instructors in the United States. They are BTAA qualified to teach Bowenwork^® and are highly skilled practitioners themselves. Only courses taught by instructors registered with the Bowen Therapy Academy of Australia (or Bowtech) will count toward your BTAA education.
	Pratiti Fullerton, St. Helens, OR 503-397-0429 health@sthelensbowenwork.com Click here for Pratiti's website A strong interest in complementary healing led Pratiti to begin studying massage and bodywork therapy in 1984. After running a successful massage practice for ten years, she became intrigued with what she heard about Bowenwork, a type of therapy new to the USA. Pratiti scheduled an appointment for a Bowenwork session. After the very first session of repetitive strain injuries she had - from years of doing deep-tissue massage - started to heal. Now this was exciting! Pratiti had learned that gentle touch could stimulate profound healing at a much deeper level than she’d ever seen with other therapies. Pratiti was now “hooked”. She attended her first Bowenwork course in 1996 and began introducing her clients to its many benefits. In 1998 she completed Bowenwork training and became an Accredited Bowenwork Practitioner. After relocating to Oregon she established the St. Helens Bowenwork Clinic. Her practice grows continuously, primarily via referrals from satisfied clients. In 2007 Pratiti became certified by The Bowenwork Academy of Australia, as a Registered Bowenwork Instructor - 1 of 11 in the USA. Pratiti’s mission is to provide gentle, effective healthcare in a safe and serene environment. Sessions at her clinic not only include relaxing hands-on sessions, but also health education and suggestions for improving total wellness.
	Sandra Gustafson - Bodega Bay, CA 707-528-4372 sandragustafson@bowenworkforlife.com Click here for Sandra's website Sandra Leahy Gustafson BSN RN, is a senior instructor with the Bowen Therapy Academy of Australia, currently living in Northern California, USA. The USA is currently the third place on the planet that she now calls "home". She grew up in South Africa, where she trained as a Registered Nurse. The urge to travel bit her when she finished her Nursing training and she embarked on a trip that took her to many places, exploring many different countries and cultures. Instead of returning to South Africa, she decided to settle in Australia for 15 years, where she specialized in Intensive Care Nursing and also, undertook a 4-year Naturopathic course to become a Naturopathic Practitioner. In 1991, she opened her Naturopathic practice in Cairns and the Atherton Tablelands, in Far North Queensland, and looked forward to using all her new skills. During this time, she was afflicted with a persistently painful right elbow that did not appear to respond to any of her natural therapy treatments, or any conventional methods. It became quite distressing, and she was unable to do the deep tissue massage and bodywork that she learned in Naturopathic School. Fortunately, one of her colleagues in the clinic (Manfred Zainzinger, who is now an instructor in Austria) had studied Bowen Technique, and was able to help her fully recover. She was so impressed that she decided to learn this amazing work and studied with Ossie and Elaine Rentsch as soon as she could. It was the beginning of another journey for her. She had never learned to work with something so simple, yet so profound and effective in helping people's bodies to heal, as Bowenwork^®. She gave up practicing all other forms of bodywork, and has been doing it ever since. In 1994, Ossie and Elaine invited her to join them in teaching this remarkable work and she became an instructor with the Bowen Therapy Academy of Australia. She has taught many students in Australia as well as in the States. To Sandra, Bowenwork resonates with her understanding of how Homoeopathy works. It gently coaxes the vital force and the innate power of the mind, body and spirit to find homoeostasis (natural balance) again, and thereby facilitates healing.
	Abby LaRock - Peterborough, New Hampshire 603-924-7814 rock.ot@comcast.net Click here for Abby's website Abby LaRock has been a practicing Occupational Therapist for over 32 years, serving infant through geriatric clients. Certified and licensed in many health and healing modalities, Abby has worked in private practice and in traditional rehabilitative settings, including hospital outpatient and inpatient, long-term and acute care facilities, public schools and a variety of developmental programs. Abby was at a turning point in her career when she found Bowenwork. She wanted to understand and treat the body in a different, gentler way. She now feels that Bowenwork found her. Since beginning her Bowenwork practice in 2005, Abby has focused on this wonderful therapy. Her knowledge of traditional medicine, disease processes and rehabilitation supports the healing that clients achieve through Bowenwork. Every patient she has served through an active, full time Bowenwork practice improves more fully and quickly and with results deeper in the body than with traditional medicine alone. Having fullfilled the requirements to become an Instructor in Bowenwork, Abby is now ready to share her knowledge with others. She looks forward to guiding and sharing experiences with students as she helps them master the Art of Bowenwork.
	Vicki Mechner - Springfield, VA 703-455-0111 vmechner@mindspring.com Vicki Mechner has been a Bowenwork practitioner since 1996 and an instructor for the Bowen Therapy Academy of Australia since 2001. She teaches primarily in the area around Washington, D.C., and maintains a private practice in Springfield, Virginia. Vicki discovered Bowenwork quite by chance in 1995 while recovering from a repetitive stress injury. Amazed by the results, she took the first available training she could. At first she split her practice almost equally between Bowenwork and Rubenfeld Synergy (a type of body-oriented psychotherapy she had trained in previously). But after observing that Bowenwork was often effective with complaints ranging from anxiety and panic attacks to depression, Vicki's practice evolved to where it is now exclusively Bowenwork. She is nationally certified in therapeutic massage and bodywork. Vicki's original training was in curriculum design and educational technology. Her insight into the way that different people learn contributes to her effectiveness as an instructor. She keeps her classes small in order to ensure ample individual feedback. In addition to teaching Bowenwork to massage therapists, Vicki has also taught acupuncturists, chiropractors, homeopaths, occupational therapists, osteopaths, and physical therapists, as well as lay-people. She enjoys learning from her students as well as teaching them. Unlike most Bowenwork instructors, Vicki studied anatomy, physiology, massage and bodywork after she was already a Bowenwork practitioner, rather than before. As she often tells her students, "If I could learn this, anyone can!"; Committed to her student's mastery of Bowenwork, Vicki is noted for her precision, innovative teaching aids, good humor, and between-class support. In 2002, Vicki was an invited speaker at the Australian BTAA Conference in Adelaide, on the topic of research into Bowenwork. Since that first trip, she has returned to Australia several times for additional research and study in and around the city where Tom Bowen developed and practiced his work. Vicki is an advisor to the Tom Bowen Legacy Trust Fund, an Australian charity that benefits children with disabilities. She reported on the activities of the Trust Fund at the International Bowenwork Conference at Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut) in June 2006.
	Gretchen Miles, Snohomish, WA 360-568-7075 gretchen@bowenworknw.com Click here for Gretchen's website Gretchen Miles' passion for bodywork originated when she was very young and encouraged while attending college. Her formal bodywork training began as a second career or "late in life", when she realized that her call to work with people was to be in a "healing art" not in the corporate world. Gretchen has been licensed as a massage practitioner in Washington State since 1996.In 2003, she was introduced to Bowenwork by a colleague. Amazed at the results she experienced in her own body, she became a registered practitioner which quickly expanded her practice. She currently practices Bowenwork full time in her clinic. Gretchen is thrilled to be able to share Bowenwork with others as an instructor. Whether a student is motivated to learn Bowenwork as an extension of his/her current healthcare practice or he/she would like to improve the lives of family or friends, Gretchen is very excited to be introducing this amazing technique to others. Bowenwork has the ability to expand a persons' exposure to healing, exponentially! Her classes are full of information, loads of hands-on time, and fun! Her students will learn more about his/her own path of healing and how to assist other's in discovering a way to live a whole, vibrant life! Bowenwork is a tremendous tool to support each person's healing process. Gretchen has seen astonishing changes in people's lives!
	Kevin Minney, Alameda, CA 510-333-4324 bowenpainrelief@earthlink.net Click here for Kevin's website Kevin has been doing bodywork for 30 years, with nine years experience as lead therapist for a sports and orthopedic clinic, five years experience in the same capacity with chiropractic clinics. He came to learn Bowenwork in 1995 and became an instructor in 2001. He taught Pathology for Massage Therapists at Western Institute for Science and Health, and taught Anatomy and Physiology on-line. He was a state and local board member of the American Massage Therapy Association. He originated the use of models for Bowenwork training. He has presented Bowenwork for the AMTA, St. Francis Sports Medicine Center and at Stanford Medical school. He sees himself as an agent for healthy change, whether teaching or practicing Bowenwork.
	Alexia Monroe, Prescott, AZ 928-443-9355 alexia@bowenworks.com Click here for Alexia's website Alexia Monroe has been involved in holistic health for 35 years. In her teens, she became involved in yoga, meditation, and healthful eating. But after contracting a crippling arthritis at 25 years old, she had to add to her knowledge considerably to find her way out of that condition. Through focusing the next 7 years on healing her immune system, she became symptom-free. She explored the healing process again for 2 years after developing chronic fatigue syndrome in her late 30's. She thinks she might have gotten it right this time -- in her 50's, she is young and healthy. She is experienced in a wide range of healing modalities. A licensed massage technician since 1984, she has also studied Reiki and hypnotherapy, and has practiced the Rayid Method of iris interpretation for 20 years. She edited three books on the subject by the founder of Rayid, Denny Johnson, and worked beside him on his tours of Brazil in 1994 and 1996. While in Brazil, she introduced Bowenwork to many enthusiastic people. The first classes in Brazil were taught in 2007. Since Alexia first learned Bowenwork in 1993, it has been the exclusive physical modality of her private practice. She says, "I devote myself to Bowenwork because I have not found its equal in any other therapy in the world". She has been a Senior Instructor for the Bowen Therapy Academy of Australia since 1996, and has taught actively throughout the U.S. She was President of the United States Bowen Registry (Now Bowenwork Academy USA) from 2002-2005, and is Chairman of the International Instructors' Committee, which helps to create global policies for the Bowen Academy. Alexia has been a speaker at many global health conferences. Besides introducing Bowenwork to groups such as the American Holistic Nurses Association and Rayid International, she gives presentations on specialized topics. These have included immune system recovery, research on water in curing disease, and the discoveries of neuroscience and their relevance to the work. She has spoken at Bowtech conferences in the U.S., Australia, and Cyprus.
	Nancy Pierson, Gentry, AR 512-750-4012 coolbeannp@earthlink.net Click here for Nancy's website Nancy Pierson has picked up her camp in Austin and has moved to northwest Arkansas, where she is building her house. An escapee to bodywork from corporate restriction in 1990, Nancy thought she was doing really awesome work until an encounter with Bowen showed her an elegance and profundity she had hitherto not conceived of. Since then, her journey with Bowen has never ceased to amaze both her and those she is able to share it with. And, she has found it to be more recession proof than other modalities -- probably because it works! Nancy teaches ongoing classes in NW Arkansas and will travel if a class can be made elsewhere.
	Nancee Rogers, Cincinnati, OH 513-527-4540 nrogers@bowenworkscincy.com Click here for Nancee's website Nancee Rogers, a graduate of Heidelberg College, is a Registered Bowenwork Instructor, Bowenwork Anatomy & Physiology instructor and Professional Bowenwork Practitioner. She sees clients in her private practice in Cincinnati, offers online anatomy and physiology (A&P) classes specifically designed for Bowenwork practitioners and teaches Bowenwork modules in Cincinnati and throughout the U.S. where interest for a class is shown. Prior to her Bowenwork career, she was an adjunct faculty member teaching anatomy and medical terminology classes at Gateway Community and Technical College. Nancee has been involved in healthcare for over 30 years. In 1972, after her junior year at Heidelberg College, she began medical school at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Shortly after, she developed collagen vascular symptoms and left the medical college half way through her studies to avoid further decline in her health. She did not return to OSU, but started working as a high-risk coordinator for an OB-GYN practice while raising her family and becoming healthy again. She then became a licensed nursing home administrator in 1984. After working over 17 years in that field, Nancee yearned to leave the corporate world and work directly with clients. She began training at SHI Medical Massage School in Lebanon, OH and became a licensed massage therapist in 2000. She opened a private practice in the Greater Cincinnati area and began teaching anatomy & physiology classes at Gateway Community and Technical College in Northern Kentucky. Three years into her massage practice, she read an article about Bowenwork and was totally intrigued by what it described. After beginning training in Bowenwork, she was convinced this was "the Holy Grail" of bodywork! The impact it had on her body alone made her a believer in the power of this modality. Since then, she stopped doing massage and made Bowenwork the center of her practice and professional work.
	Doris Sturgeon - Lima, OH 419-230-2290 doris@limabowenwork.com Click here for Doris' website: Doris has worked in a hospital setting for 20 years with the last ten as a massage therapist and reflexologist. During those years, she helped patients in all areas of the hospital and loved being able to make a difference in the lives of those she touched. Unfortunately, it soon started taking a toll on her body and she knew that she would have to find a better way to continue her work. After reading about Bowenwork in an email newsletter, she found herself intrigued, and started researching this innovative technique. About this time, she found herself plagued with constant headaches and dizziness. Doctors and numerous tests could not give her an explanation on the cause and how to help her. As fate would have it, Doris had found a class in Bowenwork that she could attend in Denver, and during those four days, found out how miraculous this work is. Her headaches and dizziness disappeared within minutes of receiving a few specific moves! Amazed at the elegance and effectiveness of the technique, she decided to become an instructor so she could share her love and passion for the work with others and so became the 12th instructor for the Bowenwork Academy USA.
	Karin Twohig - Carmel, CA 831-622-9355 twohigk@aol.com Click here for Karin's website Born and raised in Germany, Karin moved to the United States in 1978 to pursue a career in the healing arts. She became a state certified Massage Therapist in 1981 and has studied and practiced multiple modalities ever since. She is certified to conduct private group sessions in process inquiry which she studied with Dr. Stephano Sabetti. Karin travels internationally to teach the Bowen Technique. In 2008 she will be instructing Bowenwork at the world renowned Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. She is the owner of the Bowenwork School in Carmel, California where she sees clients at her Bowenwork Center. Her warmth and sense of humor is coupled with a communication style that makes learning fun and informative while maintaining a high level of professionalism. She strives to accommodate every student's learning style and ability which creates an atmosphere of ease and focus. Her enthusiasm for the work is underpinned by her drive to help people effect deep and significant shifts in their lives. Karin's mission is to support every student in accomplishing their goals, whether it is to help their family and friends or to start a new career in the healing arts. They may want to change their current healing modality to prevent overuse injuries, or add to their already existing practice modality, such as chiropractic, physical therapy, traditional medicine, naturopathic health and nutrition. Karin is dedicated to teaching more people to help others through the power of the Bowen Technique and will travel to accommodate those with a strong desire to learn. She has had articles published in Inspiration Magazine and is a member of the Massage and Bodywork Association with over 25 years of experience as a body worker. Karin has been an accredited Bowen Practitioner for 13 years and a licensed Instructor for the Bowen Therapy Academy of Australia for 7 years.
	Sean Wolf - Santa Clara, CA 408-205-7469 scw4c@yahoo.com Click here for Sean's Website Sean has been a massage therapist and fitness trainer for nine years. He is trained in Trigger Point therapy, Myofascial release, Active Isolated Stretching, Sports massage, positional release, Bowenwork, functional training, core training, pilates, gyrotonic, Egoscue method and Muscle Balance & Function. Sean is a Certified Personal Trainer (NASM), Certified Postural Alignment Specialist (Egoscue) and a Martial Arts Instructor. He stumbled upon Bowenwork at a massage convention, when he watched instructor Kevin Minney get these amazingly quick results with what seemed to be simple little flicks. He started to wonder why he was working so hard to help his clients if this worked better and faster. After taking module 1, he started to convert all of his bodywork to Bowenwork and was so impressed by Bowenwork that he asked during his first class what he needed to do to teach it. Five years later he is finally able to teach others this incredible work. Meet Our Administrative Assistant
	Sue Rutter - Dewey, AZ 1-866-862-6936 USAdmin@Bowenwork.com Before being hired as the Administrative Assistant for Bowenwork Academy USA, Sue was a Corporate Human Resources Manager for Amoco Corporation, a Fortune 100 Company, in Chicago, IL. Sue has a varied background in all Human Resources functions including Team Dynamics and Team Communication Facilitation. Sue also worked with the Information Technology Department at Amoco and became familiar with database and web site management. She and her husband moved from Chicago, IL to the Prescott, AZ area many years ago where she applied for a position with BAUSA. As the main contact for students, practitioners and clients throughout the United States, Sue hears daily positive testimonials about Bowenwork. She is proud to be part of this organization and feels very fortunate to have found Bowenwork. Sue's husband suffers from Sciatica and Bowenwork has provided miraculous relief. Sue is blessed with having no pain-related problems; however, she receives Bowenwork sessions often as they energize the entire body.