Welcome to the Australian School of Body Therapies

Hello and welcome to the Australian School of Body Therapies (A.S.B.T) website. At A.S.B.T we provide tertiary education in the healing arts of massage, bodywork and natural therapies. The school was founded by Bronson Bertschinger, the developer of Hoffman Massage System.

A.S.B.T make available a wide range alternative and traditional health industry training courses. Our focus is Holistic Bowen Therapy and Hoffman massage courses and Diplomas, however through our affiliate schools can lead you in the direction to get training and qualifications in all kinds of natural therapies. They include training in cupping therapy, Thai Massage, Naturopathy, Herbal Medicine and many more.

For those of you who are looking to become government accredited we can help you there as well. With our affiliate government accredited school Health Schools Australia (H.S.A), and their affiliate Charles Stuart University, you have access to qualifications as high as a Bachelor of Health Science. So start your career in the health industry and let us help you on your way to a successful career in the natural health industry.

Learn Bowen Therapy from a family friend of Tom Bowen

ASBT is now proud to be providing Holistic Bowen Therapy Certificate and Diploma courses. The courses have been developed by Robert Le Page-Hanes a family friend of Tom Bowen and Bronson Bertschinger.

Robert is one of very few Bowen teachers in the world who was treated by Tom Bowen. He has had a closer association than most with Tom as he was a close family friend. Tom Bowen met Robert's mother in about 1934 and Tom (as a carpenter) helped build Robert's family home in 1955 in Geelong where Rob's mother and father still live today.

Robert has had the privilege of teaching Bowen Therapy to one of Tom’s daughters and granddaughters and as Tom treated his family over a 20 year period. Robert still treats one of Tom’s daughters, his son in law and two granddaughters and is proud and honoured to be passing on his interpretation of Tom Bowen's wonderful technique.

Private Training for Hoffman Massage and Holistic Bowen

All of our courses are now available by 1 on 1 mentor style training with Bronson Bertschinger. The maximum we train in a private course is 2 students at the same time. We started private training by popular demand and it is proving to be a very successful way to learn.

The Hoffman Massage System Certificate course is done as a 4 day private intensive training course, the Diploma Course over 8 days. The Holistic Bowen Therapy Certificate Course is trained over 3 instead of 4 days and the Bowen Diploma course is trained over 4 days instead of 6.

Course fees are the same for private training. For more information please visit the private training page or contact us via phone or email.

High standard of massage training

The massage courses we teach at the Australian School of Body Therapies are of a high standard. We take pride in training people in becoming confident, skillful and unique massage therapists. Our hands on massage training courses are comprehensive and cover a broad range of techniques combining many forms of healing being taught today. A.S.B.T provide you with qualifications and ability get insurance cover so you can start treating patients safely and effectively, with confidence. Enjoy the satisfaction of helping others!

The advantage of our intensive training massage courses, is that you can get the qualifications, skills and insurance to start working and earning money more quickly. Many massage courses take years to complete whereas with us you can be working in the industry in as little as a month.

For those students who feel they want to go on to becoming government accredited, you can do it by distance with Health Schools Australia in your own time. By doing our courses you will be also eligible for Recognised prior learning with Health Schools Australia's Government Accredited massage certificates and diplomas. That means that you wont need to do anymore hands on massage training after completing one of our massage courses. They rest of your training will be in theory.

Below is a video of Stephen Eddey, Principal of Health Schools Australia. Stephen is explaining how students of ours are at a high standard of massage skills and that those who are interested in becoming government accredited, can do so via correspondence with Health School Australia and how successful students of our Hoffman Massage courses will be eligible for Recognised Prior Learning (RPL) with Health Schools Australia's Government Accredited Massage Certificates and Diplomas.

Learn how to massage by intuition and feel

"The only real valuable thing is intuition." Albert Einstein

The aim of our Hoffman Massage System courses is not only to teach one of the most comprehensive forms of massage in the world, but to help you develop your sense of touch, awareness and intuition.

The Hoffman Massage System draws on many systems of healing both ancient and modern. We teach massage based on learning how to feel. We teach you to explore the body and feel what part of the anatomy is holding tensions, or energetic blockages and remove or balance them. Many people say that the best massage they have ever had is from a blind person. Their massage is based entirely on feel and that's what most of our training consists of. We believe the best massage therapists of the world are not the intellectuals and our courses are based around this fact.

A wonderful statement from Chiropractor Romney Smeeton referring to healers of old, the likes of Tom Bowen, who we are unlikely to see again in great extent. They are basically not allowed to exist anymore. Quoted from a book by Col Murray Titled 'In Search of Tom Bowen'.

"Probably the fact that we have to all be at certain levels of education, I think, will prevent people of that innate talent ever coming to the fore again. Their intuitive talent is killed with education because they then need to look on health in a blinkered fashion. To work like these guys did, you've got to look at it with a different set of glasses"

Our courses cover topics such as modern evidence on the energetic anatomy as well as what ancient information from China, India, Hawaii, Africa, Vietnam, Thailand and the like. We also cover information on scientific information explaining how the neural activity in the stomach is very similar to the activity that happens in the brain. The gut feeling for example, is neurological activity being processed that the brain has not received yet. Did you know that the large intestine has more nerve endings than the spinal cord?

Click here to view our Hoffman massage course outline

Qualifications and Insurance

Once you have completed one of our Certificate or Diploma of Holistic Bowen or Hoffman massage and healing courses, you can start working and making money straight away. The organisations which cover our graduates are, IICT and IHGroup. The insurance costs between $200 - $300 per year for $10million cover, which covers you anywhere in the world apart from the USA and Canada.

At A.S.B.T our aim is to produce the best massage therapists and bodyworkers in the shortest period of time. Our courses have been designed to do just that. Our Bowen Therapy and massage courses teach you skills and techniques that some massage therapists or bodyworkers may never learn over their whole career. The techniques and knowledge that has influenced the development of Hoffman massage for example, are drawn from ancient forms of massage, medicine, healing arts and martial arts from all over the world. Most massage schools are not interested in these pre-existing practices and don’t draw upon, recognise or even respect the wisdom of this ancient knowledge.

Healing arts that have influenced the Hoffman Massage System:

Bowen Therapy
Raynor Massage
Energetic Healing
Thomas Myers
Ayurvedic Medicine, Ayurvedic Massage and Marma Therapy
Yang Mian System of Kung Fu
Rolfing
Reflexology
Hawaiian Lomi Lomi Massage and Swedish Massage
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
Deep Tissue Massage
Shiatsu and Acupressure Massage
Cupping Therapy and Gua-Sha
Thai Massage
Dorn Spinal Therapy
Quantum Touch, Reiki and Pranic Healing,
Cranio Sacral
Feldenkrais

Bronson Bertschinger has either studied, experienced or practiced all of these techniques and combined what he has learned with working intuitively.