Duane T. Bowers, is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Certified Wellness Coach, Presenter, Author and Reiki Master. He assists those who have been exposed to trauma to live their life fully. His work focuses on the fields of missing, and sexually exploited and trafficked persons, nationally and internationally.

Team HOPE of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Volunteer Training – Alexandria, VA – April 13-17, 2023 

I have been fortunate to do trainings with the volunteer parents and family members of missing and exploited children, as well as adult survivors themselves volunteering to support other parents, family members and adult survivors for more than 20 years. This will be our first in-person training in the past three years, and I’m looking forward to being there.

Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime Homicide Support Group –
Traumatic Grief – Virtual – April 27, 2023

I am honored to have been asked to discuss Traumatic Grief with the CRCVC Homicide Support group. We will discuss not only the emotional reactions, but the responses of the body and brain as well.

Justice Clearinghouse – Wellness as a Survival Mechanism: Changing skills for changing times – Webinar – May 16, 2023

This will be the seventh year I have presented for Justice Clearinghouse. I enjoy working with them as it always pushes me to think of new topics in trauma.

Family Advocacy Outreach Network – National Center for Missing and Exploited Children – The Importance of Control for Trauma Survivors – Webinar – May 26, 2023

I have been fortunate to work with FAON since its inception. This is my first virtual ‘live discussion’, and I am looking forward to seeing all of the active members of the network, and discussing this topic of Control.

Family Advocacy Outreach Network – National Center for Missing and Exploited Children – Supporting Families of Missing Children – Alexandria, VA – September 8, 2023

This is the first in-person new member training for FAON since the pandemic and I am very much looking forward to meeting these therapists from around the country. I will present a model of support for families of missing children.

Judicial College of Maryland – Got Buoyancy? Resiliency/Wellness Training for Judges – Annapolis, MD – February 14, 2024

Maryland Judiciary logo

This is the second time I will have the pleasure of presenting this information to judges in the Maryland Judiciary. In addition to general wellness, we will discuss the effect of listening to situations of trauma on a daily basis.

Justice Clearinghouse – Working with Survivors’ Need for Control – Webinar – March 5, 2024

This will be my eighth year presenting for the Justice Clearinghouse. I am very much looking forward to presenting this information on the need for control.

Justice Clearinghouse – The Four Most Common Feelings of Trauma Survivors – Webinar – May 14, 2024

This will wrap up my eighth year presenting for Justice Clearinghouse. This presentation will focus not only on these four feelings, but what causes them and what we can do to help manage them.

Biography

Duane T. Bowers, LPC

is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Author and Educator in private practice, and hosted the live, call-in internet radio show LET’S TALK IT THROUGH. As a therapist Duane’s specialty is working with survivors of trauma, child and adult exploitation and trafficking which includes providing support to families of abducted, missing, exploited, trafficked and murdered victims as well as professional staff working directly in the field. Duane is responsible for the development of support, clinical supervision and training of staff and volunteers for a variety of organizations that deal with these issues in the US and Canada. He was recently a principle in Project SafeGuard which provides support for the staff of the Exploited Child Division of National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which is responsible for analyzing child sexual abuse material on the internet to assist law enforcement. In addition, Duane provides wellness support to the Trust and Safety Division of Tumblr, Flickr, Word Press, Automattic, Cloudflare, VSCO, MediaLab and Yahoo, the Maryland State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Taskforce, International Justice Mission (IJM) field and headquarters staff, and the staff of local Child Advocacy Centers by creating and facilitating training, support and wellness programs for their staff members. In Saskatchewan province in Canada, Duane works through Caring Hearts providing education and assisting in creating programs focused on trauma informed care, first responder trauma, and supporting families of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. He also serves as a consultant to the Canadian Centre for Child Protection in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada.

In Washington DC Duane worked as a therapist with members of the military and their families through Military Onesource, and assisted families who identified loved ones at the DC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, through the Wendt Center for Loss and Healing. He also served as the Director of Training and Education at the Wendt Center for Loss and Healing, and was the Senior Director of Emergency and International Services for the National Capital Chapter of the American Red Cross. Duane spent three months during the summer of 1999 in Macedonia/ Kosovo/Albania supervising a family reunification program in camps with war refugees. In September 2001 Duane responded to the Pentagon immediately following the terrorist attack on September 11th, providing support to rescue and recovery workers. In April 2010 he served as the mental health team leader at the University of Miami field hospital following the earthquake in Port au Prince, Haiti. In 2016 Duane responded to La Loche Saskatchewan Canada to provide trauma support to the first responders following a school shooting with multiple fatalities. Most recently in 2022 Duane provided training for Missing Children Europe which is focused on reuniting Ukrainian children with their families when separated by the war in Ukraine.

As an educator, Duane teaches seminars nationally, internationally and regionally on trauma informed care, intergenerational trauma, support for victims and families and workers in the field of sexual exploitation and trafficking, as well as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Wellness and Self-care and traumatic loss. He has served as an Adjunct Professor of Counseling at Trinity College in Washington DC, and continues to be an invited guest lecturer for national conferences, as well as for graduate and undergraduate classes of various colleges and universities.

Published works (most recent first):

  • Bowers, D.T, (2021). Managing Life While a Loved One is Missing: A workbook for coping. Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada: Caring Hearts.
  • Bowers, D.T. (2020). Being trauma informed and providing trauma informed care. Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada: Caring Hearts.
  • Bowers, D.T. (2020). Practicing self-care and living in wellness. Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada: Caring Hearts.
  • Bowers, D.T. (2020). Surviving Trauma. Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada: Caring Hearts.
  • Bowers, D.T. (2018). Supporting families of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and other missing persons. Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada: Caring Hearts.
  • Bowers, D.T. (2015). A child is missing: Providing support for families of Missing children. In M.G. Leary, S.W. Cooper, P. Wetterling, D.D. Broughton (Eds.) Perspectives on missing person’s cases (pp. 23-64). Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.
  • Bowers, D.T. (2009, Summer). Supporting your grieving pet. American Academy of Bereavement News, 2, 6.
  • Bowers, D.T. (2007). A child is missing: Providing support for families of Missing children. Alexandria, VA: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
  • Greif, G. & Bowers, D. (2007). Unresolved loss: Issues in working with adults whose siblings were kidnapped years ago. The American Journal of Family Therapy, vol. 35, issue 3, pp. 203-219.
  • Bowers, D.T. (2005). Guiding your family through loss and grief. Tucson, AZ: Fenestra Books.
  • Bowers, D.T. (2005) Information for families grieving after the loss of a child, and the professionals who support them. Retrieved February 3, 2005. http://www.missingkids.com/en_US/publications/NC10.pdf