Duane T. Bowers, is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Certified Wellness Consultant, Certified Spiritual 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.

In the Media

Duane interviewed by the Prince Albert Daily Herald

Ex-kidnapping victims: Jayme Closs needs space, time to heal

Upcoming Events

George Washington University Art Therapy Program – Disaster Responses – April 2, 2025 – Alexandria, VA

For 12 years I have been privileged to be a guest presenter for this graduate level class, discussing working with trauma in the field. For the second year I will do an interactive presentation about disaster responses.

District of Columbia Mental Health Counselors Association – Supporting Adults with Childhood Trauma – April 5, 2025 – Washington DC

I have been a member of this organization for most of my professional years, and have had the opportunity to present for their spring conference on a number of occasions. I’m looking forward to presenting information about Supporting Adults with Childhood Trauma this year.

Tumblr Trust and Safety Team – Burnout, Compassion Fatigue and Secondary Trauma – May 5, 2025 – Remote

I’ve been working with these good folks for about 9 years. However, I don’t often get to meet with them all at once. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to discuss how to avoid burnout, compassion fatigue and secondary trauma with respect to the egregious material these folks are exposed to.

Justice Clearinghouse – When Bubblebaths Aren’t Enough: The anxiety behind stress and burnout. – Webinar – May 6, 2025

Criminal Justice professionals have found that the information and techniques that are offered to alleviate their job-related stress and burnout are helpful, but they are not enough. This webinar looks at the anxiety in the post-covid world, which is not reduced by wellness techniques, and presents ways mitigate its impact.

Judicial College of Maryland, Leadership Conference: Shaping Modern Leadership – May 13, 2025 – Annapolis, MD

I’ve been asked to present information about self-care as a leader, and supporting those you lead to take care of themselves.

Team Hope of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children – Wellness Techniques Practice Session – May 14, 2025 – Remote

For many years I have been teaching the staff and volunteers of Team Hope about self-care, mindfulness and Wellness techniques. In this presentation will be practicing them.

Maryland State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Conference – May 21, 2025 – Laurel, MD

This is the 10th year that I have been able to present information to the investigators and forensic staff on self-care when viewing and working with Child Sexual Abuse Material.

Family Advocacy Outreach Network of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children – Grief and Trauma – June 6-8, 2025 – Lafayette LA

The Family Advocacy Division of NCMEC has for many years provided training to mental health professionals about supporting the families of missing and exploited children, and then referring families to those professionals when appropriate. This year the training will be in Louisiana.

Judicial College of Maryland, College Staff Retreat – June 9, 2025 – Annapolis, MD

All of the great people who put together the educational programs for the Maryland Judges and court employees need to take care of themselves as well. I am fortunate to be able to present A Healthy State of Mind at this retreat.

Judicial College of Maryland, Joint Conference – Innovations in the Courthouse – August 26, 2025 – Ellicott City, MD

Maryland Judiciary logo

I have been fortunate this year to meet and support people who fill a variety of roles in the judicial system. This presentation will be for the Clerk of Courts and Court Administrators for both the circuit and district courts of Maryland. We will be discussing stress, vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue and burnout.

Ranch Ehrlo Staff Conference – September 15 & 16, 2025 – Saskatchewan, Canada

Ranch Ehrlo provides extensive services for families and youth at risk. Their programs extend throughout the province of Saskatchewan. The staff are exposed to the traumatic situations experienced by their clients. I will be presenting on trauma wellness and self-care in the town of Rosthern and the city of Regina.

Biography

Duane T. Bowers, LPC

is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Certified Wellness Consultant, Certified Spiritual Coach, 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