As the head of research and training at The Hospital Research Foundation Group – Military and Emergency Services Health Australia (MESHA), Dr Henry Bowen (BPsychSc’15, GradDipPsychAdv ’23) is dedicated to delivering practical, evidence-based care solutions through the development of innovative programs, such as creative art therapy.
This focus on advancing postvention services to support families and colleagues affected by suicide within military and first responder communities wasn’t necessarily by chance, with Dr Bowen’s grandfather being part of the Country Fire Authority (CFA) in Victoria for many years. He also setup and ran the peer support programme for the CFA, so being able to carry that family legacy is something Dr Bowen is extremely proud of.
“I was doing a double degree of law and science, majoring in psychology, and found that I really loved the psychology part,” says Dr Bowen.
“I have a distinct memory of getting a coffee in the Flinders laneway and Professor Lydia Woodyatt, who’s now the head of psychology and at the time was a senior lecturer, recognised that we were students in her class. She was happy to sit and have a really open and frank conversation about both career paths.
“I remember thinking, that’s the type of person I want to be. I want to be able to connect with my students in that way.”
In addition to their postvention work, Dr Bowen developed and leads MESHA’s military cultural competency training for civilians and developed the Military Informed Cultural Competency (MICC) Scale. Last year, they received the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research Mental Health Research Award for this groundbreaking work, and earlier this month was named Academic of the Year at the Veterans, Emergency Services & Police Industry Institute of Australia (VESPIIA) Awards for Excellence.
A passionate educator, Dr Bowen built and oversees MESHA’s Placement and Supervision program, training students in military-focused research. Their broader research portfolio includes initiatives on military children’s educational experiences and understanding the unique needs of diverse populations in service communities such as LGBTQIA+ and First Nations.
“There can be tough conversations given the subject matter, but I think I have a really good team who all support each other,” Dr Bowen says.
“Obviously we have our own mental health care, we’ve all done a lot of training to make sure that we’re looking out for ourselves and each other. Knowing that the work you’re doing is going to help a broad spectrum of people makes a really big difference as well.”
Outside of their work with military and first responder communities, Dr Bowen is recognised as one of the world’s leading experts in the training and accreditation of creative arts therapists. This model of work also includes communicating the value of creative health interventions for military and first responders’ wellbeing.
“Creative arts therapy is a psychotherapeutic intervention which utilises art, or music, or drama, depending on what type of creative arts therapy,” says Dr Bowen.
“They all have their own unique methodologies in the same way that psychologists would use CBT. For example, arts therapists would have specific methodologies and interventions that they use for working with individuals who might have cognitive impairment, or who might be experiencing complex trauma symptoms and it’s very focused on function for the individual. It’s not symptom focused, it’s kind of person focused.”
Creative arts therapy is strongly based around ritual and tradition, so many military personnel who identify with that culture of routine are able to draw links between those two things and the results have been positive.
Since 2022, Dr Bowen has received more than $1.26 million in research grants from various funders, regularly presenting at conferences nationally and internationally.
“I feel like every time you meet service personnel and learn more about their journey and personal backgrounds, you realise how amazing and highly professional they are,” says Dr Bowen.
“There’s always this small moment in my brain when I meet these lovely people where I realise, if we had been in a conflict situation, this person would have been willing to die to make sure that I get to stand here and have a coffee.
“And there’s a realisation of, ‘oh yeah, that’s why I do this work!’ Because this person now gets the opportunity to leave the force with the confidence that they’ll be supported to live a connected, fulfilling and purposeful life, which otherwise may not have happened if they weren’t receiving the support they need in the civilian world.”
Dr Henry Bowen was awarded a 2025 Early Career Alumni Award for significant research understanding military and first responder cultures to further support health and wellbeing.