It is not possible for one, single doctor or other health professional to know everything there is to know about all of the chronic health conditions that exist or all of the personalised interventions and lifestyle changes that might be important for you to engage with… which is why we have a multi-disciplinary team of health professionals who collaborate to provide clients with the most comprehensive treatment plan possible.
The Synergy of the Optimum Health Centre
The collaboration between our health care providers offers a unique and powerful synergy that forms the backbone of the Optimum Health Centre. Their collaborative efforts promise a holistic, evidence-based approach that integrates neurological rewiring, lifestyle change, nutritional guidance and psychological well-being with medical support. This unique synergy allows the Optimum Health Centre to offer a comprehensive range of services, transcending traditional boundaries between the many healing modalities that are available.
Meet the Optimum Health Team

Alistair Chadwick
Psychologist
Alistair is a psychologist and an educator. He has helped thousands of people on their journey to mental wellness. There are few mental health issues he has not tackled. His calming, gentle approach has enabled many people to take the first critical steps on their healing journeys.
Alistair began his career in psychology focusing on the conventional issues that most psychologists give their attention to. It was not long before he began to incorporate the latest research on both the lifestyle factors and the neurological elements that profoundly impact mental and physical health. This led him to founding the Optimum Health Centre with the intention of providing a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary approach that provides
personalized, compassionate care, working on several levels to improve a person’s quality of life and simultaneously, investigating the root causes of symptoms.
Throughout his years as a practicing psychologist Alistair has explored a large range of psychotherapeutic approaches as well as meditation, spirituality, and mindfulness, while simultaneously exploring the connection between emotional resilience, neurobiology, and physical well-being. He has been practicing as a psychologist since 2008 and continues his education to provide cutting edge expertise, tools, and services for emotional and physical healing.
Alistair completed a Masters in Counselling Psychology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) at the end of 2007, just one month after his first child was born. He completed a Masters in Adult Education at the same university a few years prior to this. And before this, he completed a Masters in Environmental Science at the University of Lund in Sweden. Alistair is a scientist at heart, and he specializes in providing scientifically supported psychological / neurological interventions.
Alistair regularly provides educational talks on various topics, including stress management, treating and preventing common mental and physical health challenges, etc.
Alistair lives in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, with his two sons and their three-legged cat. He enjoys hiking, traveling, and cooking and eating delicious food.

Dr Irwin Friedman
Medical Practitioner
A primary care and community medicine practitioner with a passion for alleviating persistent pain.
Welcome to the world of compassionate and holistic healthcare led by Dr Irwin Friedman, a dedicated medical practitioner and public health physician in the picturesque Midlands area of KwaZulu-Natal.
About Dr Irwin Friedman: With a career deeply rooted in not only conventional medical practice where he holds an M.B.BCh degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, but
also in community medicine where he has a post-graduate qualification in public health (Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health – UK), Irwin, as he prefers to be called, brings a wealth of experience to the forefront of healthcare.
His journey began as the Medical Director at the Valley Trust Socio-Medical Project for Health Promotion from 1979, where he pioneered initiatives in primary health care and health development. This included integrating personalised primary care with a focus on community engagement all aimed at improving mother and child health, and reducing suffering among sick adults. The innovative approach also incorporated group health education geared at preventing chronic illnesses using simple evidenced based approaches to health promotion. In his retiring years, Irwin now passionately pursues a lifelong goal—assisting individuals with severe and persistent pain or other distressing symptoms.
Irwin’s commitment to advocacy and social justice is evident through his active involvement in various initiatives, such as his being project leader of an initiative Tekano Health Equity South Africa, which is contributing to improved leadership in the struggle to promote the social determinants of health. Recently he has been part of making a submission to the National Health Portfolio Committee on National Health Insurance.
Explore healthcare guided by experience, compassion, and a commitment to social and personal well-being with Dr Irwin Friedman at the Optimum Health Centre.

Dr Stephan Vosloo
Medical Doctor
I am a father of three, grandfather of one, and happily married for forty-nine years to the love of my life. In addition to my family roles, I’m a qualified medical doctor with a strong passion for helping others transition from unhealthy, struggling lives to a newfound sense of authentic, functional living. My mission is to guide individuals in discovering purpose, hope, and joy in their lives, while also experiencing physical vitality and healthy aging.
My personal journey has been riddled with challenges including overwork, stress, food sensitivity, leaky gut, and chronic obesity, which manifested in health issues like coronary artery disease, depression, auto-immune disease, cognitive decline, and physical exhaustion.
However, through divine intervention and embracing fundamental principles of physical health and lifestyle changes, I embarked on a transformative healing journey.
This journey has been life-changing. As I managed to diagnose the causes of my problems, I adjusted my lifestyle, and eliminated the need for medications, except for supplements. My mental clarity returned, motivating me to pursue my lifelong dream of studying a more holistic approach to medicine, ultimately leading to further studies at the Functional Medical University and the establishment of my own practice in Functional Medicine.
At our practice, we place a strong emphasis on identifying the underlying causes of disease rather than just treating symptoms. My specialization lies in helping individuals not only manage but also improve from conditions such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, hypertension, diabetes, fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety disorders, Hashimoto’s, and other chronic autoimmune illnesses.
Through attentive listening, comprehensive investigation, detailed diagnosis, and personalized lifestyle interventions, medications, and supplements, our goal is to empower our patients on their journey to achieving optimal health. We believe in addressing the root cause of illness to facilitate lasting improvements and enhance overall well-being.

Helen Gatley
Occupational Therapist
I am an Occupational therapist with over 18 years of experience across a number of contexts and am committed to helping people navigate some of the most challenging times in their lives.
I am passionate about seeing people grow and discover their own potential. I work in the areas of coping with chronic pain, mental health, healthy ageing, acquired disability, as well as palliative care.
I work with CRPS, fibromyalgia, as well as other primary pain conditions as well as those
resulting from nervous system insults, etc. I also work with individuals battling with chronic fatigue syndromes and autoimmune conditions such as SLE. Anything that affects a person’s functional capacity to engage in normal day to day activities falls within my area of expertise.
I hold a Certificate in Pain Management as well as a Masters degree in Public Mental Health and am committed to continuing to learn and grow in my own capacity as well as with the clients with whom I work.
My interests are particularly in understanding the neuroscience of chronic pain and health conditions, mental health, as well as the impact of trauma. I believe strongly in finding solutions that work for each individual person with whom I work that can be applied to their own context.

Keri Strachan
Dietician
Keri Strachan with almost 20 years’ experience in private practice. She obtained her BSc Dietetics, and postgraduate diploma in 1998 from UKZN, and shortly afterwards travelled to the UK where she spent the next 7 years gaining clinical experience, upon returning to SA she opened her first private practice at Kings Park Sports Medicine Centre in Durban. In 2009 she did her master’s through Stellenbosch University.
In early 2021 she and her family moved from Hillcrest to Howick to achieve a slower more meaningful lifestyle. She currently can offer face-to-face consultations at House@9, Drew Ave, Howick, otherwise also does online consultations using Teams, or Zoom, or Skype.
Her special interests are Sports Nutrition and therapeutic carbohydrate restriction to manage metabolic disease and following her own recent cancer diagnosis, she has a growing interest in integrative nutritional approaches to manage cancer treatment and prevention.
Keri has always been active, mostly running, initially road running, and more recently trail, as well as a recent Midmar Mile swim; but her focus is increasingly on longevity promoting activity, so currently also enjoys regular yoga/ meditation, HIIT exercise, social runs. She is married to Craig, and they have three children, William (16yrs), Samuel (12yrs), and Isabella (10yrs).

Lisa Glaister
Health Coach
Lisa Glaister qualified from the University of Cape Town with a Science Honours degree in Environmental Geographical Science majoring in Ecology, is a qualified Neuroscience Hardwires Interpretation Coach and is a qualified Health Coach from the Health Coaches Academy in the UK.
Her passion for the environment and a global career led her to start an in-person Health Coaching practice in the KZN Midlands as well as coaching many clients online. She also has a small farm where she has literally learned from the ground up about soil health, vegetable health, and the impact food has on the human body and mind and bringing that together to
specialise in whole-life balance. As a qualified Health Coach, she helps people reach their optimum health by supporting them to put in place healthy habits to sustain themselves for life (without the need for ongoing support). She loves helping people understand the wiring of their own brains and how that impacts their health and helping them get to grips with their own individual nutritional needs.
In her personal time, Lisa enjoys quiet moments to pray and meditate, going on adventures with her two sons and loving husband and enjoys staying physically fit doing CrossFit, Mountain Biking, Paddling, and Hiking.

Kathryn Millar
Health Coach
Kathryn Millar is a qualified health coach (Health Coaches Academy UK) practicing in the KZN Midlands. She specialises in assisting women between the ages of 35 and 55 in reclaiming their health, in particular women who are committed to exercise but don’t see the physical results they are often working towards. Kathryn is highly knowledgeable in plant-based foods and enjoys working with people who want to become more veggie-centric. Much of her client experience is with people who have pre-diabetes or diabetes Type-2.
Kathryn’s interest in health and supporting others was catalysed by family experiences with
cancer. She has a kind and firm approach to clients, acting as a sounding board and accountability agent who ensures self-reflection throughout a client’s health journey. Kathryn is also a partner in Core Health, a health coaching practice in Howick, KZN, and coaches predominantly online with both local and international clients.
Prior to coaching, Kathryn volunteered as Lifeline email counsellor, and worked in tourism project management for 6 years, and in environmental education. She holds an MA in Education. Kathryn enjoys an outdoor lifestyle and spends much of her free time in the Drakensberg mountains.

Mandy Rawlins
Physiotherapist
Mandy has been practicing as a physiotherapist for over 30 years with a primary focus on sports injuries and orthopaedics. However, some years back she noticed her athletes and younger patients were becoming increasingly stressed and this was impacting their ability to heal. She then studied a psychology degree to enable her to help these patients at a deeper level.
Mandy also practices as a stress and burnout coach to offer clients a more holistic solution to the complexity of chronic pain conditions, and fibromyalgia. Her belief that these conditions do have a solution but that the solution requires a multi-disciplinary approach by
a dedicated and supportive team led her to partnering with the professionals at the Optimum Health Centre.
The first seven years of her career were spent in the USA where patients with chronic pain were a considerable part of her practice. During this time, she learned that the part of physical therapy in the treatment regime to restore functional movement provided a vital contribution to the process of healing. However, she also learned that the implementation of healthy nutrition to repair cell metabolism and the gut microbiome, and a psychological approach that addressed the dysregulation of the nervous system were essential to achieving significant outcomes.
Mandy graduated from UCT in 1993 with a BSc (Physiotherapy), she also completed an Honours in Psychology from UNISA in 2021, she attended a Coaching for Development course through the UCT Business School and is registered with the ICF- International Coaching Federation. She published her first book in 2023, The Marshmallow Theory, a novel, and is currently working on her second book.