I grew up in sunny South Africa and was already studying in Durban when I first came into contact with Chiropractic. I had been suffering with neck pain and headaches for over a year and had been told to "live with it", I was only 21!
My new GP suggested that I try the Chiropractic Student Internship Clinic in Durban, where they improved things and left such an impression on me that I decided to change my path of study and train to be a Chiropractor.
With a move of countries half way through, I graduated with a Masters degree in Chiropractic from the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic following 6 years of study, 3 of which were at the Durban Institute of Technology in South Africa.
I have been living in Norwich since 2006 and opened my own practice in 2010 with my husband Stefan, originally our practice manager, who has now retrained as a Chiropractor too! My passion for chiropractic is contagious! ;-)
Choosing to become a chiropractor has had a profound effect on my life and that of my family. It is not just a career you have chosen but a lifestyle choice. Chiropractic views health holistically and we follow the principle that dis-ease and then disease is as a result of a combination of 3 stressors on the body, physical, chemical and emotional stressors. If you aim to live your life keeping these three areas under control you will be healthy and achieve optimal health. For me that involves having regular chiropractic adjustments, swimming and running and making sure we cook from scratch always. A house rule is we have to have something green at each meal (much to my husbands disgust!).
I am passionate about and have a special interest in Functional Medicine. I am a member of the Institute for Functional Medicine (https://ifm.org). I continue on with my training through them as well as presently working toward certification through the University of Functional Medicine (and I am toying with doing nutritional therapy, my major passion, at some point too). Tools to help me coach people in living their optimal life and lifestyle is my aim.
I originally worked at Align as the practice manager. Seeing first hand the results clients achieved I fell in love with the Chiropractic approach to healthcare very quickly, and decided to retrain and become a chiropractor myself.
I helped out behind the scenes for the first two years, Lara needed an extra pair of hands (no pun intended) so I stepped in. After deciding to study chiropractic for 5 years at McTimoney College (Abingdon, Oxfordshire) I rejoined the team as a Chiropractor, so that I can help people further.
I have a background in science, which has helped my understanding and application of Chiropractic. I enjoy running and cycling on a regular basis.
For many years I have had regular chiropractic adjustments since meeting Lara, which has kept me functioning at my best and helping to keep any problems to a minimum!
Keanna has helped us out on a Tuesday evening for a few years alongside her bank job but has recently joined us in a more full time capacity in a more senior role this summer. She is also dog and running mad. She is a trained dog groomer too and can be seen out running with her dog most weekends.
Karen will be seen helping out with holiday cover, sick cover and days off. She is also dog mad with a lab called Dave!