Meet the team

The Imani Treatment Centre team is truly exceptional. Not only do they share years of world-class training and experience between them, they are just as compassionate as they are knowledgeable. At Imani we understand that everyone is unique, and work together to provide the right treatment plan for each client.

'I needed care and support of people who knew about ED so that I could not slip back into old behaviours.'

Read more success stories

Although each person is different, most eating disorder sufferers share various thoughts and behaviours. Many have even had similar life experiences. Our dynamic team is able to support you in dealing with these issues as they come up, in a safe and nurturing therapeutic environment.

As with any group, the key to our team’s success is communication. Each member lets the others know of important developments in client treatment, as soon as possible. Everyone is kept informed, so that they know exactly what kind of care to give at all times and are able to support each other’s efforts in working with clients.

Since so many diverse treatments and principles are offered at Imani, a collaborative, holistic team is even more important. We have found great success in our multidisciplinary, teamwork-based approach and have helped many clients take further steps on their road to healing. We have faith that we can do the same for you or your loved ones.

The key to our team’s success is communication.

Our core team

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Alison Bloomberg-Green

Owner and Director
Alison Green, Owner and Director of Imani, has shaped its compassionate, individualised treatment approach through her lived experience of recovery and belief in each person’s capacity for lasting change.
Vashti Fairhead – Clinical Director

Vashti Fairhead

Clinical Director
Vashti Fairhead, Imani’s Clinical Director and a registered Social Worker, brings extensive experience in addiction and eating disorder treatment, guiding the clinical programme through a thoughtful, integrated, and individualised approach.
Patricia Rueda – Senior Counsellor

Patricia Rueda

Senior Counsellor
Patricia is an experienced counsellor specialising in addiction and eating disorders, offering warm, collaborative, and trauma-informed support to help clients build insight, resilience, and healthier relationships with themselves and food.
Nadine Karele – Counsellor

Nadine Karele

Counsellor
Nadine is a counsellor with experience in mental health, addiction, and eating disorders, combining clinical knowledge with lived experience to offer warm, compassionate, and growth-focused support.
Julia Lovely – Registered Dietician

Julia Lovely

Registered Dietician
Julia Lovely is an experienced nutrition specialist who has worked in eating disorder treatment since 2001, providing compassionate, individualised guidance to help clients build healthier relationships with food and their bodies.
Shana Terhart Young – Registered Dietician

Shana Terhart Young

Registered Dietician
Shana Terhart Young is a registered dietitian who provides practical, individualised, and neurodivergence-affirming nutritional support to help clients build a more flexible and balanced relationship with food.
Michelle Templeton - Operations Manager

Michelle Templeton

Operations Manager
Michelle is Imani’s Operations Manager, providing clear guidance, practical support, and careful coordination to ensure clients and families experience a smooth and welcoming treatment journey.
Dr Imraan Tayob – Specialist Psychiatrist

Dr Imraan Tayob

Specialist Psychiatrist
Dr Imraan Tayob is Imani’s Consulting Specialist Psychiatrist, providing individualised psychiatric assessment, medication management, and clinical support for clients with eating disorders and co-occurring mental health conditions.
Dr Iemraan Raciet – General Practitioner

Dr Iemraan Raciet

General Practitioner
Dr Iemraan Raciet is Imani’s Consulting General Practitioner, providing thoughtful, person-centred medical oversight and working closely with the multidisciplinary team to support each client’s physical health and overall wellbeing.

Recovery Assistants

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Neil Doveton

Recovery Assistant (Day Programme)
Neil is a Recovery Assistant who draws on his own lived experience to offer steady, compassionate support, encouragement, and accountability throughout the recovery process.
Laverne –Recovery Assistant

Laverne

Recovery Assistant (Day Programme)
Laverne is a Recovery Assistant who draws on her own recovery experience to offer compassionate support, hope, and encouragement as clients work towards lasting change and a more meaningful life.
Collette Gouws – Recovery Assistant (Night Programme)

Collette Gouws

Recovery Assistant (Night Programme)
Collette draws on her own recovery experience to offer calm, compassionate support, helping clients feel understood, connected, and encouraged throughout their recovery journey.
Dean Schultz – Recovery Assistant (Night Programme)

Dean Schultz

Recovery Assistant (Night Programme)
Dean is a certified Recovery Assistant with extensive experience in addiction and eating disorders, offering clients calm, dependable, and compassionate support throughout their recovery.
Simon Rasool – Recovery Assistant (Night Program)

Simon Rasool

Recovery Assistant (Night Programme)
Simon is a Recovery Assistant who combines experience in medical and mental health settings with lived experience of recovery, offering clients calm, consistent, and thoughtful support.
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Indie

Senior Counsellor
Indie is Imani’s much-loved rescue dog, offering comfort, calm, and companionship while helping clients feel safe, supported, and at home.

Other important team players

Nonto - Registered nurse - Imani

Nontobeko Mbali

Registered Professional Nurse
Nontobeko is a registered Professional Nurse with extensive experience in psychiatric and addiction treatment, providing thoughtful, dependable nursing care and supporting clients’ day-to-day wellbeing.

Recovery assistants

Our gentle, dedicated recovery assistants are an important part of our team. They provide important infrastructure, whether the counsellors are on duty or it’s after hours. Clients can turn to the recovery assistants on duty for the care they need, whenever they need it.

At Imani, our recovery assistants’ duties include supervising food preparation and meals, helping with shopping and other outings, and providing more support during group sessions or activities.

With a sound knowledge of the basics of eating disorders and Imani’s holistic treatment approach, they ensure that the atmosphere is always stable, nurturing and supportive of your recovery.

External practitioners

At Imani we use a team of highly qualified external practitioners, who are all widely respected in their respective fields. Registered dieticians, nutritionists, general medical doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists and other professionals are all on hand to deliver the optimal combination of care for each individual client.

Any other specialists, including endocrinologists for diabetes and other hormone imbalances or gastroenterologists for digestive issues, can be consulted as and when they are needed. These experts are also of the highest calibre, to help ensure their patients’ optimum physical health. In turn, this physical health facilitates our residents’ journeys of recovery and healing.

Sound knowledge of the basics of eating disorders

Dr Judy Bentley

Dr Judy Bentley has been a psychiatrist for over a decade, and treating individuals afflicted with addictions and eating disorders has become her primary area of interest. Several of her patients have given her the name “Wonder Woman” because of her ability to identify with and help so many people.

Dr Duncan Laurenson

Dr Duncan Laurenson has more than 15 years’ experience in addiction medicine, His interest focuses on medical aspects of addiction, particularly withdrawal treatment (detox) and he is currently engaged in a project monitoring treatment outcomes in various clinical settings.

Melanie Harris / Julia Lovely

Melanie Harris and Julia Lovely have been practising as dieticians in Cape Town for roughly the same length of time. At Imani, they are both involved in individual nutritional assessment, counselling, meal plan formulation, and staff training. They also facilitate important group dietetic sessions with the entire community. By challenging faulty thinking patterns around food, both Melanie and Julia help eating disorder sufferers get the sound nutrition they need to heal.

“Every eating disorder sufferer deserves to find recovery. Let us light the way.”