01926 800 601
FAMILY MEDIATION SERVICE
What is Family Mediation?
Family mediation is a confidential and impartial process where the mediator helps the parties involved in family breakdown resolve disputes and conflict.
Mediation saves time, money and enables decisions to be made without having to go through the courts. It is a quicker and less costly way of resolving disputes and enables people to work through their issues in a neutral and safe environment.
Family mediation is very much a future forward approach with positive outcomes being reached for the benefit of all family members. It is a voluntary process so all the parties have to be willing to participate and be open and honest with each other.
Who Is It For?
Couples – (whether married, in civil partnerships or cohabiting) who are separating and need help resolving issues with:
Children – Child Inclusive Mediation allows children over the age of 10 to have their wishes
and feelings heard
Finances – Property, pensions, maintenance.
Parenting – Mutually agreeing living and contact arrangements for the children of the family.
Family mediation can also help in the following situations:
Grandparents – Contact with their grandchildren.
Resolving relationship issues between in-laws, siblings and other relatives.
Newly extended families – Setting boundaries and putting parenting plans in place.
A Team Of Professionals
Sarah Johannessen
Family Mediator
Sarah qualified as a solicitor in 1993 and specialised in family law (involving divorce, financial disputes and child related cases) practising in Merseyside and Stratford Upon Avon.
Sarah trained as a family mediator in 2011 and is a fully accredited family mediator with the Family Mediation Council. Sarah is also qualified to conduct Child Inclusive Mediation.
Sarah has extensive experience mediating on a range of issues facing families. Sarah sees mediation as helping separated couples and families take ownership of any agreement they want to make, that is in both their best interests, so that they can move forward with their lives in a positive way.
Sarah is a member of and regulated by the Family Mediators Association.
Outside of work Sarah enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading, cooking and singing in a local choir.
Louise Gouldsborough
Family Mediator
Louise qualified as a solicitor in 2010 and specialised in family law, practicing in Birmingham. She advised on financial aspects of relationship breakdown for married and unmarried couples including more complex cases involving family businesses and international assets.
Louise is also experienced in helping parents to agree on arrangements for their children including establishing routines, decisions regarding schooling and holidays/special days.
Louise re-trained as a family mediator to focus on helping families move forward more positively following a separation. She aims to facilitate open and constructive discussions with the intention that mediation can provide a less stressful, and less costly alternative to resolving disputes at a time when finances and emotions are often already strained.
She has a pragmatic approach, allowing couples to explore options, mindful of the impact on any children involved. Louise assists families to make decisions that take into account the needs and interests of all those affected both immediately and in the long-term, providing support in the process of dividing assets and helping to secure Parenting Plans.
Louise is a member of the Family Mediators Association (FMA).
In her spare time, Louise enjoys running and loves spending time with her friends and family.
Sharon Hedges
Administration Support
Sharon spent many years once her three children were in school volunteering for a charity supporting vulnerable families. During this time she organised the Christmas shoebox appeal, aid distributions and lead teams out to Romania, the Crimea, Belarus and Uganda.
She also spent 3 years working as a one to one with a child in primary school before joining SJ Mediation in 2019.
Sharon enjoys spending time with her three children (adults!), family and friends and walking.
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