Sheila Austin Barrett (formerly Gooderham) is a lawyer, CEDR accredited civil & commercial mediator, psychologist, industry trainer and Director of The Mediation Specialists. She is also an experienced family law mediator and a Resolution designated trainer. Sheila provides the one day mediation model to address a broad range of civil, commercial, trust, probate and family law disputes. She will co-mediate where appropriate and in addition to mediation, her passion and interest is the promotion of the education of fellow professionals in the psychology and neuroscientific knowledge necessary to successfully manage entrenched disputes to settlement.
Sheila qualified as a solicitor in 1993, trained as a mediator in 2007 and established The Mediation Specialists in 2010 to provide swift, beneficial and bespoke dispute resolution services for clients. She has an MSc in Applied Positive Psychology and is writing a book on the management of fear. Sheila has sat on the former Family Justice Council Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee which advised the Ministry of Justice on the introduction of pre-action mediation information and assessment meetings which then became law in England and Wales in 2014. She has conducted interviews with Radio 4’s The Today Programme, Sky and ITV, Radio 2 and 5 live on legal developments concerning mediation and is on the UK Ministry of Justice register of experts.
Having commenced her legal career in commercial property with Clifford Chance, London in the early 1990s, Sheila then headed up the family team and was a member of the commercial litigation management team at Thomas Eggar (now Irwin Mitchell) specializing in high net worth and high-profile disputes including Court of Appeal cases attracting press interest. Between 2003 and 2009 Sheila was a partner at MacDonald Oates LLP, Hampshire before leaving to establish The Mediation Specialists. In addition to her mediation and training practice, Sheila maintains her legal experience by working part time as a commercial lawyer with a focus on strategic engagement in the resolution of, in particular, commercial property and land management disputes.
Fascinated by developments in neuroscience and how scientific insights can enhance dispute resolution understanding and outcomes, Sheila is an applied positive psychologist and is in the process of writing a book on the subject. She is an industry trainer and has been engaged as professional practice consultant for mediators. Sheila conducts training on the science of conflict for professionals in law, mediation and organizational management across the private and public sectors wishing to enhance their conflict management skills and their understanding of the dynamics of conflict. She has also conducted training for professionals as a registered Law Society professional development provider on various aspects of the mediation process and handling high conflict personalities. Sheila trained as an Institute of Leadership and Management “Action Learning Facilitator” and in this role works with small groups within companies, organizations and professions on an ongoing basis over a series of months to enhance professional development, problem solving and conflict management skills.
Sheila is a psychologist with a specific interest in the interplay between trauma and conflict and the cognitive process of post traumatic growth and treatment for ICD-11 Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Her research can be found below:
Sheila publishes articles from time to time for the legal and mediation press. Her most recent article, ‘How to Successfully Manage Entrenched Conflict in Mediation’ was published in the Corporate Mediation Journal in 2020. https://www.elevenjournals.com/tijdschrift/cmj/2020/2/CMJ_2542-4602_2020_004_002_002.
Sheila has also contributed to a leading UK family mediation training manual ‘Family Mediation. Appropriate Dispute Resolution in a new family justice system’ 2nd ed. Lisa Parkinson -published by Family Law.
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An important factor is the cost of mediation which is much lower than that incurred in litigation. This is partly because it is shared by both of us, but also because progress is generally much better.
I think it should be law that x sessions of mediation are attempted before resorting to the courts. The benefits are enormous in other areas in addition to the core Ancillary Relief. Our working relationship and trust over the coming years is equally important as the simple matter of a negotiated settlement
The improvement Sheila has made to X’s and my relationship has been enormous. In the early part of the mediation we discussed painful matters relating to the separation; reasons why, fears, sorrow and anger. Emerging from 2 years of litigation, this was an incredible and important move forward. It would not have happened without mediation”
Happy Christmas Sheila. Never got chance to say thanks for everything you did for me. But thank you. You are amazing. Hope Santa brings you everything you want…I honestly don’t think I’d have been able to do this without your great help. Never forget you do a fantastic job. Smile emoji. Thank you
Not only does negotiated financial settlement leave both parties more satisfied with the outcome, but in the case where there are children, the relationship between the parents has a huge influence on their happiness; the harmony between the parents will be picked up by them. Sheila’s mediation has enabled us to take great strides in that direction.
Your ability to keep the meetings focused and civil was essential in order for us to achieve communication at this time. It has helped to create some sort of closure for me in a situation that I thought would never end or would break me at times. I am very grateful for your professionalism and compassion.
I thought I would take the opportunity to thank you for the professional and compassionate approach you handled our mediation process with. The papers, in line with what we jointly agreed, went to the county court last week and the consent order was approved. The living and children arrangements are working well and both children are much more settled in school and in themselves. Your help is much appreciated and given our personalities, the challenges associated with travel and evening work, I doubt a more equitable and better outcome for the children could have been achieved. Many thanks for your help.
A small word of thanks for your excellent mediation services. I can confirm that we finally have an order in place based on our original agreement. Thank you so much.
Sheila, thank you again for helping X and I navigate our way through what has been for both of us a very painful process.
On behalf of us both may I extend our thanks for all the help you have given us. As you know ‘seeing the wood for the trees’ can be very difficult at times like this and you have helped us both immensely focus on what is really important, and our difficult situation will be made easier for that…So we thank you. We would also be pleased to refer other couples that are having similar difficulties-none immediately that we know of but unfortunately life is such that it probably won’t be too long
