Episode Show Notes
About this Episode
This hour-long episode is packed with insight about family mediation, disputes within families and how to enter ‘difficult conversations’, Philippa’s favoured definition of mediation. A key takeaway, we think, is Philippa’s perspective on the role of personal ‘narrative’ – and being ‘right’ - within family disputes (at min 8:15 to 12:44).
Our discussion with Philippa includes:
- What is mediation and how does it work?
- Misunderstandings about mediation.
- When a couple begin mediation and they bring the whole range of issues – children, living arrangements, maintenance – how do you decide what order to deal with things? How do you tackle the morass of issues that walk through your door?
- The main roadblocks preventing people locked in dispute from finding common ground.
- Are some people incapable of compromise?
- How to get the best out of mediation.
- Reflections on the ‘system’ and what needs to change.
We have provided links to some of the resources discussed in the episode in the toolkit below.
About Philippa
Philippa Johnson is an FMCA mediator, qualified to meet with children within mediation (child-inclusive mediation). In 2012, she founded Turner & Johnson Mediation with Sheila Turner, offering co-mediation and an integrated approach to mediation, with a focus on creating the right mediation environment for each individual family. She is a former chair of the Family Mediators Association (FMA) and is currently on the FMA Board. She provides other family mediators of all levels of experience with training, including as a foundation trainer for the FMA and training in the integrated approach, and also acts as a supervisor for other family mediators. Philippa was one of two editorial consultants for the family mediation ‘bible’, Lisa Parkinson’s Family Mediation (4th edition) and was also the editor of Lisa's most recent book, Conversations with Young People.
Philippa was called to the Bar in 1999, is a member of Middle Temple and has worked for over 20 years as a legal consultant to barristers, solicitors, publishers, and legal organisations, providing family specialists with information on changes in family law. Philippa is particularly well known in the family law world for her work as a law reporter (she is now the lead reporter on the Family Court Reports), and as the former Executive Director of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (now the International Academy of Family Lawyers).
Philippa describes herself as most interested in people, with words running a very close second – reading, writing and performing them – she worries that sometimes all the words can get in the way of the people.