Dr. Jamie Walker

Having grown up in the U.S., established herself in Berlin as a young adult and later lived and worked in Philadelphia, Brussels and Addis Ababa, Jamie brings a unique cross-cultural perspective to her role as an international family mediator, trainer and consultant. On the background of her work in adult education she has been active in the peace movement and peace education, initiating violence prevention and mediation projects in schools and communities, developing and carrying out professional mediation training programmes and advising others working in these fields.  Her varying tasks in a training and advisory capacity in the area of development cooperation have taken her to a number of countries for short-term assignments, including Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Jordan, Sri Lanka, Kosovo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Northern Ireland and Australia. She has also published widely.

As a founding member of  MiKK, Jamie has been mediating child abduction cases since 2004 and still thrives on the challenge of dealing with high conflict situations. She is interested in deepening her understanding and support of parents and children who have been involved in child abduction, as this is often a profound and traumatic experience in their lives.

Dr. Rebecca Bailey

Dr. Bailey received her doctoral degree from The Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA. She is a clinical psychologist and forensic psychologist who specializes in complex case scenarios, including high-conflict divorce and experiences of extreme trauma. She is a nationally recognized expert in non-familial and familial abductions and the founder and director of Transitioning Families, an innovative and family-based program for connection-focused work in California. She is the former director of the Sonoma Police Department’s Youth and Family Services a regular referral for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and an active supporter and educator for the National Center for The National Center of   Juvenile and Family Court Judges. Dr Bailey is specialized in the field of cross-border family mediation, having trained by MiKK – International Mediation Centre for Family conflict and Child Abduction in Berlin. She provides training for a variety of populations including First Responders, mental health providers, and other health care workers.

Dr. Bailey has been a guest and commentator on Anderson Cooper, Good Morning America, Piers Morgan, Erin Burnett, Kyra Phillips, 20/20, Diane Sawyer, and World News Tonight. She is the co-author of the book Safe Kids, Smart Parents (Simon & Schuster, 2013), Equine  Connections, Polyvagal Principles ( 2022)  and the co-author of several peer-reviewed articles on abduction, high-conflict families, and with Dr. Porges and Jaycee Dugard the concept of  appeasement as a survival strategy.

Dr. Noriko Odagiri

Noriko Odagiri is a clinical child psychologist, a family therapist, a mediator, and a researcher. She is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at Tokyo International University, teaching a counselling course. She holds a Ph.D. in psychology and is a certified clinical psychologist, a certificated public psychologist, and a listed ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) mediator for the Hague Child Abduction Convention in Japan since 2014. She participated in the Cross Border Family Mediation (CBFM) Training with MiKK in Berlin in 2019 and in Osaka, Japan in 2016-2024, and has since been a member of the International MiKK Mediators Network and a member of the Cross Border Family Mediators network. 

She has been a Visiting Professor at Willamette University, Oregon in the U.S. (2011-2013) and participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) arranged by the U.S. Department of State for 2weeks for research on the legal practice of international child abduction (December 2016). Based on these experiences, she provides counseling to children with separated or divorced parents, and divorced families and stepfamilies that have troubles with childcare and parent-child relationships. Additionally, she runs a visitation center with a lawyer and provides co-parenting programs after divorce in Japan. She translated the family assessment tool used in Australian family courts (Detection Overall Of Risk Screen, known as DOORS) with her colleague and is implementing it on a trial basis in Japan.

She focuses on the benefits and challenges of hearing the child’s voice in international family mediation. She thinks that it is invaluable for children to have an opportunity to express their wishes and concerns about visitation arrangements, child custody, or their parents’ disputes in a confidential and safe environment to a mediator or a child psychologist.

She earned her Ph.D. (Psychology) from Shirayuri Woman’s University and her B.A. from Nihon Woman’s University.

Rebecca Arndt

Originally trained as a Music Therapist in Texas (USA), Rebecca Arndt holds a Masters degree in Dispute Resolution in Texas (2009) and a Diplôme d’État de Médiateur Familial in France (2018) where she now resides.  She  trained in International Family Mediation by MIKK.ev in 2015 and has since been a MIKK.ev member and member of the Cross Border Family Mediators network.  Rebecca contributes the International Family Mediation module to the current IRTS* Marseille training of candidates for the French Diplôme d’État de Médiateur Familial on behalf of Résonances Médiations, a family mediation association in the south of France.  She is a member of the APMF (Association pour la Médiation Familiale) and the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation.  Rebecca is fluent in English, French and Spanish.

Konstanze Welz

Born into a German – Indian family and brought up in Germany, India, and the US, I learned to navigate different cultures at an early age.

An interculturalist by birth, building bridges between cultures has always been at the heart of my work. For almost two decades – as a project manager in the German film industry – I have been traveling between Germany and Asia to bring together creative and economic forces from these parts of the world.

However, a severe illness with a long road to recovery became a turning point in my life. I left the film industry and subsequently trained to become a transformative mediator, a cross border family mediator with MiKK.e.V. and a trauma recovery coach. I wanted my work to be more personal and engaging families in conflict allowed me to bring to the work my deep knowledge and understanding of childhood trauma as well as the personal experiences and learnings of my own family’s troubled story across three different continents. Since 2020 I have been working closely with MiKK e.V. as a trainer and guest speaker with the mission to raise awareness for the long-term consequences of parental child abduction.

Kamilla Baum

Kamila Baum was born in Poland and grew up there as one of three sisters.

She studied Clinical Psychology of Childhood and Adolescence in Luxembourg and Potsdam, Germany. During the last semester of her studies, she started training as a coach and mediator.

Her love of conflict resolution led her to MiKK e.V., where she received further advanced cross-border family mediation (CBFM) training, specializing her in the field of high conflict, complex international parental child abduction cases. Kamila has worked on various projects on the subject of mediation and conducts family and business mediations. Furthermore, she uses her psychology background in the context of business coaching for corporations as well as  small companies. Kamila is a mother of two wonderful children and lives with her family in Germany.

Nicolas Antaris

Nicolas Antartis is a Licensed Social Worker, a certified Family Mediator in Cyprus, and a Cross-Border Family Mediator, International Family Mediator, and International Child Abduction Cases Mediator. He holds a Master’s Degree with Academic Honor Summa Cum Laude (2019) and a Bachelor’s (2002) in Social Work. In his 20+ years of long working experience as a Professional Social Worker, he has had the opportunity to work with prisoners, vulnerable groups and people with disabilities, in neighborhood programs and communities, as well as an external associate at the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth in Cyprus. Also, for 10 years, he has worked in an interdisciplinary therapeutic team as a director/social worker in NGOs for children with special needs and their parents. At that time, he was a supervisor as a framework for practicing Social Work students. Additionally, he has been involved in EU-funded projects in various fields, such as equality issues, mental health, discrimination, and isolation. Finally, for the past 9 years, he has been working with the elderly, mainly patients with senile dementia. He has been a staff member at the University of Nicosia for the last 6 years. He is elected member of the Council of Registration of Professional Social Workers of Cyprus for the next 2 years. In addition, he is a member of the MiKK e.V. Berlin, where he cooperates in matters of child abduction in accordance with the Hague Convention. He also helps to raise awareness of Family Mediation in Cyprus at the Ministry of Justice and the Judiciary level. His research interests lie in social policy planning and planning with people with disabilities (rehabilitation after school completion by adulthood and workplace integration), family mediation, unaccompanied migrant children and child protection, and older people (people with dementia and their carers).

Douja Elhajj

Inspired by her own early life experiences with familial conflict and bicultural challenges, Douja was drawn to dispute resolution as a means to empower and aid others in transforming their interpersonal conflicts into opportunities for growth and understanding. She is deeply committed to working with families to address complex family issues, fostering environments where every member can thrive.

Douja believes in empowering parents and families through psychoeducation and robust discussions, equipping them with the skills necessary to transform their relationships. Specialising in high-conflict situations, she employs her extensive background in psychology and behavioural change, emphasising non-defensive dialogue to enhance communication and understanding.

Recognising the challenges separated parents face in making decisions that reflect the best interests of their children, Douja is dedicated to ensuring that children’s voices are heard, promoting their autonomy, and engaging families in meaningful introspective discussions.

Having trained in Cross-Border Family Mediation (CBFM) in Berlin in 2014 with MiKK e.V., Douja is a qualified MiKK Mediator who integrates her knowledge of the Hague Convention 1980 into her practice.

Holding a Bachelor’s Degree in Science (Psychology and Genetics), a Graduate Diploma in Counselling and Human Services, and currently completing a Master of Business Administration (MBA), Douja is well-qualified. Her professional credentials include being an Accredited Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner by the WA Attorney General’s Department since 2007, a Nationally Accredited Mediator since 2013, and a Parenting Coordinator since 2019.

Karl Desouza

Karl Desouza is a psychotherapist and trained mediator, born into a Portuguese Goan family in India and currently based in Singapore. At 54 years old, Karl brings a unique multicultural perspective to his work, having lived and worked in various countries around the world. Married to a Singaporean Chinese, he embraces diversity, equity, and inclusiveness.

Karl holds dual bachelor’s degrees in Law and Computer Engineering, as well as master’s degrees in Clinical Psychology and Sociology. His constant passion for learning and diversity is reflected in his always updating himself in scientific, evidence-based modalities. As a dedicated practitioner of nonviolent communication, inspired by Gandhi, his practice is collaborative, respectful, non-judgmental, and provides a safe space for people to heal and grow. He works with individuals, couples, and families, specializing in trauma, particularly attachment wounds, and believes that while it is important to give hope for healing to happen, it is also important to heal so that genuine hope can be sustained.

Karl integrates Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) principles from Sue Johnson into his practice, focusing on creating secure emotional bonds and fostering a safe, supportive therapeutic environment. He emphasizes the importance of emotional accessibility, responsiveness, and engagement in relationships, helping clients reconnect and heal attachment injuries. His approach aligns with the EFT model’s goal of transforming negative interaction patterns into positive cycles of connection and intimacy.

He serves as the Director and Lead Therapist at Listening Ear Counselling & Consultancy Pte. Ltd. in Singapore. Karl is a full member of the Singapore Psychological Society and the Singapore Association of Counsellors, besides various other international bodies like APA, ACA, and the International Cross-Cultural Psychology Association. He has completed training in Cross-Border Family Mediation (CBFM) with MiKK in Berlin and is an accredited associate mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre, serving on the family mediation and intellectual property panels.

In addition to his professional achievements, Karl enjoys movies, music, gardening, and has a passion for sustainability. He firmly believes in the axiom, “It is in giving that we receive,” and is dedicated to supporting families through high-conflict situations and international child abduction cases.

Martin Lau

Martin Lau is a registered Social Worker and Accredited General and Family Mediator in Hong Kong. In addition to an undergraduate degree in Social Work, he has also obtained master’s degrees in Psychology, Family Counselling and Education, and Human Rights Law.  In 2015, he received Cross-border Family Mediation training in Germany at MiKK e.V.

Martin had substantive experience in handling child custody evaluation, kinship assessment, international parental child abduction, parenting coordination and family mediation in a cross-border context when he worked in international and other domestic NGOs for over 20 years. The scope of his casework involved a number of overseas countries, especially those related to Mainland China and Hong Kong. In his regional networking position at a later stage, he aimed to strengthen regional collaboration on cross-border family welfare and international family mediation with a concern for the various Asian family cultures and values.

Martin was also a visiting lecturer on custody evaluation and parent-child attachment, and the adjustment of parenting practice in a multicultural environment at the universities in Hong Kong.