Astrid obtained a masters degree in counselling psychology from the University of Stellenbosch in 1999 and has been in private practice since 2000. She graduated with a PhD in parenting coordination at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands in 2018.
She became an accredited mediator with FAMAC in 2005 and an accredited parenting coordinator (facilitator) since 2008. She has been a member of the FAMAC executive since 2006 and had twice been elected as co-chairman of the organisation. In 2016, she was a member of the task force that drafted the SA Parenting Coordination Guidelines. In 2021 she chaired the task force that drafted the South African Standards of Practice for Forensic Assessments. She was elected as vice-chair of NABFAM in 2018.
Astrid frequently presents papers on parenting coordination and child participation at conferences, both local and abroad. The conferences include AFCC conferences in New Orleans in 2015, Melbourne in 2017 and Sydney in 2019. In 2014, she presented a paper on child participation in parenting coordination at a conference held under the auspices of the University of Leiden celebrating 25 years of the existence of the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child. Her paper was later included in a book titled The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: Taking Stock After 25 Years and Looking Ahead. Astrid was invited to be a judge at bi-annual the Children’s Right Moot Court Competition held at Leiden University in 2017.
Astrid has also delivered papers at the second, third and fourth International Family Law Conference held in London in 2013, 2016 and 2019. Her paper delivered at the 2016 conference, Dispute resolution in South Africa: parenting coordination keeps families out of court, was included in the conference journal, International Family Law, Policy and Practice, Vol.4.3. Locally, Astrid has presented papers on parenting coordination and child participation at the annual Miller du Toit Cloete-UWC Family Law conference as well as the Family Law conference hosted annually by Clarks Attorneys in Johannesburg. Together with Craig Schneider, Astrid has organised the bi-annual FAMAC ADR conference in 2014, 2016 and 2018.