Elaine Shpungin Ph.D.

Elaine Shpungin, Ph.D., is the founder and director of Conflict 180.

For the past 25 years, Dr. Elaine Shpungin has been exploring how we can communicate more effectively across differences, address structural inequities, increase resilience, and turn stuck conflicts into opportunities for learning and restoration.

After serving as the director of the University of Illinois’ Psychological Services Center for 12 years, Elaine founded Conflict 180 in 2016. Through interactive workshops, leadership coaching, and conflict consultations, Elaine's goal is to support schools, organizations, and teams in moving toward their purpose.

Elaine’s work is based on decades of hands-on experience and the synthesis of best practices from the fields of psychology, communication, organizational change, leadership and equity.

Elaine also brings more than 10 years of study and application from the fields of conflict and restorative justice, including her work with Restorative Circles, the award-winning dialogical systems building process co-created by Dominic Barter and colleagues in Brazil.

Elaine’s writing has appeared in academic journals, scholarly books, web magazines, popular books on psychology, and her Conflict 180 blog.

To restore herself, Elaine likes to hike with her husband and kids, read speculative fiction, watch superhero shows, and indulge in dark chocolate. You can reach Elaine by emailing Elaine@Conflict180.com.