Ileana Ungureanu, M.D., Ph.D., LMFT

Dr. Ungureanu earned her Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Syracuse University and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Illinois. She brings more than 20 years of clinical experience and 15 years of teaching experience in master’s and doctoral programs in Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling.

Her teaching, clinical, and scholarly interests focus on trauma, loss and grief, chronic medical conditions, and their impact on individuals, couples, and families. Her clinical practice and approach to teaching and supervision are grounded in attachment-based theory and Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), with an emphasis on relational processes, emotional connection, and resilience.

Affectionately known as “Dr. U” by her students, Dr. Ungureanu is committed to integrating clinical practice and theory in the classroom and fostering students’ development as thoughtful, competent, and relationally oriented clinicians. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Chicago Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy and is actively involved in the Center’s professional trainings and educational initiatives.

Ungureanu, I., & Hall, C. A. (in print, 2026). An attachment lens on grieving couples. In J. Barbozza and A. Hooghe, Embracing loss together: Therapeutic approaches to grieving couples and families. Routledge.

Ungureanu, I., and Hall, C. A. (2025). ‘Griefworks’: Integrating emotional processing and meaning- making in grief therapy. The Family Journal, 33(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/10664807251318983

Ungureanu, I. & Robey, P. (2023). Couples Counseling in the Loss of a Child: A Choice Theory and Emotionally Focused Therapy Approach. International Journal of Choice Theory and Reality Therapy, XLIII (1), 47-57. 

Benson, J., Hall, C. A., Abrams, A., DiNardo, D., Ungureanu, I., & Celano, M. (2022) . Individuals and Families Experiencing Loss and Bereavement In S. Browning & B. van Eeden- Moorefield (Eds.) Treating Interpersonal Problems in Contemporary Families. American Psychological Association Publications. 

Ungureanu, I., and Hall, C.A. (2020). Grief and loss effects on the couple. In K.S Wampler, Miller, R.B, et al. (Eds.), Handbook of Systemic Family Therapy. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons Publishing. 

Dr. U is an active presenter at various conferences in the field at regional, national and international organizations such as International Association for Marriage and Family Counselors (IAMFC), International Family Therapy Association (IFTA) or Illinois Association for Marriage and Family Therapy IAMFT).