Meet Dr. Elisabeth Sheff

Dr. Elisabeth Sheff is one of a handful of global academic experts on polyamory, and the foremost academic expert on children in polyamorous families. Specializing in diversity and underserved populations, Sheff is an expert witness, relationship consultant, public speaker, and author. Her first book,  The Polyamorists Next Door: Inside Multiple-Partner Relationships and Families (2014 hardback and ebook, 2015 paperback and audiobook), details Sheff’s findings from the first 15 years of the Polyamorous Families Study. Stories from the Polycule: Real Life in Polyamorous Families (2015), Sheff’s second book, is an edited collection of stories from people in polyamorous families. Sheff’s third book, When Someone you Love is Polyamorous: Understanding Poly People and Relationships, is a brief introduction to polyamory using empirical evidence to start a conversation.

With a PhD in Sociology, Sheff is a pioneer of the academic study of polyamory. Sheff has also published over 20 peer reviewed articles and chapters in academic journals and books. Dr. Sheff has taught at the University of Colorado, University of Montana, Georgia State University, Oglethorpe, and Emory University.

Dr. Sheff has given scores of radio, podcast, print, and television interviews with sources from The New York Times,  ABC News and CNN to The Atlantic, New York and Shape magazines. She has appeared on National Geographic Television’s Taboo and Sunrise, a morning show in Australia. As a blogger for Psychology Today, Sheff makes academic research easily accessible to everyone.