Weve all heard of physical and mental health, but another important aspect to our overall health and wellbeing is social health. In fact, recently in the United States, the surgeon general revealed that social isolation and loneliness just topped obesity to claim second place as one of the top three killers in America.

Humans are highly social creatures, but that doesnt always mean that our social interactions are healthy. In this informative talk, Dr. Chelsea Shields, explains how our emotions can easily be high-jacked and then offers guidance on how to evaluate and level up our social health.

This presentation was filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic, with only a limited live audience of cast and crew members. While applause has been added to the beginning and end of the video, all other aspects have intentionally remained as filmed to honor the struggle and loss experienced globally during 2020.

Wardrobe furnished by Tommaso Cardullo. Dr. Chelsea Shields is a bio-social anthropologist, placebo studies expert, and runs a local consulting business.

In her academic work, Dr. Shields focuses on the evolution and elicitation of the placebo effect outside medical contexts. She coined the concept of social susceptibility to talk about how and why our human bodies have evolved to react, adjust, and adapt to specific social rituals, relationships and communities. Her work also investigates the evolutionary mismatch of modern human hyper-sociality and the health implications of a global, digital, 24/7 social network.

In her professional work, Shields runs a research and strategy business that specializes in qualitative, quantitative, and ethnographic research as well as creative ideation, branding, and user-experience design.

Dr. Shields is also a TED Fellow, 3x TED speaker, and teaches speaker training that is focused on the 90% of communication we never talk about: the non-verbals! This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

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Frederik Imbo studied theatre at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent and has acted in lots of television series. He founded Imboorling and now has over 15 years experience in stimulating and supporting people. With the aim of improving their communication skills Frederik gives presentations, workshops, training courses and personal coaching sessions to anyone prepared to make their two ears available.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

The United States accounts for five percent of the worlds population but consumes almost 70 percent of the total global opioid supply, creating an epidemic that has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths each year. How did we get here, and what can we do about it? In this personal talk, Travis Rieder recounts the painful, often-hidden struggle of opioid withdrawal and reveals how doctors who are quick to prescribe (and overprescribe) opioids arent equipped with the tools to eventually get people off the meds. Travis Rieder, PhD, is the Assistant Director for Education Initiatives, Director of the Master of Bioethics degree program and Research Scholar at the Berman Institute of Bioethics.

Travis’ work tends to fall into one of two, quite distinct research programs. The first concerns ethical and policy questions about sustainability and planetary limits. Much of this research has been on issues in climate change ethics and procreative ethics with a particular focus on the intersection of the two – that is, on the question of responsible procreation in the era of climate change. The second research program concerns ethical and policy issues surrounding America’s opioid epidemic.

In addition to his more scholarly writing, Travis is firmly committed to doing bioethics with the public. He writes regularly for The Conversation and blogs occasionally at The Huffington Post and the Berman Institute Bioethics Bulletin. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

Russ Altman uses computer technology to explore how our genes affect the ways our bodies respond to drugs.

A Stanford professor of bioengineering, genetics and medicine, Altman leads Simbios, an NIH Center for Biomedical Computation, and holds a BA from Harvard College, an MD from Stanford Medical School and a PhD in medical information sciences from Stanford. Altman received the U.S. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and Stanford Medical Schools graduate teaching award. He chairs the Science Board advising the Food and Drug Administration and is a founder of Personalis Inc.

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.\t

Brad Blanton Phd. is a psychotherapist, trainer and american writer, author of the «Radical Honesty» bestseller, a book and a theory that challenges a fundamental and almost unchallenged belief of our society. In a truly honest talk, maybe brutally honest, Mr. Blanton convinced the audience that honesty, and not politeness or political correctness is the essence of human relationships and a fulfilled life. Maybe being radically honest all the time is difficult to accept, maybe it is even an idea that a lot of people cannot digest but it is surely an idea that at least has to be intellectually entertained.

Stanford lecturer and entrepreneur Matt Abrahams is an expert on interpersonal communication and presentation. His talk at TEDxMontaVistaHighSchools 2015 Spring conference explains the ins and outs of impromptu and public speaking.

Matt Abrahams is a passionate, collaborative and innovative educator and coach. Matt teaches both Strategic Communication and Effective Communication at Stanford Universitys Graduate School of Business. Matt is also Co-Founder and Principal at Bold Echo Communications Solutions, a presentation and communication skills company based in Silicon Valley that helps people improve their presentation skills. Matt has worked with executives to help prepare and present keynote addresses and IPO road shows, conduct media interviews, and deliver TED talks. Finally, Matt recently published the second edition of his book Speaking Up Without Freaking Out, a book written to help people become more confident, authentic, and compelling presenters. Prior to teaching, Matt held senior leadership positions in several leading software companies, where he created and ran global training and development organizations.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

Narda Pitkethly created a system that profoundly simplifies learning how to read. Watch how her system reduces illiteracy and many of its negative consequences. Narda Pitkethly moved to Japan after college and discovered the Japanese had created a simple method of learning to read, called Hiragana. Through their method, Narda learned to read Japanese in a week. Within three months, her comprehension allowed her to communicate freely in her home city of Fukuoka.
In 1988 Narda moved from Japan to Sun Valley because the small community and year-round outdoor activities enticed her. An accomplished glassblower, she often travels to Boise to create works of art.
When her daughter was identified as a challenged reader in the first grade, Narda discovered that English is one of the hardest languages in the world to learn to read, even for native speakers. Narda analyzed the English alphabet to understand why it is so difficult (1 in 4 children grow up without learning to read). She organized the letters in the same way the Japanese organized their Hiragana characters. Narda reveals an approach to the English language you have never seen before. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

Are you ready to talk about relationships? Alexandra Redcay is the executive director to Serise, Inc. She can be found at Seriseinc.com. Alexandra has over 18 years of direct practice, management, and training experience working in mental health, substance abuse, child welfare, juvenile justice, and education systems. She is an expert consultant in establishing healthy relationships.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

People may know what a healthy romantic relationship looks like, but most don’t know how to get one. Psychologist and researcher Joanne Davila describes how you can create the things that lead to healthy relationships and reduce the things that lead to unhealthy ones using three evidence-based skills – insight, mutuality, and emotion regulation. Share this with everyone who wants to have a healthy relationship.

Dr. Joanne Davila is a Professor of Psychology and the Director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology at Stony Brook University. She received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from UCLA.

Dr. Davila’s expertise is in the area of romantic relationships and mental health in adolescents and adults, and she has published widely in this area. Her current research focuses on romantic competence among youth and emerging adults, the development of relationship education programs, the interpersonal causes and consequences of depression and anxiety, and well-being and relationship functioning among lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals.

Dr. Davila is a Fellow in the Association for Psychological Science and the Incoming Editor (2016-2022) for the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

Dr. Davila also is a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in evidence-based interventions for relationship problems, depression, and anxiety.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx