Emily Nagoski, PhD Related seminars and products: 6

Emily Nagoski, Ph.D., has been a sex educator for twenty years and is the former inaugural Director of Wellness Education at Smith College. Her New York Times best-selling book, Come As You Are: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life, has been hailed as a groundbreaking exploration of the science of sexuality. Sex therapist, Ian Kerner called it a “master class in the science of sex” and relationship researcher John Gottman said it is “an absolutely necessary guide for all couples.” She has also written three guides for Ian Kerner’s GoodInBed.com, including the “Guide to Female Orgasm,” and her own blog, The Dirty Normal.

Dr. Nagoski has a Ph.D. in health behavior with a doctoral concentration in human sexuality from Indiana University, and a master’s degree in counseling, with a clinical internship at the Kinsey Institute Sexual Health Clinic. She has taught graduate and undergraduate classes in human sexuality, relationships and communication, stress management, and sex education.

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial: Emily Nagoski is in private practice. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc.

Non-financial: Emily Nagoski has no relevant non-financial relationship to disclose.

What is health?

In 1948, the World Health Organization (WHO)Trusted Source defined health with a phrase that modern authorities still apply.

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

In 1986, the WHOTrusted Source made further clarifications:

“A resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities.”

This means that health is a resource to support an individual’s function in wider society, rather than an end in itself. A healthful lifestyle provides the means to lead a full life with meaning and purpose.

In 2009, researchers publishing inThe LancetTrusted Source defined health as the ability of a body to adapt to new threats and infirmities.

They base this definition on the idea that the past few decades have seen modern science take significant strides in the awareness of diseases by understanding how they work, discovering new ways to slow or stop them, and acknowledging that an absence of pathology may not be possible.