TalkRx: Five Steps to Honest Conversations That Create Connection, Health, and Happiness

Do you say yes when you really mean no? Do you avoid conflict at all costs? Are you waiting for someone in your life to change in order to get what you want? If so, you’re not alone. Most people will do anything to avoid the unpleasant sensations that accompany having an honest exchange—even if it’s as simple as declining an invitation. But not speaking directly in the short term results in a much bigger problem long-term: hurt feelings and passive-aggressive patterns that stress us out, keep us up at night, and literally make us sick. You might be thinking, Communication? I know how to communicate. Don’t be fooled. Communication is simple, but it’s not always easy. Many of us learn from an early age to be guarded about what and how we share with others. Few of us know how to pay attention to our body, thoughts, emotions, and values in order to speak from the heart. In this book, Neha Sangwan, M.D., reveals practical yet profound communication tools that will strengthen your relationships, reduce your stress, improve your health, and even save you time. Having treated thousands of patients in one of the nation’s largest hospital systems, Doctor Neha discovered a theme: her patients’ inability to communicate often played an underlying role in their illness and how well they were able to recover. Once she understood this correlation, she was inspired to create the simple five-step process you’ll learn in this book. TalkRx will lead you step-by-step to listen to your body’s signals to better manage stress, create new outcomes with even the most challenging personalities in your life, articulate your frustration and disappointment effectively, talk to people instead of about them; make agreements that stick; and more.

Neha Sangwan, M.D., the CEO and founder of Intuitive Intelligence, is an internal medicine physician and corporate communication expert. Her private practice and corporate consulting focuses on empowering individuals, organizational leaders, and their teams with the tools for clear, effective communication. She addresses the root cause of stress, miscommunication, and interpersonal conflict, often healing chronic conditions such as headaches, insomnia, anxiety, and depression. As a speaker, author, and coach, Doctor Neha has shared her discoveries on the stages of TEDx Berkeley and TEDx San Luis Obispo. She speaks for and partners with organizations such as the American Heart Association, American Express, Kaiser Permanente, and Google. Doctor Neha earned her Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical and biomedical engineering from Michigan State University and worked as a manufacturing engineer for Motorola before attending medical school at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo. She completed her internal medicine residency training at Temple University Hospital and subsequently her board certification. Website: doctorneha.com