TEDxjaffa — Niveen Rizkalla — Getting Intimate with Intimacy

Niveen Rizkalla discusses the importance of intimacy in our lives and how to achieve it. Combining sweet and humorous personal anecdotes with vast study of the theory and psychology behind developing relationships and intimacy, Niveen suggests ways in which each of us can increase the intimacy in our lives. Niveen was born and raised in Palestinian family in Ramle and currently lives in Haifa, where she works for the Ministry of Health as the manager of a mobile clinic treating women working in prostitution. Niveen studied psychology and english literature (BA) as well as social work (BA) and couple and family counseling. During the last five years she has been working on her Ph.D. in social work at Tel-Aviv University. Her main areas of interest are Couple Intimacy, Differentiation of the self, Collectivism-Individualism and Marital Satisfaction, and comparing married couples within the Arab and Jewish societies in Israel. She facilitates groups of Palestinians and Jews in conflict, women's empowerment groups and teaches courses on sexual abuse and trauma as well as general sexual education. In addition, Niveen is an active volunteer in feminist and women's rights organizations.