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Shirley Zussman, a sex therapist trained by researchers William H. Masters and Virginia E. Johnson, who elucidated the mechanics of sex and continued to see patients until the age of 105, died at her Manhattan home on December 4. He was 107 years old.
His son, Mark Zussman, confirmed the death.
In 1966, a psychiatric social worker and psychotherapist, Dr. and Miss Johnson, who studied psychology and dropped out of college.
st. Louis clinic (Dr. Masters was married to someone else at the time) had begun to help people improve their sex lives, using what they learned from nearly a decade of clinical studies examining the lifestyles of men and women. they had sex and what gives them pleasure. Their book, “The Human Sexual Response,” which popularized treatment for sexual dysfunction and helped get patients off the analyst’s couch, had just been published and was not yet bestseller. But the lesson they gave was Dr. as Zussman He told Time magazine in 2014, centennial, resonated for her and her husband.
Masters and Ms. Johnson’s research found that women can have multiple orgasms, but not always or often – or in some cases, never – by penetration. They were pro-masturbation and they taught it. Buttoned 1950s, Dr. It was a cultural moment, as the ’60s gave rise to what Zussman calls ‘crazy hangouts’ and each era is, in its own way, a recipe for performance anxiety and boredom.
Despite the comforting customs of the 60s, Dr. Zussman recalled: “Being sexual wasn’t just attractive and wonderful. It was necessary to learn to be a good wife and enjoy pleasure, not only for yourself, but also for each other. And I thought, ‘We can do this! Why can’t we do this?”
Educated at the Masters and Johnson Institute and in the mid-’70s, the Zussmans were co-directors of the Center for Human Sexuality at Long Island Jewish-Hillside Medical Center. Their patients were married couples, typically women who could not orgasm, and men who were impotent or had premature ejaculation.
They felt that the underlying problems were related to communication, as they kindly detailed in their 1979 book Getting Together: A Guide to Sexual Enrichment for Couples. With both physical and psychological exercises—the Zussmans encouraged their patients to be trained for clues to their attitudes about sexuality and relationships, and to examine how work, family, and societal pressures affect their intimacy—the book’s scope was extensive. He was also kind.
“Shirley was a pioneer in sex therapy and an excellent role model,” said Ruth Westheimer, program director at Planned Parenthood and studying sexuality at Columbia University. Long Island clinics. This is Holocaust survivor and later a familiar face on television, sexologist Dr. It was Westheimer’s first experience with the discipline. “They were pioneers because she was a therapist and her husband was a gynecologist, which validated the study. It gave the legitimacy that sex therapists like me needed. I wouldn’t be talking about orgasm if it wasn’t for Shirley.”
Dr. Zussman said in 2014 that sexual pleasure is “just one part of what men and women want for each other. They want intimacy. They want intimacy. They want to understand. They want comfort. They want fun. And they want someone who truly cares about them beyond sleeping with them. And I think people are looking for that in every generation.”
Shirley Edith Dlugasch was born on July 23, 1914, on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. His father, Louis Dlugasch, was a doctor, and his mother, Sara (Steiner) Dlugasch, was a surgical nurse.
Shirley grew up in Brooklyn and graduated in psychology from Smith College, graduating in 1934. (Julia Child was a classmate.) She earned a degree from the New York School of Social Work-Columbia University (now the Columbia School of Social Work). He earned a doctorate in education from Teachers College at Columbia University in 1937 and 1969.
Her doctoral thesis looked at husbands in the delivery room, which was radical behavior in the 50s and 60s. Dr. Zussman wanted to explore delivery traditions in other cultures and reached out to famed anthropologist Margaret Mead, a member of the Columbia faculty, to sit on the thesis committee.
In addition to his son, Dr. Zussman’s daughter, Carol Sun, is alive; three grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. Leon Zussman died in 1980.
Dr. Zussman was a two-time president of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists. She was a frequent guest on talk shows and was a monthly column in Glamor magazine “Sex and Health” for fifteen years. He attributed his long life to good genes: his sister lived to 104, and his brother to 96.
In both sex therapy and psychotherapy practice, Dr. Zussman has seen gay couples and single people as well as straight couples. He said that the most common problem among his patients in the 21st century is reluctance.
“You have to look at your priorities,” he told Time magazine. “You have to decide what is important for you to feel good about yourself and your life. And to help your partner feel good. To create something fulfilling that satisfies all of us need to be close to someone.”
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