The sex therapist who was trained by William H. Masters and Virginia E. Johnson, and who continued seeing patients until she was 105, died in December. She was old.
Mark Zussman confirmed her death.
Dr. Zussman and her husband, Leon Zussman, were invited to a lecture by two sex researchers who were unknown at the time.
At their St. Louis clinic, the couple began helping people improve their sex lives by studying the ways men and women had sex and what gave them pleasure. Their book, "Human Sexual Response," which helped liberate the treatment of sexual problems and helped sufferers from the analyst's couch, was not yet the best seller it would become. The lecture they delivered, as Dr. Zussman told Time magazine in the year of her 100th birthday, made a difference for her and her husband.
Dr. Masters and Ms. Johnson found that women could be multi-orgasmic, but not always. They were taught about masturbation. It was a fraught cultural moment as the buttoned-up 1950s gave way to what Dr. Zussman called the frantic hookups of the ’60s.
Dr. Zussman said that it was not just glamorous and wonderful to be sexual. One had to learn how to be a good partner and enjoy the pleasure of each other. I thought we could do that. Why can't we do that?
The Human Sexuality Center at Long Island Jewish-Hillside Medical Center was co-directors by the Zussmans. Their patients were usually married couples, women who were not orgasmic and men who were impotent or ejaculating.
The authors of the 1979 book, " Getting Together: A Guide to Sexual Enhancement for Couples," felt that the underlying issues had to do with communication. The Zussmans encouraged their patients to plumb their upbringing for clues to their attitudes about sex and relationships, and to examine how work, family and societal pressures affected their intimacy. It was kind.
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Leon and Dr. Zussman published a book in 1979 to teach couples how to communicate better.
Ruth Westheimer, who was a program director at Planned Parenthood and was studying sexuality at Columbia University when she took a course in sex therapy taught by Dr. Zussman and her husband, said thatShirley was a pioneer in sex therapy and an excellent role model. The first experience with the discipline was for Dr. Westheimer, the Holocaust survivor and sexologist who later became a familiar face on television. She was a therapist and her husband was a gynecologist, that made them pioneers. Sex therapists like me need legitimacy. I wouldn't be talking about orgasms if it wasn't for her.
Sexual pleasure is only one part of what men and women want for each other. They want to be intimate. They want to be close. They want to understand. They are looking for comfort. They want to have fun. They want someone who cares about them more than just sleeping with them. I think people are always looking for that.
The Lower East Side of Manhattan was where Dlugasch was born. Her mother was a surgical nurse and her father was a doctor.
Smith College was the place where Shirley graduated in 1934 with a degree in psychology. Julia Child was a student. She received a degree in education from Teachers College, at Columbia University, in 1969 and a degree in social work from the New York School of Social Work in 1937.
She looked at husbands who were present in the delivery room. Dr. Zussman reached out to Margaret Mead, a member of Columbia's faculty, who was on her thesis committee, to explore delivery customs in other cultures.
Carol Sun is the daughter of Dr. Zussman and she is survived by three children, three step-children, and seven great-grandchildren. Leon Zussman died in 1980.
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The Zussman's are in a photo. They were directors of a sex therapy clinic on Long Island.
The American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists had Dr. Zussman as president twice. She had a monthly column in the magazine "Sex and Health" for a decade and a half. Her brother and sister lived to 96 and 104, respectively.
Same-sex couples, single people, and heterosexual couples were all seen by Dr. Zussman in her sex therapy practice. A lack of desire was the most common problem among her patients.
She told Time magazine that she had to look at her priorities. You have to decide what makes you feel good. To make your partner feel good. To fill a need that we all have to be close to someone is what it is about.
