Shirley Zussman
Shirley Zussman | |
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| Born | July 23, 1914 Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Died | December 4, 2021 (aged 107) Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Education |
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| Occupation | Sex therapist |
Shirley Edith Zussman (née Dlugasch; July 23, 1914 – December 4, 2021) was an American sex therapist based in New York City.[1] She was Jewish.[2][3]
Early life and education[]
Zussman was born Shirley Edit Dlugasch on July 23, 1914, in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Zussman's father, Louis Dlugasch, was a doctor, and her mother, Sara, was a surgical nurse. She was raised in Brooklyn, and attended Girls High School.[4]
Zussman received a bachelor's degree in psychology at Smith College in 1934, and a masters in social work in 1937 from the New York School of Social Work at Columbia University. She received her doctorate in education in 1969 from Teachers College, Columbia University.[4] Zussman was supervised through her graduate dissertation by Margaret Mead.[5]
Career[]
Zussman and her husband, Dr. Leon Zussman, a gynecologist, trained at the Masters and Johnson Institute in the 1960s. The two became directors of the Human Sexuality Center of the Jewish-Hillside Medical Center on Long Island in New York. Their practice centered on communication and developed physical and psychological exercises for their patients. In 1979, they wrote Getting Together: A Guide to Sexual Enrichment for Couples which was wide-ranging and compassionate.[4] She later had a practice on East 79th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.[6]
She was a two-term President of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists,[7] and co-director of the Human Sexuality Center of Zucker Hillside Hospital. Zussman was also past Director of the Association for Male Sexual Dysfunction.[8]
Ruth Westheimer, the German-American sex therapist and talk show host known popularly as Dr. Ruth, studied under Zussman when she taught at Columbia University.[9]
In her later years, in her practice Zussman often saw people much younger than herself; at age 99 she had patients in their twenties.[10] She continued to practice as a sex therapist at 100 years old as of August 2014.[5]
Personal life[]
Shirley was married to Leon Zussman (1909–1980).[11] They had two children, a son, Marc Zussman, and a daughter, Carol Sun.[4]
Zussman died on December 4, 2021, at the age of 107.[4]
Books and articles[]
- Zussman, Leon, Shirley Zussman, and Jeremy Brecher. Getting Together: A Guide to Sexual Enrichment for Couples. New York: Morrow, 1979. ISBN 9780688033835
- Zussman, Leon, and Shirley Zussman. "The treatment of sexual dysfunction: Some theoretical considerations." Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy: On the Cutting Edge of Modern Developments in Psychotherapy (1976).
- Whitehead, E. D., Klyde, B. J., Zussman, S., & Salkin, P. (1990). Diagnostic evaluation of impotence. Postgraduate medicine, 88(2), 123–136.
- Zussman, L., Zussman, S., Sunley, R., & Bjornson, E. (1981). Sexual response after hysterectomy-oophorectomy: recent studies and reconsideration of psychogenesis. American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 140(7), 725–729.
References[]
- ^ "Sex and the centenarian". www.timesofisrael.com.
- ^ "This 100-Year-Old Sex Therapist Has Advice For You". The Forward.
- ^ "Six Jews Who Changed the Way We Talk About Sex". Haaretz.
- ^ a b c d e Green, Penelope (18 December 2021). "Shirley Zussman, Indefatigable Sex Therapist, Is Dead at 107". New York Times.
- ^ a b Charlotte Alter. "This 100-Year Old Sex Therapist Says We're Too Busy to Have Good Sex". TIME.com.
- ^ LLC, New York Media (March 30, 1987). "New York Magazine". New York Media, LLC – via Google Books.
- ^ "Shirley Zussman, EdD".
- ^ "Aging GreatFULLy with Holley Kelley – "Aging Amazing Past One-Hundred...with Dr. Shirley Zussman!" – 48:22". radiopublic.com.
- ^ Green, Penelope (December 18, 2021). "Shirley Zussman, Indefatigable Sex Therapist, Is Dead at 107". The New York Times.
- ^ Stewart, Sara (November 16, 2013). "99-year-old sex therapist can spice up your love life". New York Post. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ "Dr. Leon Zussman, 71, An Expert on Sexuality And Human Relations". New York Times. September 9, 1980. p. 77.
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- 1914 births
- 2021 deaths
- 20th-century American Jews
- 20th-century American women
- 21st-century American Jews
- 21st-century American women
- Sex therapists
- American centenarians
- American people of German-Jewish descent
- American sex educators
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- Educators from New York City
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