Betty Berzon

Betty Berzon (January 18, 1928 – January 24, 2006) was an American author and psychotherapist known for her work with the gay and lesbian communities.

Berzon was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a Jewish family. She was among the first psychotherapists to assist gay clients. After coming out as gay in 1968, she began providing therapy to gays and lesbians. In 1971, during a UCLA conference called "The Homosexual in America," Berzon became the first psychotherapist in the country to come out as gay to the public. Also in 1971, she organized the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center as well as an organization of gays and lesbians within the American Psychiatric Association (the Gay Psychological Association, now known as the Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues); the APA declassified homosexuality as a mental illness two years later.

Berzon temporarily attended Stanford University before enrolling in UCLA in 1952 and graduating in 1957. She then obtained her master's degree from San Diego State University in 1962.

Berzon's books included Positively Gay (1979), Permanent Partners (1988), and The Intimacy Dance (1996). Berzon also wrote a personal memoir, Surviving Madness, a Therapist's Own Story (2002) in which she discussed her previous suicide attempt and institutionalization. The book received the Lambda Literary Award for best lesbian memoir in 2003. For many years, she wrote an advice column on gay relationships for PlanetOut.com.

In 1976 Berzon and her partner Teresa DeCrescenzo were among the eight founding members of the Western Gay Academic Union. Berzon later became president of the national Gay Academic Union.

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