Dagmar

O'Connor

Pioneering Sex Therapist Dr. Dagmar O'Connor (Almquist)
New York, passed away peacefully June 21, 2023 at 87 years
old.
Dr. Dagmar Elisabeth O'Connor (born August 18, 1935)
Loving mother, and life changing psychologist, confidant,
trusted advisor to many, passed away peacefully surrounded by
family in her East Hampton home.
Dr. Dagmar O'Connor was the first female sex therapist in New
York City, pioneer in helping sexually exploited women, Best
Selling Author, guest of TV personalities such as Phil Donahue,
Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Walters, Charlie Rose and others
around the world. She was an oversubscribed faculty
member/speaker at the World Economic Forum at the
Davos conferences in 2006 & 2007.
For more than five decades she worked as a sex therapist in New
York City. Her two books "How To Make Love to the Same
Person for the Rest of Your Life and Still Love It" and "How to
Put the Love Back into Making Love" have been translated into
16 languages.
Dagmar was born in Uppsala, Sweden, but grew up in
Djursholm (outside Stockholm) with father Jan-Eric Almquist,
professor of law, mother Elsa (née Rydberg) and her older sister
Ingegärd Perrson.
After graduation from secondary school and various language
courses abroad, Dagmar worked as an electron microscopist at
Karolinska in the early days of electron microscopy. This work
led to her getting a job at New York University in 1962 and
emigrating to the United States. She married American architect
Bruce Campbell Graham in 1964 and soon after had two sons,
Carl   Ian   and   Bruce   Eric.   After   separating   from   Bruce,   she
worked briefly as a model and clothing designer in NYC before
meeting her second husband, psychiatrist Dr. John F. O'Connor.
With John's encouragement and support, Dagmar began to study
psychology and work as a therapist specializing in sex therapy.
She  later  founded  and led  the  sex therapy  clinic  at St.  Luke
Roosevelt   Hospital   Center   and   was   a   lecturer   at   Columbia
Presbyterian Medical Center, later starting to practice privately
in  the  late  1970s.  At  the  same  time  Dagmar  worked  on  and earned her doctorate in psychology.
While she often did therapy sessions by telephone, the pandemic
facilitated Dagmar expanding her remote practice which allowed
her   to   work   with   patients   until   shortly   before   she   passed.
Dagmar is survived by Ian and his wife Susan and their children
Heather, Patrick and Carson; Eric and his wife Jennifer and their
children Luke and Ella; her niece Bitte Von Lueders and her
husband Maunu and their children Mikko and Sebastian; and her
nephew Sture Perrson.
Throughout her personal life, her homes were always open to
her   friends   and   relatives,   their  children   &   grandchildren.  All
learned about the wonders of New York City, the Hamptons, the
United States, and Dagmar. All who knew her are grateful to her
for sharing her love, wisdom and laughter.

In lieu of flowers, Donations may be made to East End hospice
www.eeh.org or The Safina Center www.safinacenter.org.
A Celebration of Life will be held at the New York Athletic
Club 180 Central Park South, New York, New York, 10019 on
2/10/2024 from 4:00-7:00 Friends, family, patients, and
colleagues are kindly welcome to attend. Please note the dress
code at www.nyac.org.
RSVP required: Eric Graham at  begraham43@gmail.com or
call 617-834-9506.
For more information about the services and her life visit:
Yardley Pino Funeral Home: https://www.yardleypino.com/