Steve is the Director of Research & Development at Women and Couples Wellness.
He’s the inventor of the hi® Massage system and has 6 US & International patents on various areas related to women’s pelvic, abdominal and sexual health.
Steve has a Doctorate of Human Sexuality from the IASHS, and a BS in Biochemistry (focusing on nutrition) from UNC-Chapel Hill. He’s the author of numerous books dealing with wellness, massage, and intimacy.
He’s been published in journals on a variety of topics ranging from neuroscience research to sexology. As well, He’s been interviewed in women’s and health magazines including Prevention, Women’s Health, Medical Daily, CNBC, Glamour, Redbook, Ask Men, etc.
An unusual background, resulting in a very different perspective
Steve has an unusual background that spans from various health modalities to neuroscience research, and the tech industry. He began studying Tai Chi at 8 and was introduced to Mantak Chia’s teachings on Taoist Yoga and sexuality at 13. His study of martial arts and QiGong continued while studying for a BS in nutritional biochemistry from UNC-CH. He then continued training as he transitioned to research and study in neuroscience at Wake Forest School of Medicine.
In the mid-1990s he paused academic research to launch a series of internet companies. Then after working in the tech industry for 15 years, a tragedy caused a very unexpected discovery.
This led Steve and his wife Wendy into sexual health research in 2009. Both Wendy and Steve received doctorates in clinical sexology from the IASHS. For several years Steve was an associate professor there. His primary focus was studying female anorgasmia, and ways to enhance the “sensate focus” techniques developed by Masters and Johnson. His approach maps this proven method to a modern understanding of how our nervous system works. Over the past 12 years, Wendy and Steve have worked with several thousand couples studying sexual response. Rather than trying to “fix things”, their focus was on ways to make life better.
A key distinction with their approach is they create a bridge between abstract spiritual concepts and measurable, repeatable, physical results. This is done by helping people relate physical sensations to concepts that are normally considered “spiritual”. From there, techniques are done to help people focus attention on specific areas and processes in their bodies. This process often helps people who are “left-brained” discover sensations that previously they didn’t understand. This is because previously they didn’t know where to look for these sensations, and what they are.
Steve lives with his wife Wendy and their daughter in Carolina Beach, NC (USA).
You can contact Steve through the site or via Twitter at: @Dr_SteveMcGough