Reviews for the LEFTOVERS Workbook/DVD set

“….any therapist working with clients with Eating Disorders must include this workbook in their professional library. This is the Cookbook  of all Eating Disorders Interventions. Made with creativity, humor—and well thought out activity plans—the LEFTOVERS Workbook is a step-by-step guide made specifically for therapists to help them achieve their goals in working with people with Eating Disorders and Body Image Issues.”

—Kathy Miller-Higgs, Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist,
Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital and Clinic

“I was enthralled with the DVD Leftovers and think the workbook is wonderful! I love what you have created and applaud your courage and wisdom!”

-Judy Freed, Registered Drama Therapist and Creator of the one-woman show, “Food Fight.” Philadelphia, PA.

“As a therapist who works with disordered eating clients, I have found that the LEFTOVERS workbook has been very helpful in healing clients  struggling to make their mind/body connections whole. The workbook is very interactive with a multidimensional focus designed to help clients and therapists working together.  I will definitely continue to use LEFTOVERS in my practice!”

—Robin Heller, LCSW
Oakland, CA

“I am loving the Leftovers DVD!”

-Camerin Ross, MA, Tiburon, CA

“A unique tool for therapists to use with their patients/clients  as treatment  for disordered eating and body dissatisfaction as well as for educators training students how to be effective practitioners.
“As Faculty Emerita of the Recreation/Creative Arts Therapy program at San Francisco State, I spent 15+ years teaching new practitioners how to treat addiction and compulsion disorders. I also had a practice as a recreation/creative arts therapist treating people recovering from issues of addiction. I found that creative modalities work exceptionally well for these populations.
“I wish a workbook like this had been around then. I would have mandated it for all of my therapy classes and relied heavily on it in my own practice. Not only does it provide practical protocols and full treatment sessions, but it has the added benefit of a DVD that is a creative movie that goes along with each session.
“For a student learning to facilitate groups, or for practitioners in social work, recreation therapy, occupational therapy, allied therapists, rehab therapists, activity directors, creative arts therapists, psychotherapists, and educators, this is a must- have guide. It is applicable for individual and group sessions—and provides a full 16 week treatment plan, handouts and creative therapeutic activities in a variety of expressive arts modalities.
“It is also written by two masters in their respective fields—a renowned psychotherapist and a distinguished  educator who not only administrated a variety of creative arts/recreation therapy programs in institutional settings, but taught several generations of students how to use hands-on activities for therapy.  This is their magnum opus.
“We are fortunate to have this wonderful addition to our field of practice culled from years and years of experience in the field and in the classroom.”

—Dr. Laura Rifkin, Faculty Emerita S.F.S.U.,
Former coordinator of Recreation and Expressive Arts Therapy emphasis

Reviews for the LEFTOVERS theatre piece

“LEFTOVERS is a moving play about the struggles many people have with body image, love, and how food can become a way to manage one’s difficult feelings around these and other issues.  The play is a catalyst for stimulating discussion and reflection and can be used as an effective adjunct to working clinically and educationally with families, individuals, and groups.”

—Amy Glick, MFT
Berkeley, CA psychotherapist

“The show offers a wry sophistication, a humorous yet very honest view of a nagging problem that is played unaffectedly and with panache…. It ends with a positive manifesto: after all the struggles, laments and guilt, the last happiness is the acceptance of and pride in the self as it is. What’s inside instead of out.”

—Don Nelson
Daily News (review of the off-Broadway stage show)

“What made this theatre piece particularly effective was the range and depth of emotions touched upon, and the insight which each of the women in the cast clearly possess…. LEFTOVERS is intensely personal, yet highly entertaining theatre.”

—Liz M. Braun
Haight Ashbury Newspaper

“…a comic, compassionate, insightful and ultimately courageous theatre piece about women who are fat—or believe they are, it makes little difference—in an age when thin is in…. it soon becomes clear however, that they could as easily be talking about such other compulsive behaviors as sex, smoking, work and alcohol—to name but four.”

—John V. Hurst
The Sacramento Bee

“LEFTOVERS reheats the trials and tribulations of fat women, but could be served to anyone with any socially-induced compulsive habits (i.e.smoking, working, drinking, buying, driving)… LEFTOVERS rises above being uncomfortable psychodrama, and becomes fine entertainment with a satisfyingly educational effect.”

—Chris Orr
PLEXUS, San Francisco Bay Area Women’s Newspaper

“LEFTOVERS is… a clever, funny, self-deprecating but frequently sharp exploration of the external and internal conditioning that causes so many women to spend so much of their adult lives dieting and binging, losing and gaining weight.”

—Marti Keller
Drama Critic, Berkeley Gazette

“Performing in leotards so that every bulge shows…. the trio works quickly through about an hour of fast-paced a capella songs and skits related to various aspects of fat… The performers work their material expertly, moving from comic exaggeration… to compassionate moments of introspection, and using their voices beautifully in song and as backup instruments.”

—Robert Hurwitt
Express, The East Bay’s Free Weekly

“LEFTOVERS: The Ups and Downs of a Compulsive Eater addresses the important issue of compulsivity in a sensitive and intelligent way…”

—Marti Hanna
Acting Director, Women’s Resources and Research Center, University of California, Davis

“Marcia Kimmell, Deah Schwartz and Anne Wilford are all improvisational veterans, and well at home on stage…. they have tapped into the collecive fat consciousness, and have brought every woman’s fat fears to the spoken word… It is a sensitive and delicate piece in many ways, despite the unbounding energy these three women expend on stage. If you’re 5 pounds underweight, or 50 pounds overweight, LEFTOVERS has got your number.”

—Viola Weinberg
KTIM FM, San Rafael, CA

“I found myself identifying with many of the problems, and feeling many of the emotions that were being enacted onstage. It is really a question of self-perception and that is why the work is so valuable and appealing.”

—Carol Lucha Burns
Associate Professor, Theatre, University of New Hampshire

“After watching a performance, we discovered that our individual problems are not unique—and with this knowledge, we were brought even closer together by the experience. The LEFTOVERS production is an inspiring work.”

—Angela Tonies
Stanford Women’s Center, Office of Student Activities