Advance praise for Trusting the Moment by Jeannie Lindheim

Trusting the Moment is a gem. I applaud Jeannie for writing a handbook that captures all the areas that encompass group leadership. Areas that are often not named or can take leaders by surprise when they are first facilitating. This handbook is packed full of ideas but even more it really gives leaders in any field the possible pitfalls and ways to handle the tough situations when leading groups. Jeannie’s passion and love for her work and years of experience give us a book that will be useful for group leaders in most fields. I will recommend this book to my students in teaching and in community leadership as well as to my peers. This book captures the 21st century skills that are greatly needed to sustain us in this very high tech society.
— Prilly H. Sanville Ph.D., Director of the Arts, Community and Education, Masters Program, Lesley University I took your book straight out into the field and used it on the spot. I used it as an inspiration. After teaching for so many years (my first class as an acting teacher was in 1980) it was a blast for me to get into this book and be inspired.
— Per Brahe, Instructor, Tisch School of the Arts at NYU The book is like a toy store for teachers who love to teach: so much fun, expanding the possibilities, making the impossible seem possible.
— Ken Baltin - Actor and Teacher, The Boston Conservatory I have just finished Trusting the Moment and find it as compelling as Jeannie herself. It gives excellent guidance and support to group leaders and I think leaders of many kinds of groups will want to use this book. Her whole section in the Art of Group Leadership is superb. The exercises are exciting and original. As the author of eight books, I was impressed by the clarity and sincerity of the writing in Trusting the Moment. The book flows along well. As a long-term professor, sociologist, group leader and writer, I endorse and applaud Jeannie’s book.
— Ruth Harriet Jacobs, Ph.D., author and former Chair of
Sociology Department, Clark University Jeannie Lindheim's carefully structured book represents the clarity and generosity of her teaching and mastery in leadership and transformative education. I read it with curiosity and marked many pages because after 30 years of teaching movement I am still hungry for new forms and exercises. I believe that this book is a gift to anyone who is lucky enough to read it. 
— Susan Dibble, Chair, Theater Arts Department, Brandeis University What a lovely, eclectic cookbook for learning to live more creatively in the here and now. With exercises adapted from actor training, improvisational theatre, psychodrama, gestalt, transactional analysis, sensory awareness, and a thousand other sources (the quotes from sources are truly wonderful), Jeannie Lindheim’s  book clearly shows the path to becoming more fully alive. Although not therapy, her work touches profoundly on the healing power of spontaneity and creativity. What a delight!
— Stephen Snow, Ph.D., RDT-BCT, Chair, Department of Creative Arts Therapies, Concordia University, Montreal
Co-Founder, The Centre for the Arts in Human Development Jeannie Lindheim has written an invaluable guide and support for teachers and group leaders.  As someone who's taught acting for thirty years I thought I knew more than enough exercises. Reading the book, I found a number of new ones that I can use and adapt to my class demands. The layout is clear, concise, and simple, yet rich in content and real substance.
— Ingrid Sonnichsen, Associate Teaching Professor of Acting,
Carnegie Mellon University Cultivating spontaneity is the key to the development of the capacity to be really adaptive in a time of increasing changes. This book offers practical techniques for acquiring the skills of creativity and flexibility. 
— Adam Blatner, M.D., retired psychiatrist and author, Acting In: Practical Applications of Psychodramatic Methods This well organized book can help you facilitate groups with a wide variety of stimulating new ideas and exercises to awaken self-awareness and creativity. Jeannie Lindheim comes from a theater background with experience in offering challenging and meaningful improvisations. She has also written about the art of group leadership, which is the most important part of facilitating any group. Using movement, art, journal writing and improvisation integrates all of the senses as this book suggests.
— Natalie Rogers, Ph.D., psychologist and author of
The Creative Connection: Expressive Art as Healing This is a go-to guide for exercises that facilitate relationships through meaningful — and what we are now forced to call "live" or "real-time" — human interaction. Jeannie's activities constitute an ethics of group bonding by harmonizing the heart of the individual with the soul of the community.  
— Daniel Spector, Director, Drama Instructor, Tisch School of
the Arts at NYU Trusting the Moment manages to be both a very practical and an inspiring guide to teaching improvisation and acting. Beyond the clearly described ideas and techniques, Jeannie Lindheim beautifully reminds readers how to infuse the magic ingredient into their teaching and group facilitation: love. Through many vivid examples drawn from her years of teaching, Lindheim explains how to have faith - and bring out the best - in workshop participants.
— Renee Emunah, PhD, RDT-BCT, Author, Acting for Real: Drama therapy Process, Technique, and Performance. Director, Drama Therapy Program, California Institute of Integral Studies Jeannie has done a wonderful job... of making accessible to any group or organization a treasure trove of exercises culled from her years of experience as an acting teacher. She teaches people how to lead each exercise successfully and lays out what problems to be aware of.  This book would be particularly useful for teachers, directors, and leaders in any situation that involves group dynamics. She teaches you how to lead, and has tips for people who are just starting out, as well as advanced exercises for serious professionals interested in doing advanced work.
— Davis Robinson, Professor of Theater, Bowdoin College Jeannie has such an impressive wealth of knowledge and ideas!!! The exercises are a goldmine. Her voice and passion about this work comes through so powerfully! What I found valuable were the suggestions for alternative ways to conduct an exercise, what to expect in some cases and how to handle difficult situations.
— Ilana Traverse, M.S., Instructional Designer and Facilitator,
Principal of IMA Associates Jeannie Lindheim's handbook gives you lifetimes of her invaluable insights. You'll learn how to creatively inspire people to see new ways of being - and seeing - what's possible for themselves and for others. The book has three lifetimes of invaluable experiences or more.
— Nance Guilmartin, author, The Power of Pause: How to Be More Effective in a Demanding 24/7 World and Healing Conversations: What to Say When You Don't Know What to Say Fantastic information and exercises. This book is great for coaches because a lot of exercises help us to get other perspectives or in touch with secret/hidden aspects of ourselves. Trusting the Moment is so very full of great ideas and wisdom. I am inspired.
— Christine Thomas, CPCC, ORSCC, Certified Life and Relationship Coach I found Jeannie’s book delightful, practical and very well composed. It will be a very valuable resource for group leaders. Her spirit of joy and enthusiasm is on every page. Bravo! I can’t say which are my favorite exercises; they all were great and very easy to read in the format she chose. I’m impressed and appreciative.
— Thomas Yeomans, Ph.D., Founder/Director, the Concord Institute Jeannie’s book is really wonderful, and a very important book for the audiences she mentions. For a theater person, reading through these exercises is pure joy! The exercises themselves are crystal clear in all respects: purpose, procedure, notes, feedback are all extremely well explained. That means the exercises will be of great value to non-theater people who need some guidance in understanding what each exercise is trying to achieve.
— Gary Genard, Founder and President, Public Speaking International Jeannie Lindheim's heartfelt book is a terrific resource for theatre teachers.  Full of imaginative exercises and step by step instructions, it will be valuable in many classrooms.  Very useful for ensemble work!
— Dmitry Troyanovsky, Instructor, Tisch School of the Arts at NYU I thought all of the exercises were great… Trusting the Moment is written very clearly and in such a supportive way, both for the leader and the participant… The quotes serve to deepen the reader’s experience and understanding of the goal of the exercise, beyond the exercise itself. The book got my creative juices going.
— Beth Davenport, Psychotherapist, consultant and educator

Trusting The Moment doesn't compare to any other book on the market. Like Jeannie, this book is in a league all its own. It doesn't matter whether you work in education or the business world, these structured activities help people to be more of who they can be. Jeannie's magic is sprinkled on every page! Her zest for life and wonderful connection to living in the 'here and now' touches everyone who meets her and will touch everyone who reads this handbook. Her creativity, clear insights, and enormous passion for working with people shine through each page. She is very knowledgeable and skillful in a variety of areas and draws from different fields to put it all together. Her focus on growth and development will help any teacher, facilitator, leader take a group to the next level and have fun doing so!
— Joann Javons, Coach and Organization Development Consultant Trusting the Moment offers clear guidance for group leaders about how to use theater improvisations for a variety of purposes. They are wonderful to attune and warm up a theater ensemble, working on developing an original play. They are very adaptable in education settings to develop students' creativity and help make learning more fun. The exercises can be used in corporate management training venues to help executives develop their creativity and spontaneity as they balance their intuitive, creative right brains with their analytic left brains .In clinical healing settings, they can serve as effective warm up exercises in group psychodramas and drama therapy structures for many different kinds of populations. Jeannie also includes illuminating teaching quotations from great teachers, writers and philosophers. This inspiration creates a transformational container, which elevates each of the exercises and sets the tone for deeper personal growth and realization.
— Saphira Linden, Artistic Director, Omega Theater, Drama Therapist, Board Certified Trainer, Certified Practitioner of Psychodrama, Management Trainer  return to top of page


Jeannie always wants to hear from readers. Send her an email.