Jacqueline Wislesky is the founder and director of Sudbury Playback Theatre and Creative Alternatives of Northern Ontario, a company that exists to develop and facilitate social and psychological wellness interventions. Jacqueline’s guiding principle is that wellness can be enhanced by developing spontaneity.

Emerging from a community theatre background, which led to developing two outreach theatre companies bridging diverse cultures in Peru, Jacqueline then studied various social and psychological wellness models beginning with psychodrama.

Concerned with building community through theatre, Jacqueline then sought opportunities to study Playback Theatre. The School of Playback Theatre is in New York, so “I counted my pennies, already having given up 'retail therapy' for psychodrama training, and took on small jobs to pay the price for several residential training opportunities with one of the co-founders, Jo Salas and her daughter, Hannah Fox.” Since then, Jacqueline has studied Playback Theatre with another co-founder and Psychodramatist, Judy Swallow.

In addition to Psychodrama and Playback Theatre, Jacqueline studied social-action theatre with Simon Malbogat and Luciano Iogna of the Mixed Company Theatre Company in Toronto. Jacqueline combines the Sociodramatic technique with Playback to enlighten practical options and creative alternatives to difficult situations.

Understanding that trauma was stifling spontaneity in much of the population, Jacqueline then began training as a complex trauma psychotherapist and trainer of the Focusing method under Shirley Turcotte and Dennis Windego of the Aboriginal Peoples Training Programs and Focusing Centre and is registered with the Focusing Institute in New York as a therapist and trainer in training.

Currently, Jacqueline is directing much of her efforts to delivering wellness interventions that integrate these models for the purpose of combating stress related social and psychological illnesses in schools and organizations within the Aboriginal and mainstream cultures.

Jacqueline has developed and facilitated programs for:

· Cecil Facer Youth Correctional Facility

· Social Action Centre for Youth at Risk

· The Elizabeth Fry Society

· The Northeast Mental Health Facility

· Northern Initiative for Social Action Consumer Group

· Mushkegowuk Council Employment & Training Services Youth Gathering in Fort Albany

· Women of the Future Youth Conference

· Cambrian College - Theatre Cambrian

· American Sign Language Students


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