Dr. Leysa Cerswell

With a doctorate in clinical psychology, Leysa has authored and co-authored numerous books and journal articles, including The Well-Being Playbook. She is also a faculty member at the Centre for Mindfulness Studies, where she has supported individuals and groups with mindfulness-based programs, including educators, health care practitioners and people experiencing homelessness/unstable housing.

Leysa's commitment to local and global impact is evident through her diverse teaching and work experiences in North America, Southeast Asia, and East Africa. These experiences have provided her with a broad perspective and a nuanced understanding of mental health and wellbeing across different cultural contexts.

At the Centre for Mindfulness Studies, Leysa trains educators, health-care practitioners and corporate leaders in evidence-based approaches such as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction, and helps lead the Centre's community work bringing those tools to people who are too often left out of mental-health care, including its Psychology Aid program for youth experiencing homelessness and housing instability, where mindfulness is adapted to be genuinely trauma-informed and accessible. That multiplier effect, teaching the people who go on to teach and treat others, extends the reach of her work far beyond any single room.

She is also a co-founder of WE Well-being, an evidence-based mental-health promotion initiative for youth, educators and families. Her book The Well-Being Playbook turns that research into small daily actions anyone can take to support their own mental health and the wellbeing of others.

Leysa's research focuses on mental-health equity, expanding access and quality of care for marginalized and underserved groups, including people experiencing homelessness and newcomer women. Her academic work includes peer-reviewed contributions on mindfulness programs for children and adolescents, including one delivered in the Philippines, preventing burnout among frontline service providers, mindfulness-informed tools for suicide prevention, and trauma-informed group interventions for youth transitioning out of homelessness. Across all of it runs a consistent throughline: rigorous, compassionate, culturally aware care that meets people where they are.

Areas of focus: clinical psychology, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and stress reduction, mental-health equity and access, trauma-informed care, youth and community wellbeing.