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Erica Gozukara

Hi, I'm Erica Gozukara, and I'm so glad you found your way here. 

As a Highly Sensitive Person, I’ve always felt things deeply—often noticing and being affected by subtleties others might miss. At times, that felt lonely, like no one really got me.

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Through my own healing, that sensitivity began to soften into something I could meet with care and curiosity. When I found Internal Family Systems (IFS), it felt like things finally made sense.​

 

This is what led me here. I care deeply about creating a space where you can feel seen, supported, and understood—without needing to explain or justify your experience.

Who I Work With

While I often work with Highly Sensitive People, I also support a wide range of individuals who feel deeply, think a lot, or find themselves easily overwhelmed by the pace or intensity of life. Many of the people I work with share a common experience of wanting to better understand themselves, soften inner pressure, and find a more grounded way of being with their emotions and relationships. 

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My approach is always shaped by the person in front of me, rather than a single label or identity. I meet you where you are, and we move at a pace that feels safe and supportive for your system, allowing space for understanding to unfold gently over time.

Sensitive Souls

  • Feeling out of place or like you don’t quite fit in

  • Emotional overwhelm and sensitivity

  • People-pleasing and boundary challenges

  • Self-doubt and needing a safe space to explore your inner experience

  • Identity confusion or feeling “stuck” in old patterns

  • Working with patterns of shutdown, overwhelm, or emotional flooding

Anxiety 

  • Anxiety and chronic overthinking

  • Self-criticism and inner pressure

  • Perfectionism and burnout

  • Difficulty understanding, trusting, or expressing emotions

  • Feeling overwhelmed by thoughts, emotions, or expectations

  • Feeling stuck in a fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response

  • Specific anxieties and phobias

Grief

  • Navigating transitions, uncertainty, or life changes

  • Exploring deep feelings that can feel hard to make sense of or hold alone

  • Grief, loss, or emotional heaviness that lingers over time

  • Loss of family (pets included), community, friends, jobs, etc

  • Feeling untethered during periods of change or uncertainty

  • Lacking meaning

If you don’t see yourself reflected in one of these categories, but something here resonates with you, you’re very welcome to reach out. Sometimes the most important part is a personality match and how we work together, rather than the specific topic you’re coming in with.

How I Work

My work is guided by a gentle approach that helps create safety, understanding, and meaningful change over time. Rather than focusing on fixing or pushing through experiences, we slow things down enough to listen inwardly and make sense of what is happening beneath the surface.

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The main model I use is Internal Family Systems (IFS), a relational approach that understands that we are made up of different “parts,” each with their own feelings, roles, and ways of trying to help. Even the patterns that feel difficult or overwhelming are seen as having positive intention, often developed in response to past experiences in an effort to protect you or help you cope.

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In our work together, we get to know these inner experiences with curiosity and care, rather than trying to get rid of them. Over time, this can create more space, clarity, and connection within yourself, as different parts begin to feel seen, understood, and supported in new ways.

Internal Family Systems Therapy

Education and Training

  • Registered Clinical Counsellor, BCACC #19522

  • MA in Counselling Psychology, Yorkville University

  • BA in Psychology, Simon Fraser University​

  • AA in Psychology, Capilano University

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  • Internal Family Systems Level 2: Shame, Anxiety and Depression, IFS Institute

  • IFS & HSP: Working with the Highly Sensitive System Workshop

  • Internal Family Systems Level 1, IFS Institute

  • Internal Family Systems, Stepping Stone, IFSCA

  • Emotion-Focused Therapy Level 1, VCEFT

  • Emotion-Focused Therapy, Psychwire

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Psychwire

  • Traumatic Loss Facilitator Training, BCBH

  • Grief and Loss Diploma, Online Counselling College

  • Mindfulness Certificate, Online Counselling College

Erica Gozukara

A designation of

BC Association of

Clinical Counsellors

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