Erica Doddato (she/her) - Pre-licensed Associate Counsellor
​Languages: English, Italian

If you would like to be connected with Erica, please email her at [email protected]
or

Availability
Mondays 9:00 am - 2:00pm (In person at Yukon & Broadway)
Tuesdays 9:00 am - 12:00 pm and 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm (Virtual)
Wednesdays 8:00 am - 2:00 pm (In person at Yukon & Broadway)
Thursdays 9:00am - 2:00 pm (Virtual)
Fridays 3:00 pm - 8:30 pm (In person at Yukon & Broadway)

If you would like to see me online outside of my available time, please contact me to see if it can be arranged. 

About
Hello, I’m Erica.

I work with individuals, couples and families. I see 1:1 therapy as a space to come closer to your own truth by understanding yourself more deeply, and couple/family therapy as a space to slow down and see the patterns you create together.

Do you feel different from most people, like you don’t quite belong?
Do your emotions feel intense or overwhelming?
Are you unsure who you are, or feel disconnected from your intuition?
In your relationship, do you find yourselves stuck in the same cycles, having the same arguments, or feeling distant despite caring deeply about each other?

These are the kinds of experiences I often work with.

I’m a queer, neurodivergent (gifted, autistic, highly sensitive) pre-registered Associate Counsellor offering in person and virtual sessions in Vancouver, BC, on the stolen lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil Waututh) peoples. I’m also a first generation Italian immigrant who has lived in Italy, the UK, and now Canada.
Before becoming a counsellor, I spent 15 years in the corporate world. That experience shaped my awareness of how productivity culture, gender expectations, and financial pressure can become internalized and shape how we relate to ourselves and each other. My work is guided by social justice, solidarity, and compassion. I do not see you or your difficulties as something to fix. I see therapy as a collaborative process of making sense of your experience, so you can move toward a life and relationship patterns that feel more honest, aligned and sustainable.

How I work

I take a flexible, integrative approach. Some people resonate more with cognitive work, others with somatic or emotional exploration, and this can change over time. I pay close attention to what actually helps you, and adapt accordingly.
My work with individuals draws from psychodynamic, existential, somatic, and Internal Family System approaches, alongside neurodivergent informed coaching and a neurocomplexity lens. In practice, this means we look at your behavioural, thought and emotional patterns, both conscious and unconscious, and how your childhood and past experiences helped shape them. Throughout this process, we stay connected to the wisdom of your body and allow the big feelings that arise to be processed. Where relevant, we also make space for the bigger questions about identity, meaning, and how you want to live.
With couples and families, I work from a Family Systems and psychodynamic perspective. I am less interested in who is right, and more interested in what is happening between you. We look at the patterns you get pulled into, such as pursue-withdraw dynamics, and how each person’s history, attachment, and ways of protecting themselves show up in the relationship.
In this work, the relationship itself is my client. My role is to help you all see the system you are part of, step out of repetitive cycles, and build something that feels more intentional and more connected.
My thinking is also shaped by philosophy, history, literature, and even my background in project management, because human experience doesn’t fit neatly into one framework or profession.

What to expect

You can expect depth, attention, kindness, honesty, and a space where both everyday struggles and harder existential questions are welcome. Some sessions may feel more structured, others more open and exploratory, depending on what is needed and what you prefer.
For couples and families, we begin by setting a clear foundation. In our first session, we go through the limits of confidentiality and how I hold information in the context of working with two or more people. Early on, I may also meet with each member individually once, to better understand your histories and perspectives. From there, the focus is on slowing things down enough to actually see what is happening between you, rather than getting pulled back into the same loop.

If it is helpful, at no additional cost I might send optional resources between sessions, such as articles, videos, events, or newsletters, as well as gentle practices like journaling prompts or small experiments to build self trust. There is never any pressure to engage with these.

Who I work with
I love and am trained to work with any person or couple/family older than 18! However, I am especially drawn to working with:
- Neurodivergent folks, including autistic, ADHD, gifted, highly sensitive, or a combination
- Couples and families who feel stuck, disconnected, or caught in repeating patterns
- People experiencing burnout or disconnection from themselves
- Those living with chronic pain or complex health experiences
- Immigrants and biracial or multicultural individuals
- People navigating OCD, anxiety, depression, rumination, or persistent negative thought patterns
- Those grappling with identity, meaning, or existential anxiety and depression
- Queer, trans, and gender diverse individuals

Outside of counselling
Outside of my work, I love reading fiction and non-fiction, writing poetry, drawing, watching old films, and exploring history and philosophy, including continuing to learn from Indigenous perspectives and ways of knowing. I also spend time biking, walking around the city, and petting cats whenever I can :-)

Approaches
• Rogerian/Person-Centred Therapy
• Anti-Oppressive & Trauma Informed
• Existential Therapy
• Somatics
• Internal Family System
• PsychodynamicTherapy
• Attachment Theory
• Family System Theory (for Relationship Counselling)

Licenses and Degrees
  • Seeking registration as a Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC) with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association 
  • Working towards registration as a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors
  • Master in Counselling Psychology, Yorkville University

Erica's Rates
15 min Phone Consultation: No Cost 
Individual Counselling/Supportive Conversation
50 min
Sliding Scale: Closed
Standard: $140
Generous: $145+
75 min
Sliding Scale: Closed
Standard: $160
Generous: $165+

Relationship Counselling/Supportive Conversation 
50 min
Sliding Scale: Starting at $130
Standard: $180
Generous: $185+
75 min
Sliding Scale: Starting at $150
Standard: $200
Generous: $205+


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