MILTON — International psychic medium and life coach Ericka Marcia Boussarhane said she has been intuitive her whole life.
The Pensacola native said she had a similarly gifted mother and grandmother and, growing up, witnessed their sightings of deceased loved ones.
The gift, she said, is continuing in her own family.
‘SIXTH SENSE’
Boussarhane said intuitive gifts trace back to her great-grandmother, who often had premonitions. Her family referred to a “sixth sense.”
She said her own sightings began when she was 7 years old. She recalled one occasion in particular: Her mother worked for a local dentist who mentored Boussarhane and her mother. The dentist died and she attended the funeral.
“After the funeral, I remember sitting up in bed and seeing this dentist at the end of my bed,” Boussarhane said. “He started talking to me about where I would go to college and all of the positive things I would do with my life. All of those things that he talked about did end up happening later in my life.”
Such an occurrence would frighten any other child her age, but Boussarhane — who said her family often referred to her as an “old soul” — said she was always empathic toward others.
“I was always a confidante to others and could sense the pain of others easily,” she said.
That empathy naturally applied to those from another realm, too, the medium said.
In college, Boussarhane studied psychology and started watching TV shows such as “Unsolved Mysteries.” Her experience, however, differed from that of a casual viewer, she said. She would envision things related to the cases. She even submitted some of her visions to “Unsolved Mysteries,” though she never heard back from the program’s producers.
Since then, however, others have taken notice. Boussarhane began working cold cases for the Jane Doe Network. She also participated in web-based call-in radio shows, along with “Whispers from the Heart,” a 2009 podcast. From there she worked with CBS Radio for three years.
WORKING COLD CASES
Boussarhane’s intuition may not have been useful for some TV shows’ “powers that be,” but a number of missing persons’ loved ones have benefited from it, she said.
“One cold case I worked on in 2009 was when a local woman went missing and I led Pensacola police to the location where she could be found,” the medium said.
“I also did a case in Arizona in 2011 where a young girl went missing and her mother sent me a piece of her daughter’s jewelry. I envisioned where the girl’s body was located and the police found her there.”
Boussarhane — who was featured in a 2009 episode of “Ghosthunters” shot at the Pensacola Lighthouse — runs Wishful Treasures, a Pensacola store that features New Age gifts for the body, mind and spirit.
She is married with two sons who are 16 and 14. Both sons, she said, have intuitive abilities.
Santa Rosa County residents, particularly skeptics, can determine for themselves whether Boussarhane has the gift she claims next week.
“An Intimate Evening with International Psychic Medium Ericka Boussarhane” is set 7 p.m. Jan. 21 at The Imogene Theatre in Milton. Admission costs $20 per person.
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WANT TO GO?
WHAT: “An Intimate Evening with International Psychic Medium Ericka Boussarhane”
WHEN: 6:30-9 p.m. Jan. 21
WHERE: The Imogene Theatre, 6866 Caroline St., Milton
COST: $20 per person
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Using her ‘gift’ to help others