I.
EFT-informed approach
Emotionally Focused Therapy is the gold standard for couples work, backed by decades of research showing lasting improvement in relationship satisfaction and secure attachment.
Online across Ontario · English & فارسی
Couples Therapy in Kitchener
Build a relationship that feels safe again. Break the cycle of disconnection. For Kitchener couples working around shift rotas, a GTA commute or a life built far from family: online couples therapy using Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and Schema Therapy, in English or Farsi.
Ghazal SheikhtaheriGhazal
Founder & Clinical Director
RP (Qualifying) · CRPO #21300
Waitlist · 3–4 weeks
Both partners are welcome on the free 15-minute call, or just one. Tina and Roya are booking now; Ghazal is booking by waitlist (3–4 weeks).
Sound Familiar?
Do any of these feel familiar?
- The same argument keeps coming back, whether it starts over rent, childcare pickups or who drove the 401 again: different topic, same hurt, same shutdown.
- You feel more like roommates on opposite schedules than partners, one on days and one on afternoons, going through the motions but emotionally miles apart.
- One of you pursues while the other withdraws, often late at night when your schedules finally overlap, and neither of you knows how to stop the cycle.
- Trust has been damaged by betrayal, dishonesty, or simply years of unspoken resentment.
- It feels like one partner is doing all the emotional work, the planning, the calls home, the school forms, and the other doesn't see the problem.
- Cultural or family expectations, often from relatives in another city or another country, add an invisible layer of pressure that outsiders don't understand.
The Approach
What couples therapy looks like at NoorMinds
Couples therapy here is built on Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), the most researched and evidence-based approach for couples. EFT helps you and your partner identify the negative interaction cycles that keep you stuck, and creates new patterns of emotional connection and safety between you.
Ghazal also integrates Schema Therapy into couples work, which helps each partner understand the deep emotional patterns formed in childhood, and how those patterns get triggered in the relationship. When you understand why your partner's behaviour hits so hard, and why your reactions feel so automatic, real change becomes possible.
Why NoorMinds
Four reasons couples choose this practice
II.
Deeper pattern work
Schema Therapy helps each partner understand the childhood wounds driving their reactions, so you stop blaming each other and start understanding what's really happening.
III.
Culturally sensitive
As an Iranian immigrant herself, Ghazal understands how cultural background shapes relationship expectations: family involvement, gender roles, and the weight of unspoken rules.
IV.
Bilingual sessions
Available in English and Farsi (فارسی). Both partners don't need to speak Farsi. Sessions adapt to whatever language mix works for your relationship.
Pricing
Simple, transparent pricing
Free15-min consultation
$225Couples · 60 min
$350Couples · 90 min
Insurance receipts provided. Many extended health plans cover psychotherapy with a Registered Psychotherapist. Ghazal holds the Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) designation, so please confirm your plan covers it. Full fees & insurance details
90-Minute Extended Session · $350
By popular demand. The extended format gives couples more room to slow down, move through difficult conversations without feeling rushed, and explore the deeper patterns shaping the relationship. Many couples choose the 90-minute format for their first session, when there's the most ground to cover.
Separate receipts can be issued for each partner where plans allow.
Questions
Common questions
What is Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)?
EFT is the most researched couples therapy approach in the world. It helps partners identify the negative cycles keeping them stuck, like pursue-withdraw or attack-attack patterns, and guides them toward new ways of responding that create emotional safety and secure attachment. Research shows 70-75% of couples move from distress to recovery with EFT.
Does online couples therapy actually work?
Yes. Research shows online couples therapy is as effective as in-person sessions. Many couples find virtual sessions more convenient and less stressful: you're in your own space, there's no commute, and scheduling becomes easier. All you need is a private room and a stable internet connection.
My partner is reluctant. Should I wait until they're ready?
It's common for one partner to be more ready than the other. A free 15-minute consultation can help. Sometimes hearing what therapy actually involves makes it less intimidating. If your partner isn't ready yet, individual therapy can also help you understand your own patterns and shift the dynamic from your side.
How long does couples therapy take?
It depends on the depth of the issues. Some couples notice meaningful shifts within 8-12 sessions. More complex situations, like healing after betrayal or long-standing disconnection, may take longer. We'll discuss realistic expectations during your consultation.
Do both partners need to speak Farsi?
No. Ghazal, Tina and Roya all work in English and Farsi. Sessions can be conducted in English, Farsi, or a mix of both, whatever works for your relationship. If one partner speaks Farsi and the other doesn't, sessions adapt naturally.
What's the difference between couples therapy and individual therapy?
Individual therapy focuses on your personal patterns and wellbeing. Couples therapy focuses on the relationship itself: the dynamic between you, the cycles you get caught in, and how to create a more secure bond together. Some people benefit from both simultaneously.
One of us commutes to the GTA and the other works shifts in Kitchener. How do we find a time for couples sessions?
Online sessions help, because neither of you has to travel after work. When you book the free 15-minute consultation through Jane you can see each therapist's available times, and the call is a good moment to talk through both schedules and settle on a regular time. Couples sessions are 60 or 90 minutes; the longer format can suit weeks when finding time together is harder.
We moved to Kitchener recently and have no family here. Is couples therapy only for couples in crisis?
No. Couples therapy can be useful during a transition, such as a move, a new baby, a new job or a change in who earns what, before the strain hardens into a pattern. The free 15-minute consultation is a low-pressure way to talk about what you are noticing. Sessions are online across Ontario, in English, Farsi or a mix of both.
Next Step
Ready to reconnect?
Book a free 15-minute consultation from home in Kitchener. No commitment, no pressure.
Or call (647) 699-5142 · WhatsApp · Email
Calls and messages aren’t monitored for emergencies. If you are in immediate danger, call 911. If you are in crisis, call or text 988, the Suicide Crisis Helpline, available 24/7.
NoorMinds offers online couples therapy to partners in Kitchener, elsewhere in Waterloo Region and across Ontario. Culturally sensitive, evidence-based care in English and Farsi.
Couples Therapy Across Ontario
NoorMinds provides virtual couples therapy to partners throughout Ontario. Select your city to learn more:
Kitchener
Couples therapy for Kitchener partners
Many Kitchener relationships run on a schedule neither partner chose. Most people here get to work in under half an hour, but for couples where one partner works in Toronto or elsewhere in the GTA the day stretches longer: GO trains on the Kitchener line still run mostly in the peak direction, and the province has not set a date for all-day, two-way service, so a late meeting can mean the 401 home instead. The other partner may be on rotating shifts, or holding the evenings together alone. By the time you are both home, the conversation that needed to happen is the one nobody has the energy for.
Kitchener is the largest of Waterloo Region's three cities, and it grew by about 10 per cent between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, to nearly 257,000 people. Many couples arrived as part of that growth, from another country, another province or another corner of Ontario. Building a life without parents, siblings or old friends close by means partners lean on each other for almost everything: childcare, advice, company, comfort. That is a lot to ask of one relationship when both people are tired.
Money is often where the strain surfaces first. In the 2021 census about four in ten Kitchener households rented their home, and 36 per cent of renting households spent 30 per cent or more of their income on shelter; among owners, the median dwelling value was $680,000. When the budget is tight, a conversation about groceries can quickly become a conversation about fairness, respect, or whether one of you feels taken for granted.
Emotionally Focused Therapy works directly on that cycle: the way one partner's silence after a long shift reads as rejection, and the other's need to talk reads as pressure. Ghazal Sheikhtaheri also draws on Schema Therapy, so each of you can see the older template that fires when the stakes feel high. Tina Abadi, RP, offers Emotionally Focused couples work as well, with a more structured, practical feel. Roya Dadollahi Sarab, RP, also offers Emotionally Focused Therapy, with a culturally responsive lens.
Sessions are entirely online, so there is no extra drive after a commute or a shift and no babysitter to arrange for a trip across town. You meet from home in Kitchener, in English, Farsi or a mix of both.
Local support in Kitchener
These are independent organizations, not affiliated with NoorMinds, that some couples find useful alongside or between sessions.
- Camino Wellbeing + Mental Health: individual, couple, family and group counselling, including walk-in counselling
- Family Violence Project of Waterloo Region: a partnership of local agencies responding to family violence
- Community Healthcaring Kitchener-Waterloo: a community health centre serving Kitchener-Waterloo
- Immigration Waterloo Region: newcomer information for families settling in the region
Also serving nearby
Related services