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 Newmarket
Build a relationship that feels safe again, even when shift work, a train to catch and the school run keep the two of you on different clocks. Online couples therapy for Newmarket partners, 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?
- You keep having the same argument over and over: different topic, same hurt, same shutdown.
- You feel more like roommates than partners, trading the day's logistics by text and emotionally miles apart.
- One of you pursues while the other withdraws, 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, and the other doesn't see the problem.
- Cultural or family expectations 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 works shifts and the other commutes out of Newmarket. How do couples like us find time for sessions?
A good starting point is protecting one recurring hour and building around it. Because sessions are online, that hour is the whole commitment: there is no drive to an office and back, so a session can follow a shift or a commute without swallowing the rest of the evening. You will need a private room where you can both talk openly. If you are not sure yet which slot could work, bring both calendars to the free 15-minute consultation.
Can we use a York Region counselling service alongside couples therapy with NoorMinds?
Yes. Community services such as the ones listed on this page are independent of NoorMinds and can sit alongside your sessions, whether that is individual counselling for one partner or support for a family member. If either of you is already seeing someone, mention it during the consultation so the pieces of support fit together rather than pull in different directions.
Next Step
Ready to reconnect?
Book a free 15-minute consultation, together or on your own, from wherever you are in Newmarket. 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 Newmarket, Aurora, East Gwillimbury and the rest of York Region, and across Ontario, from the Greater Toronto Area to Ottawa, Hamilton, London, and beyond. 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:
Newmarket
Couples therapy for Newmarket households on two different clocks
Ask a Newmarket couple when they last had an unhurried evening together and the answer is often a shrug. Plenty of households here run on two timetables at once: one partner on hospital or care-home shifts, the other out early for the GO train or the 404 and home after dinner, with school pickups, practices and ageing parents slotted into whatever is left. Nobody decides to drift. The week simply fills with handovers: a note on the counter, a text about who is getting the kids, a real conversation that starts at ten at night and never quite finishes.
Newmarket is a settled town rather than a place in upheaval. Its population grew by 4.4 per cent between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, while Aurora and East Gwillimbury next door grew far faster. That steadiness shapes what couples bring into the room. It is rarely one dramatic rupture. More often it is years of small withdrawals that nobody named: the partner who stopped raising things because the timing was never right, and the other who reads that quiet as not caring. By the time the distance is obvious, each of you has a well-rehearsed story about how it happened.
Emotionally Focused Therapy works on exactly that cycle. Sessions slow the pattern down until each of you can see your own move in it and the fear underneath, which is usually less about the calendar than about whether you still matter to each other. Ghazal Sheikhtaheri, a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), adds Schema Therapy to trace why a missed call or a short reply lands so hard for one partner in particular. Tina Abadi, RP, offers couples work grounded in EFT with a more structured, practical feel. Roya Dadollahi Sarab, RP, also offers Emotionally Focused Therapy, with a culturally responsive lens.
Life stage adds its own weight. In a family-oriented town, couples are often in the thick of it: children, teenagers who need driving everywhere, a parent who has moved in or needs more help, a blended family still finding its shape. Each of those can turn partners into efficient co-managers who have stopped confiding in each other. EFT does not hand you rules for any of them. It helps the two of you become a team again, so the problem sits in front of you rather than between you.
Online sessions take the logistics down to two things: a private room and an hour you both protect. Nobody has to cross town after a long shift or step off the train early to make an appointment. Couples sessions run 60 or 90 minutes, in English, Farsi or a mix of both, for partners anywhere in Newmarket and across Ontario. The free consultation is a good place to talk through what a realistic rhythm looks like when your schedules rarely line up.
Local support in Newmarket
These organizations are independent and not affiliated with NoorMinds; some couples find them useful alongside or between sessions.
- Catholic Community Services of York Region: individual, couple and family counselling across York Region, including virtual sessions.
- Iranian Women's Organization of Ontario: Farsi-language counselling, support groups and settlement help for women and families across the GTA, including York Region.
- Community Crisis Response Service (Your Support Services Network): round-the-clock crisis support for York Region and South Simcoe, reachable by phone, text or chat, if a conflict ever feels unsafe.
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