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 Richmond Hill
Two families, sometimes two cultures, and a relationship that needs room of its own. Break the cycle of disconnection. Online couples therapy for Richmond Hill couples, 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, going through the motions but 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.
- One of you feels caught between a partner and a parent, and the other feels they will always come second.
- You were raised with different ideas of what a marriage owes to parents, and every holiday or big decision reopens the gap.
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.
My husband and I are Persian-speaking and live in Richmond Hill. We'd prefer relationship counselling in Farsi. Is that available?
Yes. Ghazal Sheikhtaheri, a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), CRPO #21300, is an Iranian immigrant who offers couples therapy in Farsi and English; Tina Abadi, RP, and Roya Dadollahi Sarab, RP, also work with couples in both languages. Sessions are online across Ontario, so you can join from home in Richmond Hill, and they use Emotionally Focused Therapy to help partners understand and reconnect with one another.
We come from different cultures and our families expect different things from our marriage. Will couples therapy help us find a middle path?
Yes. For intercultural couples the hardest conflicts are often about family expectations rather than about each other. Therapy helps each of you explain what those expectations mean to you and find agreements you can both live with, without either culture being treated as the correct one. Sessions are online, in English, Farsi or a mix.
Next Step
Ready to reconnect?
Book a free 15-minute consultation in English or Farsi, with or without your partner on the call. 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 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:
Richmond Hill
Couples therapy for Richmond Hill: two families, one relationship
Richmond Hill is a city of overlapping family traditions. In the 2021 Census, Chinese was the city's most common ethnic origin and Iranian the second, reported by 10.1% of residents, and Persian, Mandarin and Cantonese are among its main mother tongues other than English and French. Couples here often come from one of those communities, from both, or from somewhere else entirely, and each brings its own picture of what a marriage is for.
That mix brings richness, and it brings some predictable friction. Partners from different backgrounds may hold very different ideas about what a couple owes to parents, how money is shared, or who decides how the children are raised. Partners from the same community can differ just as much when one grew up here and the other arrived as an adult. The argument about whose family to spend the holiday with is rarely about the calendar. It is about belonging, loyalty and whose way of doing things counts.
When a grandparent lives with you, or a parent has joined you from overseas, the help they bring can also blur a couple's boundaries. In Emotionally Focused Therapy we look at the cycle that forms when one partner feels caught between spouse and parents and the other feels second in line, and at the feelings each of you is protecting inside it. Schema Therapy adds the deeper layer: the rules about duty and respect each of you absorbed long before you met, which make certain requests feel impossible to refuse and certain refusals feel like betrayal.
Intercultural couples sometimes arrive expecting a therapist to decide whose culture is right. That is not the work. The work is helping each of you explain what your family's expectations mean to you, hear what they mean to your partner, and build agreements that belong to the two of you rather than to either family.
Ghazal Sheikhtaheri, Tina Abadi and Roya Dadollahi Sarab all see couples in English and Farsi, and a session can switch between the two when one partner thinks in Farsi and the other in English. If you would rather have counselling in another language, such as Mandarin or Cantonese, ask the multilingual services below what they offer; that is a reasonable choice. Every NoorMinds session happens by secure video, so there is no appointment to drive to, whether you live in Richvale or Rouge Woods.
Local support in Richmond Hill
The groups listed here run independently of NoorMinds; couples and families may find them helpful in the same season as therapy, or in the gaps from one session to the next.
- Catholic Community Services of York Region: counselling for couples and families, in person, by phone or online, offered in a number of languages.
- Krasman Centre: a peer-run mental health support centre based in Richmond Hill.
- Yellow Brick House: a 24-hour crisis and support line and community counselling for women and children affected by abuse.
Also serving nearby
Related services