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 Toronto
Build a relationship that feels safe again. When rent, long commutes and two families' expectations crowd in, online couples therapy gives Toronto couples room to talk, 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.
- It feels like one partner is doing all the emotional work, and the other doesn't see the problem.
- Two families, sometimes on two continents, each have a view on how you should live, and the two of you rarely agree on whose view counts.
- Money and space decide more than they should: whose job you moved for, whether a second bedroom is affordable, when a child becomes possible.
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.
We live in a small Toronto apartment. Where do we do online couples sessions?
Wherever the two of you can talk without being overheard. In a small space that is often the bedroom with the door closed, sitting side by side at one screen, with headphones if someone else is home. If one of you is working late or across the city, you can each join from a different place. Online sessions only need a private space and a stable internet connection, and the free 15-minute consultation is a good time to ask how the setup works.
Money and housing come up in almost every argument we have. Is that something couples therapy works on?
Yes, in the sense that therapy works on how you talk about it. Couples therapy does not give financial or housing advice, but rent, a long commute or postponed plans can become the place where older hurts get replayed. Emotionally Focused Therapy helps you see that cycle and respond to each other differently while the pressure is still there. Sessions are online with Ghazal Sheikhtaheri, Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), Tina Abadi, RP, or Roya Dadollahi Sarab, RP, in English or Farsi.
Next Step
Ready to reconnect?
Book a free 15-minute consultation. No commitment, no pressure. One of you can book first, from anywhere in Toronto.
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 Toronto, from Etobicoke and downtown to North York and Scarborough, and throughout 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:
Toronto
Couples therapy for Toronto couples
In Toronto, a lot of relationship strain starts with the lease. In the 2021 Census, 40% of the city's renting households were spending 30% or more of their income on shelter, and rents have climbed since. For couples, that figure shows up in ordinary ways: a one-bedroom with nowhere to go after an argument, a move farther out that adds an hour to someone's day, a wedding or a child postponed until the numbers work, years spent living with parents to save for a down payment. None of it is a failure of love, but it changes how two tired people treat each other at the end of the day.
Many Toronto couples are also holding two sets of family expectations. Nearly half of the people who live here are immigrants, so it is common for partners to come from different countries, languages or faiths, or from the same culture but different generations of it. Add parents who are getting older (about one resident in six is 65 or over) and the question of who cares for whom, and when, can become an argument of its own. So can the smaller decisions that carry a whole culture inside them: which holidays you host, which language you speak to your children, how much of your pay goes to family.
Couples therapy does not fix the housing market. What it works on is the cycle that forms around the stress. One partner walks in after ninety minutes on the TTC wanting quiet; the other has waited all day to talk and hears the silence as rejection. One pushes, the other goes quiet, and each response confirms the other's fear. Emotionally Focused Therapy makes that cycle visible, and Ghazal also brings Schema Therapy, which shows each of you the older patterns the pressure is pressing on. Tina Abadi, RP, offers Emotionally Focused couples work that is structured and practical. Roya Dadollahi Sarab, RP, also offers Emotionally Focused Therapy, with a culturally responsive lens. Once a couple can see the cycle, they can begin to interrupt it.
Every session is online, which matters in a city this size. Partners who work opposite shifts, or at opposite ends of the city, can join from two places, and nobody loses an evening to getting across town. What you need is a stable connection and a room where you can talk without being overheard, which in a small apartment may simply mean the bedroom with the door closed. Sessions are in English, Farsi or a mix of the two, for couples anywhere in Toronto and across Ontario.
Local support in Toronto
The organizations below are independent of NoorMinds and not affiliated with the practice; some couples find them useful alongside or between sessions.
- Family Service Toronto: sliding-scale individual, couple and family counselling in Toronto.
- Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services: a community health centre focused on immigrant, refugee and racialized communities, with several Toronto sites.
- Distress Centres of Greater Toronto: 24/7 emotional support, crisis and suicide-prevention lines.