Persian & Farsi Couples Therapist in Ajax

Ajax has many communities, but its Persian-speaking one is small. West Asian residents, the census group that includes people of Iranian background, made up about 3% of the town in 2021, and Persian no longer ranked among Durham Region's six most common non-official mother tongues that year. For an Iranian couple in Ajax, that can mean fewer people who share the same holidays, jokes and unspoken rules. It often means the aunt who would normally smooth things over, the friends who know how a visit from the in-laws actually goes, and the neighbour who hears the subtext without explanation all live elsewhere in the GTA or overseas.

Couples in that position tend to keep things inside the marriage. There is no one nearby to ask whether it is normal that his mother calls every day, whether it is disloyal to spend Nowruz with friends instead of family, or how other couples divided the work when both of them started over here. Without that outside perspective, disagreements about in-laws, money sent home, gender roles and how to raise children between two cultures can harden into positions. Each partner ends up defending a version of Iranian family life, and neither feels heard.

Visits make the distance visible. When parents come from Iran for several months, a house in Ajax can suddenly hold three generations and two sets of expectations about how a household runs, who decides, and how a husband or wife should behave in front of family. Old disagreements that were manageable at a distance come to the surface, and the partner whose parents are visiting can feel caught in the middle, loyal to both and satisfying neither. The article on long family visits from Iran and your marriage is a useful place to start that conversation.

Some Ajax couples are also mixed. A partner with Iranian roots may be married to someone whose family came from South Asia, the Caribbean or the Philippines, or to someone born in Canada, and each arrives with their own script for marriage and extended family. Sessions can be held in Farsi, English or both, and only one partner needs to speak Farsi. Some Afghan couples who speak Dari may find Farsi-language sessions workable; whether that fits the two of you is something to check in the free consultation rather than assume.

Ghazal Sheikhtaheri, Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), CRPO #21300, Tina Abadi, RP, and Roya Dadollahi Sarab, RP, all work with Emotionally Focused Therapy. Ghazal also brings Schema Therapy, which traces how each partner's family patterns show up between you. Everything happens online, so you meet from home in Ajax, with no long drive west and no chance of being seen in a waiting room by someone from the community. Couples sessions run 60 minutes, or 90 for couples who want more room, and a free 15-minute consultation comes first. General questions are answered on the Ontario Farsi couples therapy page.