Persian & Farsi Couples Therapist in Richmond Hill

In Richmond Hill, Farsi is not a language you have to go looking for. In 2021, 19,365 residents, about one person in ten, reported Persian as their mother tongue, and the Iranian community that runs along Yonge Street from Willowdale up through Thornhill reaches well into the city, roughly as far as Major Mackenzie Drive. For many couples that closeness is part of why they live here. The baker knows your order, your parents have friends nearby, and your children hear Farsi outside the house.

The same closeness can make it hard to ask for help with a marriage. When you are likely to meet people you know at the grocery store, at a Nowruz gathering or at the school gate, it can feel as though any visible sign of trouble will be noticed and discussed. Some couples put off getting help for that reason, handling things privately until the distance between them has hardened. Online sessions remove one of those worries: no one sees your car outside an office, and no one needs to know you are in therapy unless you choose to tell them.

Family is often close in the literal sense too. Parents who have joined their children from Iran, grandparents who help with childcare and in-laws a few streets away bring real support, and they bring opinions. CHATS even runs a weekly Persian-language program for Iranian seniors in Richmond Hill. In therapy the question is not whether family should matter, but how the two of you decide together when family matters pull in different directions, and how to say so without anyone feeling disrespected.

Some couples come before the wedding rather than after the trouble. When two families are closely involved in an engagement, expectations about the ceremony, money, where you will live and how often you will see each side can pile up quickly, and it helps to talk them through with someone who understands the customs without taking a side. Premarital sessions give you a place to do that early, while the patterns are still easy to change.

Ghazal Sheikhtaheri, Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), CRPO #21300, was raised in Iran; in couples work she brings together Emotionally Focused Therapy, for the emotional bond between you, and Schema Therapy, for the patterns each of you learned at home. Emotionally Focused Therapy is also available with Tina Abadi, RP, and Roya Dadollahi Sarab, RP, in both languages. Sessions may be held in Farsi, in English or in both, it is fine if only one of you speaks Farsi, and every session is online. More questions, from session length to premarital work, are answered on the Farsi couples therapy across Ontario page.