Persian & Farsi Couples Therapist in Toronto

Toronto's Iranian community reaches across the whole city, not only the north end. In the 2021 Census, 34,575 residents, about 1.2% of Torontonians, reported Iranian Persian as their mother tongue. Many live in the north end along Yonge Street, where Persian shops and restaurants are part of the streetscape, but Farsi-speaking couples also rent downtown, raise children in Scarborough and Etobicoke, and keep one foot in the city and the other with family elsewhere.

That spread shapes what couples bring. Some have parents who come from Iran for long stays, which can mean months of sharing a small home and a good deal of well-meant opinion about how the marriage should run. Some send money to relatives or carry responsibilities for family overseas, which becomes its own negotiation between partners. Others are one Iranian partner and one who is not, or two Iranians who left at different ages and hold different ideas of what a wife, a husband or a mother-in-law is owed. Under the practical disagreement there is usually a question of loyalty: to your partner, to your family, to the person you were raised to be. Couples who met in Toronto and are planning a wedding, with families in two countries weighing in, often want to line up those expectations before the ceremony rather than after.

Language adds its own layer. For some couples Farsi is the language of the family and English the language of the relationship, or the other way round, and an argument can change language halfway through without either partner noticing. Children growing up in Toronto schools may answer in English when spoken to in Farsi, which can open quiet disagreements about how much of Iran the family should keep. None of this needs explaining when your therapist works in both languages.

The city has established Iranian-Canadian organizations that support families with settlement, programs for seniors and youth, and cultural life. Couples therapy fills a different, private need. Sessions happen online from your own home, so there is no waiting room and no chance of meeting an acquaintance on the way in, and what you say is held within the limits of confidentiality that are explained at the start.

Ghazal Sheikhtaheri, Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), CRPO #21300, is Iranian-born and combines Emotionally Focused Therapy with Schema Therapy to trace how family patterns replay between partners. Tina Abadi, RP, and Roya Dadollahi Sarab, RP, also offer Emotionally Focused couples work in Farsi and English. Sessions can move between the two languages, both partners do not need to speak Farsi, and couples can join from anywhere in Toronto or elsewhere in Ontario. General questions, such as how long couples therapy usually takes or whether it suits couples who are not yet married, are answered on the Ontario Farsi couples therapy page.