Searching for a Persian or Farsi therapist in Waterloo? Whether you are here for a degree, a research post or a job, work with someone you don’t have to explain your culture, family pressure, academic pressure or immigration grief to, in English or Farsi فارسی, online across Ontario. Three Farsi-speaking therapists, one practice.
Tina and Roya are booking now. Ghazal is booking by waitlist (3–4 weeks).
Ghazal, Tina and Roya all work in Farsi, so nothing gets lost in translation. Ghazal is also an Iranian immigrant herself: she knows the weight of family expectations, cultural nuance, immigration grief, and living between two worlds from the inside.
Ghazal brings over ten years of clinical experience, graduate training in both Iran and Canada, and advanced schema therapy training. Tina brings structured, skills-first CBT, and Roya brings ACT, DBT and a focus on newcomers. All three bring warmth and rigour to every session.
Anxiety, overthinking, trauma, relationship pain, burnout, academic pressure, immigration stress, identity conflict, low self-worth, guilt, and boundaries that feel impossible.
Start with a free 15-minute consultation with Ghazal, Tina or Roya. No pressure. Ask questions, get a feel for how your therapist works, and decide if the fit feels right before committing.
You don't need to have it all figured out. Start with a conversation.
Or call (647) 699-5142 · WhatsApp · Email
Speaking Farsi isn't the same as understanding Iranian life. Finding a therapist who actually gets what it means to grow up Iranian is something different: the layered expectations, the specific way silence is used, the pressure to appear strong, the way mental health has historically been discussed (or not discussed) in Persian families.
Ghazal trained in both Iran and Canada. She completed her first graduate degree in Clinical Psychology at Kharazmi University in Tehran, then immigrated to Canada for further training at Yorkville University. That path isn't just a credential. Learn more about Ghazal
For women, the expectation is often to manage inwardly, to be the steady person in the family even when you are not steady at all. Therapy can feel like an admission of failure, something you keep private even from close relatives.
For men, the pressure is different but just as real. Talking about anxiety, grief, or emotional struggle can feel incompatible with how strength has been defined. Many arrive at therapy having spent years convincing themselves that what they were feeling wasn't serious enough to warrant help.
These patterns are not weaknesses. They are cultural inheritances, and Ghazal understands them from the inside, not from a textbook.
Sessions are in Farsi, English, or a natural mix of both, because sometimes the right word only exists in one language.
There is no issue too culturally specific. Sessions are confidential, separate from your family, your community, and anyone else in your life.
You don't have to explain your culture before real work begins. Ghazal's training spans both Iranian and Canadian psychological frameworks. She understands how shame, honour, and loyalty operate differently in Iranian families, and how immigration can simultaneously feel like freedom and like a profound rupture, a grief rarely acknowledged because it doesn't look like the grief people recognize.
If you are ready to start, or even just ready to have a first conversation, the consultation is free. Call (647) 699-5142, message on WhatsApp, or book directly below.
Choose a time in Jane, ask your questions, and get a feel for whether working together feels right.
Sessions are online, so you can join from your apartment, a quiet room on campus or anywhere else in Waterloo, and from anywhere in Ontario.
Together you work beneath surface symptoms to understand patterns, reduce suffering, and build a steadier, more grounded life.
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
Seen the pricing? The free consultation costs nothing, and many insurance plans reimburse full sessions. The hardest part is usually just sending that first message, somewhere between one deadline and the next.
Or call (647) 699-5142 · WhatsApp · Email
Many extended health plans in Canada cover psychotherapy by a Registered Psychotherapist. Ghazal holds the Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) designation, so please confirm your plan covers it. Clients receive receipts after sessions for reimbursement.
Booking is simple through Jane. You can start with a free consultation, then schedule full sessions only if the fit feels right.
An Iranian immigrant herself, with over ten years of clinical experience. Schema therapy and psychodynamic work for long-standing patterns, immigration grief and family pressure.
Structured, skills-first CBT for anxiety, ADHD, sleep and life transitions, and Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples.
Warm, culturally responsive care: CBT, ACT and DBT for anxiety, depression, grief and the emotional work of settling in a new country, and EFT for couples.
Ghazal is currently booking by waitlist (3–4 weeks). Tina and Roya are accepting new clients.
Pick a time in Jane App that works for you. No intake forms, no questionnaires. Just choose a slot.
Share what's bringing you here. Ask Ghazal, Tina or Roya anything. No pressure to commit. This call exists to help you decide, nothing more.
If it feels right, book your first full session. If not, there's no follow-up, no awkwardness, no commitment of any kind.
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Read Article →Supporting yourself while loved ones are in Iran: how to hold your own wellbeing when the people you love are in danger.
Read Article →Book a free 15-minute consultation. No pressure, no commitment. Just a calm first conversation, from your apartment, your office or a quiet corner of campus, with a therapist who understands your language, culture, and emotional reality.
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. You can ask 988 for an interpreter. میتوانید از ۹۸۸ درخواست مترجم کنید.
NoorMinds offers virtual Persian and Farsi-speaking (Iranian) therapy to communities throughout Ontario. Select your city to learn more:
Waterloo is a university city: the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University are both based here. For Iranian students and researchers, that can make Waterloo an extraordinary opportunity and a lonely one. The work is demanding, the funding and the paperwork are never quite settled, and the people who would normally hold you through a hard term are in Tehran, Isfahan or Tabriz, many hours ahead.
Temporary status is common here. The 2021 census counted about 22,250 non-permanent residents in the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo metropolitan area, among them international students and temporary workers: 3.9 per cent of its household population, against 2.8 per cent for Ontario. If you are one of them, you know the particular weight of waiting on a permit, a supervisor's signature or a processing queue.
I am Ghazal Sheikhtaheri. I came to Canada from Iran, I am a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), CRPO #21300, and I work in both Farsi and English. Many people type "Iranian psychologist" into a search bar. I am a psychotherapist rather than a psychologist, yet I recognise what that search is reaching for: someone who already understands. With me you don't need to explain why a phone call from home can undo a week, why a thesis can carry a whole family's hopes, or why leaving Iran can feel like freedom and loss at once. I work with Schema Therapy alongside attachment- and emotion-focused methods, tracing how hard you push yourself, and how close you let others come, back to where those patterns began.
The Iranian community in Waterloo Region is small. Immigration Waterloo Region's directory of cultural groups includes an Iranian Community of Waterloo Region, and the University of Waterloo's Iranian student association, which organized Nowruz and Yalda events in past years, is now listed as inactive. If you hoped to find a large Iranian circle on campus, it may take more searching, and time spent in your own language can matter all the more.
Everything happens online, so you can meet from wherever you have privacy in Waterloo, without a drive to the GTA. If you would rather have a structured, skills-first approach, Tina Abadi, RP, one of the practice's other Farsi-speaking therapists, uses CBT. Roya Dadollahi Sarab, RP, also works in Farsi and English and uses CBT, ACT and DBT skills, with a focus on newcomers and settling in. I see clients throughout Waterloo and across Ontario.
These organizations are independent of NoorMinds and not affiliated with it; you may find them helpful alongside or between our sessions.
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