Culturally sensitive online psychotherapy for newcomers and first-generation Canadians in Scarborough, one of Toronto’s long-standing arrival points, navigating life between two worlds. Sessions in English and Farsi, online across Ontario.
Roya is booking now. Ghazal is booking by waitlist (3–4 weeks).
Scarborough has been one of Toronto's main arrival points for decades. At the 2016 census, more than half of the people living here had been born outside Canada, with roots in South Asia, China, the Philippines, the Caribbean and many other places. And yet being one newcomer among many does not make the experience less lonely. Community can be close by and still not include the people you left, and the pressure to get established, find work that matches your training and keep up with rent can crowd out the emotional side of settling in. Many people spend years adapting on the outside while quietly struggling on the inside.
Ghazal immigrated to Canada from Iran and has worked with immigrants and refugees from all over the world: the Middle East, South Asia, East Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and beyond. She doesn't just understand the theory. She knows the loneliness of starting over, the grief of distance, and the quiet courage it takes to build a new life.
Therapy that respects your cultural background, family values, and the complexity of navigating two worlds, without pathologizing your experience.
Sessions in English and Farsi (فارسی), or a mix of both. Express yourself in whichever language feels right.
Schema therapy, CBT, and emotion-focused techniques, grounded in research and tailored to your unique story.
Talk about what brought you here, ask questions, and see if it feels right. No pressure.
Together, we'll identify what's weighing on you most and build a path forward using proven therapeutic approaches.
60-minute online sessions from anywhere in Ontario. Consistent, confidential, flexible.
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.
Free 15-minute consultation available. Receipts provided after each session for submission to your extended health insurance plan.
Book a free 15-minute consultation online, in English or Farsi. No commitment, no pressure.
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 provides virtual therapy for immigrants to residents throughout Ontario. Select your city to learn more:
Arrival in Scarborough rarely looks like the brochures. It is a first apartment in Malvern or Wexford near family or friends who came before, a settlement appointment squeezed between shifts, an English class after work, and a phone that lights up at odd hours because it is morning back home. The district has settlement and community agencies built for exactly this stage, and it makes sense to use them. What those services are not designed to hold is everything underneath: the grief, the shifting sense of who you are, the quiet question of whether leaving was worth it. For many people it lands in the first winter, in the early dark and the long wait at a bus stop on Sheppard or Lawrence, when the novelty has worn off and home feels very far away.
Students feel their own version of this. The University of Toronto Scarborough and Centennial College's Progress and Morningside campuses bring international students to the district, many of them managing study permits, part-time jobs and family expectations from far away all at once. When people back home have invested in your success, it can feel impossible to admit you are struggling, even to yourself.
Therapy is a place to set some of that down. Together we can look at identity stretched between two worlds, family roles that no longer fit, and the grief of a life left behind, even when leaving was your own choice. Ghazal Sheikhtaheri, a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), CRPO #21300, immigrated from Iran herself and works with Schema Therapy alongside attachment- and emotion-focused methods, so the work reaches the patterns a new life presses on, not only the week in front of you.
Sessions are entirely online, in English or Farsi. There is nothing extra to get to after a shift, a class or a settlement appointment, and you can meet from home wherever you are in Scarborough. The agencies below can help with the practical side of settling in while therapy attends to the rest.
These are independent organizations, not affiliated with NoorMinds, that newcomers in Scarborough may find useful alongside or between sessions.
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