In Thornhill, Russian, Farsi and Hebrew are all common first languages alongside English. Online psychotherapy that respects where you came from and where you are now, in English or Farsi, for people in Thornhill and across Ontario.
Roya is booking now. Ghazal is booking by waitlist (3–4 weeks).
Thornhill has been a landing place for more than one wave of newcomers. In the 2021 Census, 10.9% of residents of the Thornhill federal riding named Russian as their mother tongue and 4.1% named Persian, and both of Thornhill's host cities have large immigrant populations: 58.6% of Markham residents and 46.4% of Vaughan residents were immigrants that year. Where so many families arrived from somewhere else, and many have been settled for decades, a newer arrival can feel that everyone else has already made it. Many newcomers 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. No commitment, no pressure.
Or call (647) 699-5142 · WhatsApp · Email
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NoorMinds provides virtual therapy for immigrants to residents throughout Ontario. Select your city to learn more:
The stories differ. Many Russian-speaking families came from the former Soviet Union, a good number of them Jewish, and built community life along Bathurst Street, with institutions such as the Jewish Russian Community Centre. Iranian families are another thread, and others came from dozens of other countries. What they share is the particular work of arriving: learning new systems, rebuilding a career, deciding which traditions to keep and which to loosen.
Established immigrant communities are a real support, and they also carry a particular pressure. When your neighbours arrived decades ago and now look settled and successful, it can feel as if you should be further along too. The grief for the life you left, credentials that did not transfer, the change in your marriage or in your role with your children: all of it can be hard to admit in a place where so many people seem to have managed.
For many Thornhill families the immigrant story is now two or three generations deep. Parents who arrived as adults may still think in Russian or Farsi; their children think in English and move between worlds every day. Those gaps are not failures of love, but they can leave everyone feeling misunderstood, and they often surface in individual therapy long after the practical work of settling is done.
Some newcomers arrive later in life, joining adult children here, and find themselves isolated by language and distance from everything familiar. Their children often carry both the care and the guilt of having asked them to come. Therapy can hold either side of that story.
Practical settlement help is available through York Region's Welcome Centres and the agencies listed below, and therapy sits alongside that help rather than replacing it. Ghazal Sheikhtaheri, Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), CRPO #21300, immigrated from Iran and has worked with immigrants and refugees from many regions, Eastern Europe and the Middle East among them. She uses Schema Therapy, CBT and emotion-focused techniques, online, in English or Farsi. The first step is a free 15-minute consultation.
These are independent organizations, not affiliated with NoorMinds, that newcomers in and around Thornhill can use alongside or between sessions.
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