Culturally sensitive online psychotherapy for immigrants raising families and building careers in Whitby, or simply living between two worlds. Sessions in English and Farsi, anywhere in Ontario.
Roya is booking now. Ghazal is booking by waitlist (3–4 weeks).
More than a quarter of Whitby's residents were immigrants at the 2021 Census: 27.8%, or 37,985 people, up from 29,550 in 2016. Only 0.6% were non-permanent residents, so this is largely a settled immigrant population. And yet being settled on paper is not the same as feeling settled. The pressure to look established can crowd out the emotional work of migration, and people can 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 home in Whitby or 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 from home in Whitby, in the language that feels easiest. 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:
Whitby has changed quickly. Its racialized population grew from roughly one resident in four in 2016 to 35.4% in 2021, and South Asian (12.0%) and Black (9.1%) residents are the two largest groups. For immigrants, that shift can bring more neighbours who understand, and still plenty of rooms, at work, at the school council, on the sidelines of a game, where you are the only one. Belonging usually takes longer than a citizenship ceremony, and it can arrive unevenly within the same family.
Suburban life can be isolating in its own way. Neighbours are friendly but busy, much of adult social life happens around children's activities, and the grocery store, place of worship or community centre that feels like home may be a drive away. For people who arrived in Toronto first and moved east later, leaving a community for the second time can hurt more than expected.
Work adds its own layer. Some people are still rebuilding a career years after arriving, with credentials that never quite translated. Others have done well and carry a different pressure: being the family member who made it, supporting relatives here or abroad, and never quite allowing themselves to rest.
Practical settlement help is not far away, from newcomer centres in Ajax and Pickering to the Region's online immigration portal; both are listed below. Therapy works on the parts those services can't: grief about what was left, the feeling of living between cultures, strain between generations, loneliness, and old patterns that a major move stirs up. You can use both, and neither has to wait for the other.
Ghazal Sheikhtaheri, Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), CRPO #21300, is an immigrant from Iran herself. She works with schema therapy, CBT and emotion-focused methods, and she understands the experience of starting over from the inside. Sessions are online, in English or Farsi, and you can use whichever language lets you feel understood.
These are independent organizations, not affiliated with NoorMinds, that can be useful alongside or between sessions.
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