South Asian Therapist in Ajax & Ontario
Ajax therapy that doesn't ask you to choose between your family and yourself — support for South Asian individuals, couples and families navigating in-laws, expectations, and two cultures at once.
In Person Therapy in Ajax
Virtual Therapy Across Ontario
Direct Billing Available
Do You Feel Like You're Losing Yourself Trying to Keep Everyone Else Happy?
Do you feel like your marriage isn't really yours — like your in-laws, your parents, or the whole family have a say before you do?
Are you the one keeping the peace, biting your tongue, and still somehow the one who's "too much" or "too Western"?
Do you and your partner argue about the same thing — his family, her family, whose decision this actually is — and never really land anywhere?
Are you raising kids here and watching them pull away from the values you grew up with, and you don't know how to close that gap without losing them?
Have you tried talking to a friend, an aunty, even a therapist before, and walked away feeling like they just didn't get it?
Here's what that actually looks like day to day: you say yes to things you don't want to say yes to because saying no feels like betrayal. You rehearse conversations with your mother-in-law in the shower. You watch your partner shut down the second his parents come up, so nothing ever actually gets resolved. You lie awake replaying a comment someone made about how you're raising your kids, or how you're not "enough" of a wife, a son, a daughter. Your stomach tightens before family gatherings. You feel like a stranger in your own home and guilty for feeling that way.
You're allowed to want a relationship, and a life, that actually feels like yours, without having to burn down your family to get it. That's what South Asian therapy at The Relationship Agency is for.
What Is Culturally-Rooted South Asian Therapy?
It's therapy that starts from your reality instead of a Western textbook version of "healthy boundaries." We use approaches like the Gottman Method and Internal Family Systems (IFS) — but we apply them through the lens of extended family involvement, arranged and love marriages, honour, and the real consequences of pushing back on family expectations. You won't be told to just "go no contact" or "set a boundary" without any regard for what that costs you culturally and relationally.
How South Asian Therapy Works at The Relationship Agency
What Happens in South Asian Therapy Sessions
For couples, we start by setting ground rules together: this is a space where both people get heard, without disrespect or steamrolling. From there, session work usually includes:
Naming what's actually yours to decide as a couple versus what's being decided for you by family
Working through in-law conflict, triangulation (family members getting pulled into your disagreements), and third-party influence without demonizing anyone's parents
Building communication that doesn't rely on one partner shutting down and the other escalating
For parents: adjusting expectations for kids raised in a different culture than the one you grew up in
For teens and young adults: making sense of identity when home values and outside values don't match
Rebuilding trust after infidelity, secrecy, or family interference in the relationship
How This Is Different From Talking to Family or a Friend
An aunty, a friend, even a well-meaning elder is going to have an opinion, and often a stake in the outcome. Therapy doesn't. You get someone trained to work through the pattern with you, not just told to be more patient or to "adjust." Sessions are confidential, which matters when the issue involves the same family members who might otherwise be in the room.
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Schedule a consultation.
How South Asian Therapy Helps With In-Laws, Parenting & Identity
Right now, you might be stuck in the same fight about whose family gets priority, watching your partner go quiet the second boundaries come up, or feeling like you're raising a stranger because your kid's values look nothing like the ones you were raised with. Without support, these patterns calcify: resentment builds, couples drift into parallel lives inside the same house, and kids either rebel hard or shut their parents out entirely.
With the right support, couples learn to make decisions as a team while still honouring the families they come from — it doesn't have to be one or the other. Partners who used to shut down learn to stay in the conversation instead of escaping it. Parents learn to tell the difference between a value worth holding onto and a rule that's creating distance from their kids.
You'll leave sessions with actual language for these conversations — how to raise a boundary with your in-laws without it becoming a war, how to talk to your partner about family pressure without either of you shutting down, how to parent a "third culture kid" without feeling like you're losing them.
Your Questions About South Asian Therapy
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No. Momna works specifically with South Asian clients and already understands joint family involvement, in-law dynamics, arranged and love marriage pressures, and the balance between honouring family and having your own voice.
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Yes. Momna is fluent in Urdu and can work with you in Urdu, English, or a mix of both, whatever feels most natural.
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That's common, and you can still start on your own. Many clients begin in individual therapy to build clarity and communication skills, and partners often become more open once they see things start to shift. You're never required to disclose that you're in therapy to anyone outside the room.
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No. In couples work, both people get equal time and are heard without judgment or disrespect toward either side. The goal isn't to declare a winner, it's to help you both understand what's actually happening and make decisions that work for your relationship.
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Individual sessions are $180 and couples sessions are $280. We offer direct billing through TELUS Health eClaims to most major Canadian insurers, including Canada Life, Manulife, Sun Life, and Green Shield, so in many cases you pay little to nothing out of pocket.
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Real talk: generic therapy that doesn't account for extended family involvement or cultural expectations often misses the actual problem. If a past therapist told you to just set a boundary without understanding what that boundary would cost you culturally, this will look and feel different.
Where to Find Us
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In-Person South Asian Therapy: Ajax • Oshawa • Pickering • Whitby. Virtual South Asian Therapy Across Ontario: Toronto • Scarborough • Markham • Bowmanville • Courtice • Durham Region • Greater Toronto Area • All of Ontario.
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South Asian Therapist • South Asian Counselling • South Asian Couples Therapy • Desi Therapist • Urdu-Speaking Therapist • In-Law Conflict Counselling • Intergenerational Family Therapy • Arranged Marriage Counselling • Culturally-Sensitive Therapy • Family Therapy for South Asian Families