About me

---

Hi, I’m Farah Bektashi, a registered psychotherapist (RP) & Gestalt therapist based in Toronto, Ontario.

My approach is rooted in Gestalt therapy, somatic awareness, and relational presence. I work with people who feel anxious, disconnected, stuck in old patterns, or overwhelmed by emotions they don’t quite know how to name.

Together, we explore what’s happening in the present moment — in your thoughts, your body, and your relationships — and slowly begin to untangle what’s been held inside. 

I don’t believe in fixing. I believe in witnessing. In the slow art of becoming. In silence that speaks. In asking the questions that undo the answers you didn’t know you were living by. I’m not here to help you become someone else. I’m here to help you remember who you already are.

At the heart of my practice is relationship — not just the ones we have with others, but the one we have with ourselves.

I support individuals navigating relationship patterns, emotional disconnection, boundaries, heartbreak, intimacy, attachment, and the complexity of being in connection while staying true to themselves. Whether you’re healing from rupture, looking to show up differently in your relationships, or simply longing to feel more connected — I’m here to help you gently unpack those layers.

We bring awareness to the relational patterns that show up in the therapy room as much as outside of it. Together, we explore how you relate, what you protect, what you long for, and what’s possible when you’re met with compassion.

As a proud member of LGBTIQA+ community and an immigrant, I hold a deep respect for the complexity of identity — how our experiences of gender, sexuality, culture, race, class, and belonging often intersect in layered and nuanced ways.

I know what it’s like to move through spaces where parts of you are seen, and others are not. I understand the ache of feeling “othered” — and the deep longing to be met in your wholeness. My practice is grounded in creating a space where you don’t have to fragment yourself to feel safe. All of you is welcome here.

Whether you’re navigating queerness, relational wounds, cultural identity, intergenerational dynamics, or the quiet grief of not fitting in — I’m here to walk with you. I work from an anti-oppressive, affirming lens, with deep care for the unique path you’re on.

I was born and raised in a beautiful city named Baku- the capital of Azerbaijan.
Growing up in Baku meant holding contradictions — the beauty of a rich culture and the weight of tradition, the love for family and the quiet ache of not quite fitting into the roles laid out for me. I was always asking deeper questions, even when it wasn’t encouraged: Who am I? What do I really feel? What’s true for me — beneath the expectations, the rules, the silence?

In many ways, my healing began there — in the moments I chose honesty over perfection, inner truth over outer approval. Even before I had the language for it, I was already practicing what Gestalt would later teach me: awareness, contact, choice.

In 2019, I immigrated to Canada — carrying with me not just my dreams, but the years of searching, healing, and transformation that had already begun long before.

I’ve always known I wanted to be a therapist. Even as a child, I was drawn to the question of what it means to live with awareness, to feel deeply, and to be in contact with our essence. At 17, I was already in my first year of a Bachelor’s in Clinical Psychology, while attending existential therapy groups in the evenings — working through the layers of my own experience.

Trying to feed my hunger for depth, I joined a Systemic Family Constellation therapy group, where I spent four years exploring ancestral patterns and relational dynamics. On weekends, I immersed myself in art-house cinema — watching films by the classics like Bertolucci, Fellini, attending music and film therapy circles, listening to jazz, and nourishing the parts of me that longed for beauty, expression, and emotional truth.

And then, one day, I found myself in the mountains of Sochi, at a Gestalt therapy retreat- That changed everything. The presence I felt, the awareness I touched, and the way I came home to my body made something crystal clear: this was my path. Without any hesitation, I enrolled in the Gestalt Therapy Institute of Saint Petersburg, Russia and began my formal training.

After 2 years, before I could complete the program, I made the decision to move to Toronto, where I was fortunate to discover the Gestalt Institute of Toronto — a place that became my home, my community, and my training ground for the next five years of my life.

I believe growth is a lifelong process — one that asks us to meet ourselves again and again: in relationship, in stillness, in movement, and in contact with others. And so I continue this work — both within myself, and beside the people I support.

I believe therapy is a never-ending process of becoming — not a quick fix, but a way of returning to ourselves with more honesty, tenderness, and clarity.

I see the therapy room as a sacred space where you can meet yourself more fully — through body, breath, feeling, and relationship. This work is a shared process, and I feel deeply honored to walk alongside the people I work with.

I love this profession. It is my calling and my fulfillment — to grow alongside others, to witness change, and to be part of something real.

• B.Sc. in Psychology – Lomonosov Moscow State University 2017
  4 years with specialization in clinical psychology, thesis-based research, and practicum-intensive program 
• Prolonged Psychotherapeutic Group, 200 hours - Gestalt Institute of Saint Petersburg 2018
• 5 year training program in Psychotherapy- Gestalt Institute of Toronto 2023
• Seminar on Panic Attacks with Gianni Francesetti- Gestalt Institute of Toronto 2020
• Working with Couples with Jay Tropianskaia- Gestalt Institute of Toronto 2024
• Registered Psychotherapist - CRPO 
• Member of OSRP 
• Ongoing training in somatic, relational, and trauma-informed approaches