🇦🇺 Melbourne
Australia
In a city with four seasons in one day, your mood can change just as fast
Melbourne is a city of universities, cafes and laneways covered in street art, and for many Iranians their first experience of Australia began here on a student visa. Its weather is famous for showing all four seasons in a day, and its winters are greyer than most people imagine Australia to be. Emotral offers Iranians in Melbourne online psychotherapy in Farsi, with therapists available remotely in Melbourne time.
Living in Melbourne: a city of culture, a city of students
Melbourne is often called Australia's cultural capital: theatre, music, bookshops and a coffee culture the city is proud of. Its big universities draw thousands of international students every year, and a large share of Melbourne's Iranians are either students or began their life in Australia by studying.
That start has its own pressures. International students pay heavy fees, their working hours are capped, and their future is tied to grades, the next visa and finding work after graduating. Few people back home in Iran picture the sleepless nights before a deadline and the worry about a visa renewal behind the photos of Melbourne cafes.
For those who have been here for years, Melbourne slowly becomes home, and even they sometimes get caught between two worlds: here is still not entirely "us", and Iran is no longer the Iran they left.
Grey skies and a tired mind
A migrant who arrives with an image of sun and beaches does not forget their first Melbourne winter: short days, overcast skies, cold southerly winds, and houses that are often poorly insulated. For some people these low-light months affect mood, energy and sleep, and combined with the loneliness of the first years of migration they weigh more.
The city's changeable weather is a fair metaphor for how many migrants feel: hopeful in the morning, homesick by evening. Swinging between the excitement of a new start and a sense of rootlessness is a normal part of migration, and when it lasts for months it is worth talking to someone about.
Money pressure is real too. Rent in Melbourne is high, and for a student every price rise means more work and less time for study and rest.
Online therapy in Farsi, from your home in Melbourne
Most Melbourne universities have student counselling services, and for those who are eligible, Medicare covers part of the cost of some sessions with a GP referral. These services are usually in English, though, and many international students have student health cover (OSHC) instead of Medicare, with limited cover for psychology.
An online session in Farsi means you do not have to explain family pressure, the expectation of "becoming a doctor" or the guilt of being far away. Emotral's therapists know that background. You see session times in Melbourne time; Melbourne evenings coincide with midday in Iran and morning in Europe.
What Farsi-speaking newcomers in Melbourne find hardest
Study pressure, fees and capped working hours for students
Worry about the next visa and work after graduating
Cloudy, low-light winters and their effect on mood
High rent and financial pressure
Not quite belonging here or there
Homesickness and guilt towards family in Iran
Counselling services that are only in English
Why a Farsi-speaking therapist for Iranians in Melbourne
When you talk about family expectations, fear of failing your studies or the question of staying or going back, you do not want half the session spent explaining the culture. A Farsi-speaking therapist knows what family reputation weighs and why saying "I need help" is hard for so many of us.
Emotral's therapists are reviewed and verified; sessions are online video calls and you choose a therapist by specialism and need, not by who has an office in your city.
Farsi-speaking therapists available to you
Every Emotral session is online, so these therapists — wherever in the world they live — are available to Iranians in Melbourne, and you see the session time in your own local clock.
Dr. Farzaneh Abroshan
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Schema Therapy, Group Therapy
Dr. Mojgan Shariatpanahi
Individual Therapy (Adults), Family Therapy, Couples Therapy
Dr. Jalal Khademi
PhD in Psychology, Depression, Anxiety & Panic Attacks
Lena Ebadi
Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Individual Therapy (Adults)
Dr. Fatemeh Mesgarian
Analytic Psychotherapy, Individual Therapy (Adults), Individual Counseling
Dr. Farzad Rasoulof
Schema Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Common questions
I am a student. Can I use Emotral from Melbourne?
Yes. Emotral sessions are online and available from Melbourne and anywhere in Australia. You need no GP referral or insurance to start; registering, choosing a therapist and booking are all done online.
Does student health cover (OSHC) pay for sessions?
Emotral is a private service and sessions are not billed directly to Medicare or OSHC. Every policy is different, so check with your own insurer.
Do session times work with Melbourne time?
Yes. The booking calendar shows free times in Melbourne time. Melbourne evenings coincide with midday in Iran and morning in Europe, and early mornings with the evening in Canada.
What if I am in crisis?
Emotral is not an emergency service. If you are in immediate danger in Australia call 000, and for urgent support around the clock call Lifeline on 13 11 14.