🎁 Free Resource: Download your Breaking cycles, keeping culture: A guide for the Asian community PDF for deeper learning → HERE

In this episode, Asami speaks with Vietnamese Australian clinical psychologist Vi Tran, founder of The Middle Bridge Project, about parenting, identity, and the unspoken ways Asian parents show love. From the "cut fruit" metaphor to redefining what it means to be "good enough," this conversation offers compassion, insight, and reflection for Asian Australians navigating family, culture, and self-care with professional guidance.

🎧 You'll hear about: 

✅ How survival-based parenting patterns are passed down in Asian Australian families 
✅ Why "good enough" parenting looks different for Asian Australians today 
✅ Gentle ways to practise self-compassion and set boundaries with family 
✅ Working with culturally competent psychologists who understand Asian family dynamics 
✅ Breaking intergenerational trauma while preserving cultural values

💡 Episode Highlights:

• Vi's journey to parenthood during COVID as a Vietnamese Australian clinical psychologist
• Asian Australian parenting styles, cultural nuances, and moving beyond stereotypes
• Breaking cycles of guilt and self-criticism common in Asian families
• The "cut fruit" metaphor and reparenting yourself with cultural understanding
• Introducing The Cultural Compass values card deck for Asian Australians
• Finding mental health support that honours your cultural background

🧠 Key Takeaways from Vi: 

• "My parenting style is about attunement, noticing what my child is really asking for, even when the behaviour looks different."
• "That inner critic is so loud sometimes, telling me I'm not doing enough. I'm learning to hold myself with more compassion."
• "Cut fruit is such a simple but powerful metaphor, it's how our parents showed love, and it's also how we can show love to ourselves."

👤 About the Guest 

Vi Tran is a Vietnamese Australian clinical psychologist and founder of The Middle Bridge Project. She specialises in working with Asian Australians navigating family dynamics, cultural identity, and intergenerational patterns. Vi created The Cultural Compass, a values-based card deck designed to help people reflect on what grounds them in life.

🔗 Find Vi and other Asian Australian psychologists via the Asian Mental Health Practitioner List

🌐 Vi's Website: https://www.themiddlebridgeproject.com/  

📱 Instagram: @middlebridgeproject  

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If this episode helped you understand Asian Australian family dynamics, please subscribe and share to support other families navigating culture and mental health.💛

Keywords: Asian Australian parenting, clinical psychologist Melbourne, Vietnamese Australian, intergenerational trauma, Asian family dynamics, culturally competent psychology, Asian Australian mental health, breaking cycles, cultural identity, Asian parenting styles