• Founded in 2024 by Vi Tran, The Middle Bridge Project is a culturally responsive education, coaching and tools project created to destigmatise mental health within communities from marginalised identities, and to use online spaces to reach more people and make real impact. We bring together culturally responsive practice and evidence-based psychology to create group coaching programs, among the first developed in Australia by a POC psychologist alongside resources and tools tailored to different cultural experiences.

  • To make culturally responsive mental health support accessible to people from culturally and racially marginalised, multicultural, and diasporic communities through group coaching, education, tools and consultation that honour lived experience alongside evidence-based practice.

  • Respect, diversity, empowerment and compassion guide everything we do.

    • Respect: for your story, your family, your pace, and the wisdom already within your lived experience.

    • Diversity: our work is built by and for people from multicultural, diasporic and marginalised communities, not adapted for them as an afterthought.

    • Empowerment: you are the expert in your own life; our role is to offer tools, not verdicts.

    • Compassion: for yourself, for those who came before you, and for the parts of the journey that are still unfinished.

    We help people understand their experiences, break unhelpful intergenerational patterns, and move forward with confidence while staying connected to their cultural roots.

    Our approach is always co-created especially with community. We draw on Schema Therapy, Narrative Therapy, ACT and DBT, reinterpreted through a culturally responsive lens, but nothing we offer is handed down from above. We begin with what you already carry and build alongside you, shaped by what our community tells us it needs.

  • The Middle Bridge is the journey of navigating between cultures, traditions and personal growth, finding balance between acceptance and change, honouring where you come from while making space for something new. It draws on the psychological idea of walking a "middle path": holding two truths at once and finding synthesis somewhere in the grey. The bridge itself speaks to journey, hope, connection and community — the things that carry us as we find our way.

    In practice, it sounds like this:

    You're doing the best you can, and you also want to grow.

    You love and respect your family, and you're finding ways to heal from the past.

    You honour your culture, and you're learning to set your own boundaries.

Meet Our ‘Middle Bridge Project’ Team

A woman with long black hair smiling outdoors with green bushes in the background

  • Hello and welcome!

    I’m Vi, the Founder & Clinical Psychologist at The Middle Bridge Project and a second-gen Vietnamese Australian passionate about destigmatising mental health. My work is shaped by lived experience, bridging cultural understanding with evidence-based therapy to support individuals and communities in breaking intergenerational patterns.

    The Middle Bridge Project was created in response to a negative personal therapy experience and impacts of what it was like seeking professional help which was not culturally informed or responsive.

    With a deep commitment to culturally responsive care, I create programs, tools and resources that empower people to navigate their mental health with confidence. Whether I’m providing group coaching, developing workshops, or advocating for systemic change through consultation with organisations, my goal is to make mental health more accessible and inclusive.

    Outside of The Middle Bridge Project, you’ll find me exploring baking or trying new cuisines, or enjoying a quiet unfinished book - embracing what it means to be straddling two cultures.

Young woman with long hair smiling outdoors, standing in front of green leafy bushes.

  • I’m Phuong, the Product & Engagement Strategist at The Middle Bridge Project and a first-generation immigrant with lived experience navigating multiple cultures. Behind the scenes, I shape our strategy, products, design visuals, and lead marketing efforts to ensure everything we create is inclusive and culturally affirming.

    With a passion for creativity and cultural understanding, I develop resources and experiences that foster self-reflection while making our messaging accessible and impactful. Whether I’m refining product strategy or crafting visuals, my focus is on making our work meaningful for the community.

    Outside of The Middle Bridge Project, you’ll find me jogging with my corgi or wrangling my two kids - life is always full of adventure and growth.