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An Tâm Coaching and Psychology | Vi-An Nguyen

@antampsychology

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✨ Let’s talk about work, culture + mental health
📖 Org Psych
📍 West Melbourne
🎟️3 OCT: How to get out of your own way

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✨Re-introducing myself: Hi there, I’m Vi-An! 👋

I’m an organisational psychologist and Board-approved supervisor ✍️ Before starting An Tâm Coaching and Psychology, I worked in management consulting and community health 📊🗂️💼 I learned a lot and kept coming back to the same question:
💭How do we truly thrive, when work, culture / race, gender and all different intersectional identities impact our well-being? 💭

This was also a personal question for me. As a second-generation Vietnamese Australian woman, I felt disconnected from my culture (and a big part of myself) for a long time. It’s been a long journey to figure out how my work well-being is influenced by my cultural beliefs and family norms. Now, working with others to understand these threads are at the heart of what I do.

Through An Tâm, I want to support people - especially from racially marginalised backgrounds, to navigate the unspoken challenges in career, relationships and sense of self. My goal is to create space for conversations we don’t always get to have, but really need. 💪

If you’ve been around here for a while, I hope you’ve enjoyed some of the fun snippets and I thank you for the encouragement and support! 💜 If you’re new, you’re welcome to join the conversation about culture, work and well-being 😊😊 I look forward to connecting more! by @antampsychology

👩🏻‍🍳 When I started cooking up An Tâm Coaching and Psychology, I wanted to create a space that truly sees people - where cultural and racial identity isn’t an afterthought, but the lens we use to explore topics from work stress to family dynamics. 🧐

And I’ll be honest - it was quite hard to find a space for myself to feel fully accepted which is what prompted me to create a space starting for me. 🤓Throughout my different workplaces, I’ve felt the pull of hustle culture and the grindset mindset… and I quickly realised it wasn’t for me. 😅 My natural pace is less about “go, go, go” and more about “peace of mind” which is exactly what “An Tâm” means in Vietnamese 🌱🪷

This is intended to be a space where you won’t be judged and can have support to work through all different parts of your identity and well-being.

I know starting therapy can be scary, especially if you’re not sure how much of yourself will be understood or if anything positive will come from it. My hope is to provide a safe space - all parts of you are welcome and when you’re ready, support is here too! 🌻 by @antampsychology

💬 Therapy that brings together an understanding of culture, work, gender and so much more 🫶

In my previous work life (before An Tâm), I trained as an organisational psychologist and worked as a coach using positive psychology principles to support people solve work-related problems and reach their professional goals.

Now, I bring some of these elements in therapy 🌟 Together, we can work towards your goals and go deeper - to explore the root causes, patterns and experiences that have shaped you.

Almost every time, work issues aren’t ✨just✨ about work. Culture plays a big part. Cultural clashes can show up in our communication styles, boundaries or even definitions of ‘success’.

Culture is just one piece of the puzzle 🧩 gender identity, sexual orientation, people with a disability and every part of your identity shapes how you experience the workplace.

My goal is to create a space that tries to acknowledge all different aspects of you without having to explain / justify who you are. We are always ready to chat and provide support when you feel ready! 🍃 by @antampsychology

Sometimes, the stress we carry isn't simply a personal problem. It's a response to the systems and expectations we live within.

In my conversation with psychologist Vi-An Nguyen, we also explore how the systems that we are in - the patriarchal structures, the racial hierarchies, and the gender inequities can affect our bodies, our wellbeing, the way we understand ourselves and the way we make sense of our experiences.

When we experience stress, it's easy to turn inward with self-blame. We might wonder why we're struggling, why we can't cope better, or why we don't seem to have the answers.

But what if our stress isn't a personal failing? What if it's telling us something important about the environment we're navigating in?

Vi-An reminds us of the value of slowing down, becoming still, and listening to what's happening within us. Sitting quietly with our thoughts can feel uncomfortable, but it can also create space to recognise what we truly need and what matters to us.

Sometimes being a woman of colour, we are so used to the social conditioning of seeking external validation of experts. We keep searching for another opinion or someone to tell us what to do because we can't trust ourselves.

Maybe the answers are not outside of ourselves.

Maybe the answers will reveal themselves when you allow yourself to be still and quiet.

What might you discover if you gave yourself permission to pause and listen?

🎧 Listen to Episode 23 of The Practitioner's Heart: Trusting Your Inner Wisdom While Honouring Your Roots. The full podcast and accompanying blog are now available!

#CulturalIdentity #BuddhistPsychology #EmbodiedAwareness #MentalHealthAndWellbeing #ThePractitionersHeart by @antampsychology

Growing up in a migrant family can mean learning to understand everyone else's expectations before you even know how to attend to your own needs, wants and values.

You learn what makes sense. What will make your parents proud. What will honour their sacrifices. What you should want.

But what happens when the life that makes sense to everyone else doesn't feel right to you?

In my conversation with psychologist Vi-An Nguyen, we explore the tension between family expectations, cultural values, and learning to trust our own inner wisdom.

Vi-An shares how she began noticing the difference in her body between following a path shaped by expectations and listening to what she genuinely wanted. One felt heavy. The other offered a different kind of clarity.

Sometimes, our bodies tell us something before we can fully explain it with words.

Honouring our roots doesn't have to mean abandoning ourselves. We can hold gratitude for our families while making space for our own values, needs, and choices.

💬 Have you ever struggled to balance family expectations with what you truly wanted for yourself? I'd love to hear your reflections.

🎧 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝟮𝟯 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁: 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗶𝘀𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀, 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀.

📝 The podcast blog is also out now!

#CulturalIdentity #MigrantMentalHealth #BuddhistPsychology #SelfTrust #ThePractitionersHeart by @antampsychology

What if we could loosening that grip just a little?

In Buddhist practice, non-attachment doesn't mean giving everything up or stopping ourselves from caring. It's about recognising that everything changes and learning not to hold on so tightly to the things, ideas, mental images and feelings that we create more suffering for ourselves.

I love the metaphor Vi-An shares in this conversation: driving a car. We don't let go of the steering wheel completely, but we can loosen our grip. We can still care about where we're going without tensing up over every turn along the way.

Sometimes, the same is true in life. We hold tightly to our expectations, identities, relationships, and the way we think things should be. But what might change if we allowed a little more space for uncertainty, change, and the things we cannot control?

In this episode of The Practitioner's Heart, I speak with psychologist Vi-An Nguyen about Buddhist wisdom, cultural identity, burnout, and learning to trust our inner wisdom while honouring our roots.

🎧 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝟮𝟯: 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗶𝘀𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀.

📝 The podcast blog is now out, too! Read the full reflection for more insights from our conversation.

#BuddhistPsychology #NonAttachment #TherapistWellbeing #MindfulnessPractice #ThePractitionersHeart #MigrantMentalHealth #TherapistsOfColour #CulturalIdentity by @antampsychology

My cup is full from the weekend 💛

The incredible Vi-An (@antampsychology), Ash (@thisisthethirdplace) and I hosted a session on limiting beliefs and how to get out of our own way.

We had an incredible group of women show up, share with such honesty and warmth - it was so beautiful to be part of this ✨

I could speak about limiting beliefs for days, because know I’m guilty of letting those sneaky thoughts compound and stop me from taking the next step in life, relationships and work.

But, I’ve also learnt that if you can add confirmation to those beliefs, you can take action in the opposite direction to minimise and quieten them over time.

I’ll be sharing creators, founders and practitioners, mostly female, that I follow or know personally who can help you break down those beliefs and move forward with less fear, more agency and the trust to step into uncertainty. by @antampsychology

After a long career of being voluntold to be a “good daughter”, I’m excited to announce my retirement 😊🙏

Father’s Day just passed and I’ve had some reflections on what it means to follow your duties. 🫡

Particularly as a child of immigrant (and refugee) parents, we’re aware of how our parents sacrificed so much and what we “should” do…

I want to question how long we can stick to our obligations before resentment and hurt bubbles over 🌋

All the tea and more in our latest substack! (Read it in the bio link) 🤭 by @antampsychology

I am so guilty of letting that voice in my head win sometimes:
💭 “I shouldn’t ask for so much and just be lucky for what I have”
💭 “I can’t see myself up there”
💭 “Who am I to take up more space?”

Those are called limiting beliefs, and maybe some of them are familiar to you too? 🥺

If not, congratulations 🤝 If yes, join the club.

Specifically, you can join myself, @itsannluong and Ash as part of the amazing line up of events from @thisisthethirdplace for Mental Health Month.

Join us for a little storytime and open chats about the things that hold us back… and what we can do to let them go 👋

📣‼️ tickets are limited for this cozy setting
📍This Sat 3rd Oct, 10am - 1pm
☕️ Sox Coffee, South Yarra
🎟️ Tickets in the bio link (and include a free drink!!🫨)

We hope to see you there 😊 by @antampsychology

If you’ve ever thought to yourself:
“I’m not ready for this [next phase]”
“I can’t disappoint [insert name of someone]”
“I’m not ready for this [insert role]”

And you’re still navigating those thoughts in life or career, then you should come along to an unfiltered chat that I’m having with psychologist Vi-An (@antampsychology), brought to you by Ash (@thisisthethirdplace) for mental health month.

We’ll share our stories, how we’ve navigated those beliefs (and others!) and how challenging, yet wonderfully expansive it can be at the same time.

This is an intimate gathering where you’ll be able to connect, ask questions and we’ll unpack limiting beliefs together.

🗓️ Saturday, 3 October
🕙 10am - 1pm
📍 Sox, South Yarra
🎟️ $20 inc. a drink ☕️🫖

Link is UP in my bio 🤣 by @antampsychology

As part of Mental Health Awareness month in October, we are so grateful to be working with some amazing people in the industry to bring these meaningful conversations to our mindful meet sessions.

All 3 events will be held at @sox__sy - HUGE thanks Jen and the rest of the team for letting us use your space for important conversations. 🫶🏼

🎟️ All tickets include a free small drink to be redeemed upon arrival.

03.10 - Navigating limiting beliefs and what’s really getting in your way with @itsannluong and @antampsychology. A podcast-style convo as our speakers draw on lived experiences with professional insight, they’ll unpack the patterns and what it can look like to “take up space”, trust ourselves and step into our fullest selves.

🔗 An optional pre-event questionnaire is available for this event. Link in bio.

10.10 - Grief is weird af. So we need to talk about it. Join @thekindpowerproject and I as we discuss grief of all kinds at all stages, and share how we cope, whether it’s grief for yourself, or for a loved one - alive or not.

15.10 - October is also ADHD Awareness Month. Join Keshia of @motherhoodmovementmind for a gentle and neurodivergent-friendly evening exploring masking, unmasking, stimming and what it can mean to feel more like yourself. Expect grounding practices, with time for quiet reflection and small-group connection.

These aren’t workshops. They’re not therapy sessions. And you don’t need to have the right words. Everything is by invite only.

They are safe containers to listen and share if you want to. Join us and hear from different perspectives without having to fix, perform or have everything figured out. 💚

Some mindful notes
- avoid strong smelling incense, perfume, deodorant
- everything is by invite only
- fidgets and comfort items / devices welcome
- you don’t have to be seated the whole time if you prefer to move around / step outside for a bit by @antampsychology

Did you know that this year, the mid-autumn festival falls on the same day as Grand Final Eve? 🧐🌝

I wonder if that means 🏉=🥮…?

Whether you’re celebrating a footy festival or the moon festival, there are some great stories behind it all.

I will admit, that I only started enjoying mooncakes LAST YEAR! It’s taken my whole life to finally appreciate the art, soul and story behind the exquisite mooncake ☺️

And it’s quite a tragic x beautiful tale on the origins and sacrifice of Chị Hằng (aka Chang’e, aka the moon goddess) 🧚

Hai Anh goes into this lore and what celebrating the festival with family looks like these days, in our latest Substack!

The link is in the bio for the deep dive and more 🙂‍↕️ by @antampsychology