Paths of Practice with Monica C. Mann-Wrobel, PhD

Paths of Practice with Monica C. Mann-Wrobel, PhD

Author: Vincent Moore April 4, 2026 Duration: 59:57

Monica C. Mann-Wrobel, PhD, is a licensed psychologist located in Chapel Hill, NC. Monica specializes in providing Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for a range of aspects of the human condition including but certainly not limited to anxiety, depression, life transitions, family challenges and trauma in adults. Monica also works with couples, offering Emotion Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT). Monica is an experienced meditator and enjoys infusing mindfulness into all aspects of her clinical work and believes strongly in the value of this approach to the human condition. 


Monica grew up in small towns in the Western Piedmont of North Carolina and then spent 8 years with her husband Mike in Maryland, outside Wasington, DC, going to graduate school and post-doc for clinical psychology. Monica has had a steady meditation practice for about 20 years and recently completed a two-year mindfulness teacher training program, so she enjoys occasionally teaching at Mindful Families of Durham (MFD). She and her family have been members of MFD since 2018 and this community has helped them really integrate mindfulness into their family routines and rituals. It's been especially joyful for Monica to watch her children learn to be more mindful and kind towards themselves, others, and all beings.


For more information about Monica and other mentioned resources, please visit the following links:

http://www.drmann-wrobel.com/

https://www.mindfulfamiliesofdurham.org/

https://triangleinsight.org/


We discussed:

*The Walk for Peace and reflecting on dharma talks with family members

*Finding mindfulness in graduate school, clinical psychology, and the impact of applying mindfulness techniques in clinical work with veterans

*The Triangle Insight Meditation Community, Mindful Families of Durham, and the experience of creating and sustaining a model for families to participate in mindfulness communities together

*And the importance of remembering that change happens over time and that practicing mindfulness can be a radical act of self-love


Vincent Moore hosts Paths of Practice: Conversations on Journeys into Buddhism, a space where personal stories take center stage. Each episode is built around a simple, profound question: what does it actually look like to live with Buddhist teachings? You’ll hear from people whose lives have been shaped by this path, from long-time monastics and dedicated lay practitioners to those who have just felt a curious pull toward mindfulness and compassion. The conversations avoid dry theory, focusing instead on the messy, human, and often surprising realities of integrating practice into daily life-through family, work, doubt, and discovery. This podcast operates on the belief that there are as many ways to walk this road as there are people walking it, gently exploring that diversity one honest conversation at a time. It’s less about providing answers and more about sharing the map-making process itself, offering companionship and insight for anyone interested in the varied terrain of spiritual life.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

Paths of Practice: Conversations on Journeys into Buddhism
Podcast Episodes
Paths of Practice with Bhante Buddharakkhita, PhD [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:47
Bhante Buddharakkhita was born in Uganda to a Christian family in 1966 in Kampala, Uganda, East Africa. He first encountered Buddhism in 1990 while studying in India. He was fully ordained as a Theravada Buddhist monk by…
Paths of Practice with Alexander James O'Neill, PhD [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:13:33
Alexander James O'Neill is a specially appointed assistant professor at the Department of Liberal Arts at Musashino University, Tōkyō. He was previously a research fellow at the Department of East Asian Languages and Cul…
Paths of Practice with Tenzin Tseme [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:56
Tseme (they/them) practices in the Himalayan Gelugpa tradition. Their Buddhist Studies degree at UC Berkeley included studying Tibetan and Japanese languages and they are now undertaking a Master of Divinity at Harvard t…
Paths of Practice with Jhani Randhawa [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:48
Jhani Randhawa is an interdisciplinary artist and scholar, whose praxis centres the performative uses of literature, archival marginalia, and bodies to illuminate limits of legality, memory, and racially gendered power w…
Paths of Practice with Dr. Muna Shaheen [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:20:42
Muna Shaheen is a Palestinian single mother of three living in Haifa. She is a long-term practitioner, who co-founded “Ihna-Hon,” an open Arabic-speaking mindfulness-meditation space, and later founded “Marsa” a dedicate…
Paths of Practice with Rev. Dr. Daijaku Kinst [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:02
Daijaku was ordained in 1988, completed her priest training Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, and received Dharma transmission (full authorization as a Soto Zen teacher), in 2004 from Sojun Mel Weitsman Roshi (Abbot of Berk…
Paths of Practice with Coral Short [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:10
Coral Short is a queer, non-binary, white settler born in 1973. They completed their Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) training in March 2023 with Dea Parsanishi. They specialize in working with LGBTQIA+ folks, rec…
Paths of Practice with Rev. Hōgetsu Laurie Belzer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:28
​Rev. Hōgetsu Laurie Belzer is the Guiding Dharma Teacher at Ancient Dragon Zen Gate (ADZG) in Chicago, Illinois, and succeeds their founding guiding teacher, Taigen Dan Leighton. She is a lineage holder in the Soto Zen…
Paths of Practice with Chance Krempasky [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:12
Chance Krempasky is a vegan cyclist, cold water swimming weirdo, and meditator. He works as a family nurse practitioner specializing in queer and transgender medicine, drug user health, and care for people living with HI…
Paths of Practice with Arthur Braverman [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:19
Arthur Braverman studied at Antaiji temple in Japan under Uchiyama Roshi from 1970 to 1975. He is an author and translator, whose works include Mud and Water: The Collected Teachings of Zen Master Bassui, and the novel,…