2. Public
What is the Enneagram?
A tool that helps us develop self-knowledge and
understanding;
Helps us live as our authentic selves;
Helps us understand others in order to improve
communication and strengthen relationships.
3. Public
Limitations
The self is not a commodity; can’t be measured.
The self is hidden in God; can’t be “found”.
No one has actually seen “the self.”
The Enneagram and other personality typing systems
are necessary because self-knowledge is necessary but
are insufficient/incomplete/not enough.
- Fr. Martin Laird – Encountering Silence Podcast
Systems are at risk of serving as rationalization of or
justification for bad behavior.
– “Well, I just behave this way because I am a 5 on the
Enneagram.”
- Cassidy Hall - Encountering Silence Podcast
4. Public
A Brief History
The Enneagram system as we know it dates to the
1960’s due to the work of Oscar Ichazo (Argentina).
– Synthesis of a number of ancient wisdom traditions
• Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism, Buddhism, and
ancient Greek Philosophy
– Ichazo integrated these traditions with the ancient
Enneagram symbol to a create personality typing
structure for the purpose of self-development.
5. Public
The Symbol (Riso and Hudson, 2003, 5)
• Geometric figure delineating nine basic
personality types and their interrelationships.
• Each type has own way of approaching life and
relating to others.
• All nine have something of
value to contribute to a
thriving and balanced world.
6. Public
We have all nine types within us.
Our most dominant type is our default
type.
(Riso and Hudson, 2003, 9)
7. Public
How Is It Useful?
1) Helps us to be fully present, frees us from
living reactively due to our preoccupations.
2) Helps us recognize and understand overall
patterns in human behavior:
• External behaviors
• Underlying attitudes
• Emotional reactions
• Conscious and unconscious motivations
• Defense mechanisms
8. Public
3) Helps us appreciate the differences in
each other which helps communication
and interaction.
(Riso and Hudson, 2003, 10)
9. Public
Helps us be authentic/true self:
“The Enneagram takes us to the threshold
of spirit and freedom, love and liberation,
self-surrender and self-actualization.
Once we have arrived at that uncharted
land, we will begin to recognize our
truest self, the self beyond personality,
the self of essence.”
(Riso and Hudson, 2003, 11)
14. Public
The Triads or Centers
“Each type results from a particular relationship with a
cluster of issues that characterize that Triad. Most simply,
these issues revolve around a powerful, largely
unconscious emotional response to the loss of contact
with the core of the self.” [Core of the self meaning true
self].
Thus, when not living authentically:
Instinctive Center is dominated by Anger/Rage
Feeling Center is dominated by Shame
Thinking Center is dominated by Anxiety
(Riso and Hudson, 2003, 68)
16. Public
The Wing
No one is one personality type. Everyone has a
dominant type which is complemented by one
of the adjacent “wings.”
It is the “second side” of your personality.
Located adjacent to your dominant type.
(Riso and Hudson, 2003, 74-75)
18. Public
Levels of Development
Levels = a measure of one’s capacity to be present
The more we move down levels (regress):
The more identified we are with our ego.
The more defensive and reactive we become.
The less freedom and consciousness we have.
The more self-destructive our behavior becomes.
19. Public
Moving up levels (progress) leads to:
Being less identified with our personality (our dominant
type on the Enneagram).
Being more present and awake.
Being less fixated on the defensive structures of our
personality.
Being more open to our self and the environment.
(Riso and Hudson, 2003, 78)
20. Public
The Levels
Healthy
• Level 1: Level of Liberation
• Level 2: Level of Psychological Capacity
• Level 3: Level of Social Value
Average
• Level 4: Level of Imbalance/Social Role
• Level 5: Level of Interpersonal Control
• Level 6: Level of Overcompensation
Unhealthy
• Level 7: Level of Violation
• Level 8: Level of Obsession and Compulsion
• Level 9: Level of Pathological Destructiveness
(Riso and Hudson, 2003, 77)
21. Public
Actualization
“When we are less identified with our personality, we
find that we respond as needed to whatever life
presents, actualizing the positive potentials in all
nine types, bringing real peace, creativity, strength, joy,
compassion, and other positive qualities to whatever
we are doing.”
(Riso and Hudson, 2003, 79)
22. Public
Thus, our main goal in regard to the Enneagram
(and our personality) is to maintain balance by:
avoiding over-identification with our dominant
type.
integrating the strengths of each type as we
engage the world.
23. Public
Integration/Disintegration
Two lines connect to each type. Directions
indicate how a person responds under times of
stress or security.
Direction of Integration (growth) = Behavior
when under control, secure.
Direction of Disintegration (stress) = Behavior
under stress.
24. Public
Direction of Integration (growth):
Healthy 1 behaves
like healthy 7,
a healthy 5 like an 8,
etc.
Sequence:
1-7-5-8-2-4-1
9-3-6-9
25. Public
Direction of Disintegration (stress):
Under stress, an average to
unhealthy 1 behaves
like average to unhealthy
4, an average to
unhealthy 2 like an
average to unhealthy 8,
etc.
Sequence:
1-4-2-8-5-7-1
9-6-3-9
26. Public
The 3 Instincts
Represent our instinctual hard-wiring
Necessary for survival as individuals and
species
All 3 instincts are active in us, but we have a
dominant instinct (the area of life we attend to
first). “Dominant” meaning the instinct we
prioritize.
(Riso and Hudson, 2003, 82)
27. Public
Self-Preservation Instinct (preserving body
and its functioning)
Sexual Instinct (extending ourselves in
environment and throughout generations)
Social Instinct (getting along with others,
forming secure social bonds)
28. Public
Full Picture of Personality
Full picture of personality represented by:
Dominant Type
Centers/Triads
Wing
Levels of Development
Directions of Integration and Disintegration
Dominant Instinct
29. Public
Goal
Ultimate Goal = Balance
Integrate what each type symbolizes
Acquire healthy potentials of all types
(“move around” the Enneagram)
Draw on power of each personality type as
needed
(Riso and Hudson, 2003, 82)
30. Public
Balance Leads to Presence
Having balance in our personality
helps us to live authentically and
be fully present.
31. Public
Sources
Riso, Don R. and Russ Hudson. Discovering Your
Personality Type. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co.,
2003.
www.enneagraminstitute.com
Encountering Silence Podcast:
www.encounteringsilence.com
Editor's Notes
The Enneagram is a tool that assists in the development of self-understanding and the understanding of others.
Brief History:
- A synthesis of a number of ancient wisdom traditions, systematized for the purpose of self-development by Oscar Ichazo from Buenos Aires, Argentina (Bolivian by birth).
- Ichazo created Arica school for promoting self-realization (self-development) in Chile, taught in 1960’s and 70’s. Currently resides in U.S.
- Ichazo connected his synthesis of ancient wisdom traditions to the ancient Enneagram symbol to create personality typing structure.
- Enneagram as we know it in this system of teaching dates to the 1960’s under Ichazo’s integration of the symbol with ancient wisdom teachings.
- Philosophy behind Ichazo’s version of Enneagram contains components from mystical Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism, Buddhism, and ancient Greek Philosophy (especially, Socrates, Plato, and the Neo-Platonists).
The Enneagram is simply a circle with various lines connecting different points.
When you take the test, you will come out with a dominate number, one number on the Enneagram that reflects your dominate personality type. Be sure to note the strengths of each type first. People have a natural tendency to focus on the downsides of each type first. While the downsides are important to take note of, start with the positive and then go to the negative aspects.
Our dominate type is not the be-all end-all of our personality. It is our “default” or standard type and in our daily lives, if we are not functioning at a healthy level, we tend to exhibit the negative aspects of our dominant type.
For example, a dominant 9, when not functioning healthily, will be disengaged, conflict-avoidant, and complacent. A 9 would study the Enneagram in order to become free of this tendency and become more engaged with others and his/her surroundings.
The goal of studying the Enneagram is to create balance in ourselves. We have all 9 types within us and we want to access and engage all 9 types as needed during our daily lives. It is said that Jesus did this! Quite a goal for us!
- Our brains are wired to be reactive. From millennia of living in survival mode (fight/flight), humans have developed “negative reactivity” as the default response to stress. That is, the limbic system of our brains (including the amygdala) is activated during stress, preventing us from being fully present with others. Accessing all types on the Enneagram in a balanced way is evidence of living responsively rather than reactively.
- Understanding the Enneagram helps us empathize with others as we perceive that their reactivity is often rooted in an over-attachment to the reactive tendencies of their default types.
- Understanding the Enneagram also helps us know how to communicate with people of different types, as they may communicate differently based on their dominant type.
- We are liberated by knowing our type because we now have a framework from which to work as we seek to function healthily and access the Enneagram types in a balanced way.
Remember, the goal is not to “identify” with your dominant type. While there are positive aspects of your dominant type, you actually want NOT to identify with it because doing so prevents you from growing in other ways (and accessing all types equally). The primary goals are balance and the ability to be fully present with others.
Ironically, and although our dominant type has positive qualities, we tend to focus on the negative qualities first (encourage your participants to focus on the positive qualities first and then frame the negative qualities as growth areas rather than bad traits).
This diagram shows the nine types with type descriptors. This simply gives a label to each type to provide a basic description of what distinguishes one type from another.
Take note of how the positive qualities are listed first. Emphasize these! Appreciating the Enneagram to its fullest extent relies upon the facilitator’s ability to frame it as a framework of strength and growth rather than a framework of deficiencies and problems.
Types in each triad are either going with or against the dominant emotion of the triad.
For example, types in Instinctive Triad always giving in to their anger and frustration and openly expressing it in various ways, or finding ways to suppress it and hold it in check (Discovering Your Personality Type, 72).
Each type fluctuates between being driven by dominant underlying emotion of the triad or reacting against it in an unconscious way (Discovering, 73).
Solution to struggle with dominant emotion: “being present repeatedly with the dominant emotion of your Triad with patience, truthfulness, and compassion.” (Discovering, 74).
The wing compliments your dominant type; is the “second side” of your personality. Usually have a dominant wing that stands out over the other wing.
Everyone is not purely one type, but a mixture of dominant and one of the wings.
Basic type dominates the personality, wing complements it, adding important elements to your total personality.
RHETI test may indicate your wing or you may decide upon it based on your own self-assessment (Discovering, 75).
As you have perceived so far, the Enneagram is very nuanced. For example, there are levels of progression. For example, if I am a 7 on the Enneagram, depending on my level of stress and other factors, I can live healthily or unhealthily as a 7. The goal of course is to live at the highest (healthiest) level as possible.
We all can probably relate to progressing or regressing according to the descriptions on this slide. We know that we are functioning in a healthy way when we are less reactive and less ego-driven.
These are simply descriptions of the different levels. You can see that level 9 and level 1 are on the opposite side of the spectrum. I imagine that many of us, on our best days, function at least at a level 3. On our bad days, we tend to react to our environment by overcompensating and asserting control over others.
Remember, we want to be liberated of our negative tendencies, less reactive, and exercise the ability to allow others to be themselves. The true self comes out when we are engaged and yet detached from outcomes. We are fully present and forward focused, but we are not driven by anxiety and reactivity.
This is the ideal, which, because life has stressors, is hard to achieve. We may have moments of actualization, when we are fully present and engaged, not attached to ego, sure of ourselves, and able to receive others without judgment or the need to fix them. Actualization is of course hard to achieve, but this slide provides a basic description of the overarching goal.
Direction of Integration: how a person behaves when feels more secure and in control of a situation
Direction of Disintegration: how a person behaves under increased stress and pressure, when feels not in control of situation.
We all have instinctual hard-wiring; we are endowed with specific instinctual intelligences that are necessary for survival as individuals and species.
Everyone has these instincts/drives operating within them but each personality prioritizes a particular instinct/drive. The instinct we prioritize is the area of life we attend to first.
Combining our dominant type with our dominant instinct provides a more specific picture of how our personality works. The combination of instincts with types creates 27 different combinations. This accounts for the differences and variability within the types.
Your dominant instinct is decided upon by your own self assessment, rather than revealed specifically by the RHETI test (I believe).
(all notes on this slide from “Discovering,” 82-83)
To get a full and nuanced picture of our personality and how we are functioning within it we have to take into consideration all of these categories, not just our dominant type.
“Ultimately, the goal is for each of us to ‘move around’ the Ennneagram, integrating what each type symbolizes and acquiring the healthy potentials of all the types.
The ideal is to become a balanced, fully functioning person who can draw on the power of each as needed. Each of the types of the Enneagram symbolizes different important aspects of what we need to achieve this end. The personality type we begin life with is therefore less important ultimately than how well (or badly) we use our type as the beginning point for our self-development and self-realization.” (Discovering, 82)
