Everything you should know about the Enneagram
Help you understand and learn more about what motivates your behavior. The ways in which you interact & relate to others
Enhances self-awareness
What Are Enneagrams?
The Enneagram system uses different personality types to help people better understand themselves and what motivates them. The exact origins of the Enneagram system are a bit murky, but researchers note that its roots trace back to South American philosopher Oscar Ichazo in the mid-20th century.
Research in the American Journal of Psychiatry defines the Enneagram as “a personality theory describing nine strategies by which the psyche develops a worldview and relates to self and others. The system has been used by psychiatrists since the 1970s, according to researchers, who note that the theory proposes that by adulthood, individuals have developed a predominant personality strategy to cope with the external environment”
The Enneagram system has a personality type for everyone, which Ian Morgan Cron, a psychotherapist, Enneagram teacher, bestselling author of The Road Back To You and podcast host, explains as something “we gravitate toward and adopt in childhood as a way to cope, protect ourselves and navigate the new world of relationships in which we find ourselves.”
Cron says that each type has “a core motivation” that influences the way someone acts, thinks and feels on a daily basis. “The Enneagram provides a framework for how we can begin to live into the highest expression of ourselves,” he says. “It’s a powerful system for personal growth and a great resource for transforming our relationships in every sphere of life.”
A review of 104 independent studies found Enneagrams have mixed evidence of reliability and validity[2]. With that said, the review also noted that some studies have shown that Enneagrams can be helpful for both personal and spiritual growth.
NOTE:
Not everything in the description of your basic type will apply to you all the time because you fluctuate constantly among the healthy, average, and unhealthy traits that make up your personality type.
Your Wing
One of the two types adjacent to your type is called your wing. Your basic type dominates your overall personality, while the wing complements it and adds important, sometimes contradictory, elements to your total personality. Your wing is the “second side” of your personality, and it must be taken into consideration to better understand yourself or someone else.
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Understanding the triads helps expose patterns of emotion and decision making which can result in greater self-awareness and workplace collaboration.
Body or Gut Triad
This triad is made of Types Eight, Nine and One. All of these types are associated with doing and anger. “It can also be called the ‘instinctive’ triad because this triad relies on their body to understand and solve problems by doing and responding to their gut instincts,” says Gregory.
Heart Triad
This triad is made of Types Two, Three and Four, which are all associated with emotions and shame. “They are concerned with self-image and a desire to create a version of themselves that is loved and accepted,” says Gregory. Cron adds that these types can be overly emotional and their first reaction is always to feel something.
Head Triad
This triad is made of Types Five, Six and Seven, which are all associated with thinking and anxiety. “They can overthink in an attempt to seek security and guidance,” says Gregory, adding that these types are strategic and need help quieting their minds. As Cron notes, these types are always overthinking and tend to be repressed.
https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/how-the-enneagram-system-works
Stress and Growth Types
Knowing the enneagram types under stress can help us understand when we are stressed, predict when we are stressed (or moving towards stress), and even know better ways of handling stress.
Every person is different and thus responds to stress differently but each enneagram type in stress follows a path so there are nine main ways that each type responds to stress.
Each Enneagram type points to another type in growth (integration) and in stress (disintegration). We call these points Enneagram arrows. When an Enneatype is working at optimal levels (good work-life balance, a strong sense of purpose, support system, physical health), the growth arrow activates. You’ll experience traits of a different type, which boosts your self-development.
https://enneagramgift.com/enneagram-stress-and-growth/#Enneagram_1_Stress_And_Growth
How The Enneagram Connects with Spirituality
The Enneagram allows us to identify the obstacles to a spiritual experience for each type so we can understand and experience our habits of thinking, feeling, and behaving.
Ian Cron suggests that “the true purpose of the Enneagram is to reveal to you your shadow side and offer spiritual counsel on how to open it to the transformative light of grace.”
The Enneagram in its current form emerged from the efforts of wisdom teachers to apply timeless spiritual and religious principles to the field of psychology. Furthermore, the nine Enneagram types are recognizable as religious archetypes, even though the Enneagram system can be applied as an analytical tool regardless of a person’s spiritual background.
So, “Is the Enneagram faith-based?” is a qualified yes. Qualified, in the sense that the spiritual pedigree of the Enneagram is undeniable, but those who use it do not need to be aware of this aspect of the system to rely on it as a valuable source of psychological insight.
“I think that once you find your type, you become really evangelical about it, you see the transformation that happens inside of you and you’re like, “I’ve never felt more seen, I’ve never felt so uncomfortably aware of every way I orient in the world, and how that impacts other people – and you want everyone to experience that.” – Sarajane Case, an accredited Enneagram Coach
The Enneagram Is for Everyone
The question “is the Enneagram faith-based” would be difficult to answer if the effort were made to tie it too tightly to any particular religious tradition. It would be a mistake, for example, to label the Enneagram as a natural outgrowth of the Christian faith, despite its burgeoning popularity in certain Christian circles. It can also not be credited to Judaism, Islam, Sufism, Buddhism, Taoism, Native American spiritual belief systems, ancient Egyptian religions, or metaphysical traditions associated with the philosophies and religions of ancient Greece. It makes more sense to say it is consistent with religious understanding because it emerges from the integration of so many traditions.
Part of the brilliance of the Enneagram system is the fact that it can be subtracted from its deeper metaphysical context and still ring true. Those who use the Enneagram today and swear by its insights include a mixture of the religious and the non-religious, of the spiritually oriented and those with no spiritual beliefs whatsoever.