Why It's Definitely Worth Your Time to Give Enneagram Therapy A Try
So you’re curious about the Enneagram as a personality model and therapy tool – awesome!
Let’s talk about what the Enneagram is and how it can be used to facilitate personal growth and development, both inside and out of a traditional therapy setting.
What is the Enneagram of Personality?
The Enneagram (also called the Enneagram of Personality) is a dynamic framework that describes the core needs, fears, and motivations that cause us to move through our lives in consistent ways – for better or worse.
Studying the Enneagram can help us more deeply understand how we’ve learned to survive and cope with our life experiences thus far.
And it can help us begin to see how those strategies have become automatic and inflexible over time, leading to problematic patterns and behaviors that aren’t actually doing us any favors. (Womp, womp.)
The Enneagram helps us see:
Why we do what we do;
What our fundamental needs, fears, and motivations are;
How to tap into deeper wells of self-control and internal awareness; and
The places we can ascend to as we heal and grow.
How does the Enneagram work?
The Enneagram works by sorting personality traits into nine primary categories, or types. Each of these core types consists of behavior patterns and belief systems that inform the ways people see themselves and engage with the world around them.
Each type falls into one of three triads – the “Centers of Intelligence,” which include the Body Center (gut, instinct); the Heart Center (emotions, intuition); and the Head Center (intellectual, cognitive). These triads provide the foundation for our specific type, telling us more about where our deepest motivations lie.
While each person will have a primary type, they’ll also have a relationship to other numbers of the Enneagram in various ways. The arrows on the Enneagram chart indicate the traits or behaviors each number might display under certain circumstances. A stressed-out 1, for example, might begin to take on the less-healthy patterns of a 4; an 8 might take on those of a 5.
But the Enneagram isn’t meant to box you in, and it doesn’t teach that you are simply a passenger of your number without any personal agency or control. Ultimately, the Enneagram works by helping you understand your nature, motivations, and values.
It gives you a framework for understanding the way you engage with the world around you and is an incredibly powerful tool for personal growth.
While you’ll likely see pieces of yourself in all of the different personality types, there will be one that most closely resembles the way you approach the world.
What is an Enneagram test?
Online Enneagram tests have surged in popularity. And it makes sense! We’re used to opening a browser, Googling our question, and coming up with an answer fairly quickly. And you can do that with the Enneagram, too – to a degree.
There isn’t one right way to find your Enneagram number. But the true value of the process lies in more than just an online Enneagram test.
Because, ultimately, you’re your own expert, identification of your Enneagram type relies heavily on how deeply and thoroughly you connect with the motivations, values, and traits inherent to each one.
So how can you figure out your Enneagram type?
You can read books on the Enneagram to deep-dive into what each number looks like and see which description resonates most with you:
The Complete Enneagram: 27 Paths to Greater Self-Knowledge by Beatrice Chestnut
The Enneagram Guide to Waking Up: Find Your Path, Face Your Shadow, Discover Your True Self by Beatrice Chestnut
The Essential Enneagram: The Definitive Personality Test and Self-Discovery Guide by David Daniels
You can watch YouTube videos to get a solid overview of the nine types and their descriptions. You can even listen to a podcast!
But what happens if you’re just feeling too overwhelmed to start? What if you see just enough of yourself in all the descriptions to make deciding which one is your Enneagram number nearly impossible?
That’s where an online Enneagram test might come in handy.
Online Enneagram Tests
By asking a series of questions about your preferences, values, and beliefs, an online Enneagram test can help you hone in on the number or set of numbers that best describes you. It’s a potential first step if you’re brand new to the Enneagram.
But here’s the caveat: because the theory behind the Enneagram is so rich and complex, its value can only truly be unlocked and understood with deeper, more personalized exploration. An online Enneagram test can only go so far in assessing your type. After all, they’re entirely dependent on algorithmic programming, where the Enneagram… Well, isn’t.
Results are often incomplete or simply inaccurate.
But if you’re eager to dive in or have felt overwhelmed as a beginner by other options, check out The Essential Enneagram Personality Test. This is the digital version of Dr. David Daniels’ book, and it’s available for $10.
Just remember to take your results in stride! Continue to read and absorb information and materials about the Enneagram to continue refining your understanding of the framework and your place in it.
And keep reading to find out why investing in Enneagram therapy is one of the best ways to really dig in.
What are the nine Enneagram types?
The Enneagram is broken down into nine distinct personality types:
Type 1: The Reformer
Sky-high standards and a focus on personal integrity, Enneagram Type 1s – aka: The Reformers or Perfectionists – are the rule-followers and the ones who notice the details. They can be highly self-critical and struggle to keep their anger under control.
Type 2: The Befriender
Type 2s are highly-attuned to the needs of others, and they give of themselves freely – often too freely, as they can tend to lose sight of themselves and their own needs completely. Type 2s are deeply concerned with how they’re perceived and strive for approval from others.
Type 3: The Performer
All the world’s stage – and on that stage, the Performer is going to stay very organized and get a lot of things done. Ultimately, Enneagram Type 3s want to be seen as successful, and they can have a difficult time slowing down and getting in touch with their authentic feelings.
Type 4: The Romantic
Also called the Artist or the Individualist, Type 4s are driven by a need for authenticity. They embrace emotions and celebrate feelings, often at the risk of focusing a little too inward at times.
Type 5: The Observer
Enneagram 5s are big fans of boundaries – they tend to be introverted and protective of their energy, prizing intellectual pursuits and privacy. They can struggle with lowering those boundaries in relationships.
Type 6: The Contrarian
Also called The Devil’s Advocate, Type 6s are the rebels of the Enneagram. They don’t entirely trust authority and are often focused heavily on safety. They’re resourceful and loyal.
Type 7: The Adventurer
Enneagram 7s – also known as the Epicure – are optimistic and full of energy. They’re masters at reframing their negative emotions, even when they would benefit from feeling them fully. Naturally curious, it can be difficult for 7s to stay focused on one thing.
Type 8: The Challenger
Type 8s are natural leaders, driven by their bold energy and their love of strength and power. They are rarely slowed down by conflict and are fierce protectors of others. They can struggle with showing vulnerability themselves, however.
Type 9: The Peacemaker
Nines are the mediators of the Enneagram chart, skilled at understanding various perspectives and creating harmony. Because 9s take pains to avoid conflict, they can often ignore anger or other tense emotions in themselves, resulting in passive-aggressive tendencies.
Do you see yourself in any of the nine Enneagram types?
What is my Enneagram number?
Part of the difficulty around identifying our Enneagram number initially is that we are more used to the defined boundaries of mainstream personality tests – the “if you do this, then you’re this” style of understanding ourselves.
But the Enneagram is not just any personality test. In fact, at its heart, it’s not a test at all.
Just because you can relate to, for example, the artistic tendencies of a 4 or the organizational abilities of a 1 doesn’t actually mean that either of the types associated with those numbers truly reflects who you are.
Your Enneagram number is determined by your core values, motivations, and desires. Sure, you might be artistic – but maybe you aren’t primarily driven by a desire for authenticity and a fear of being insignificant. So you aren’t actually an Enneagram 4; there’s another number on the chart that better matches your deepest desires.
Each number is associated with a variety of perspectives and behaviors. Our uniqueness as individuals lies in the mix of those traits – how strong each of them is within us and how much we embody traits characteristic of other numbers, as well.
And unlike other personality indicators, the Enneagram operates on the assumption that this mix isn’t static! While our primary number will not change over time, the ways in which our traits present themselves will. Our special mix is fluid and dynamic.
The Enneagram doesn’t just tell us about ourselves in a vacuum, either. While other personality assessments might investigate our relationships with others as a secondary feature, those relationships are inherent to the Enneagram and to our number. Because humans are by nature relational, the Enneagram sees its highest function in giving us greater understanding of exactly how we relate to the world and people around us.
Our Enneagram number is the primary way in which we engage with the things and people around us. It sheds light on our worldview and how we operate within our surroundings to get our needs met.
In this way, the Enneagram is uniquely valuable in helping us navigate a wide variety of relationships and circumstances.
What is my Enneagram subtype?
The Enneagram recognizes three instincts within all human beings, representing three common, human goals:
Self-preservation
Social interaction, and
Sexual/one-to-one bonding.
These three instincts are present in all of us, but we tend to be driven primarily by only one.
When the idea of these three specific drivers is applied to the nine types, it results in twenty-seven different Enneagram subtypes (i.e.: a Social 3 or a Self-Preservation 5).
Two of the three subtypes for each number is considered standard, or a usual variation on your Enneagram number. The third subtype is considered a countertype – it involves one or more traits that seem like they would run “counter” to the defining characteristics of your number.
Learn more about the twenty-seven Enneagram subtypes >>
Enneagram Therapy and Coaching With the Enneagram
It’s one thing to know your Enneagram type in a general sense. Self-study can help us feel understood and less alone. We can even feel a sense of community with others who are drawn to the Enneagram.
And we can begin to identify our thoughts and behavior patterns, as well. We can start to see how we relate to others in our life and maybe even identify challenges or areas for growth and improvement.
What becomes more difficult with Enneagram self-study is that growth itself.
Over time, it’s certainly possible that self-study can help you develop into a more fully-realized version of yourself. But when bound up with our unique life experiences, daily stressors, and any past traumas, we might find ourselves confused or overwhelmed about which way to go.
Investing in Enneagram therapy means working with a trained therapist who can help you use the Enneagram as a tool to grow beyond the patterns and habits holding you back. A therapist’s insight and expertise can guide you through the process of identifying your Enneagram type and the way you move through the world as a result.
How is the Enneagram useful in therapy?
A common misconception about Enneagram therapy is that the framework itself is what creates change for therapy patients – but the Enneagram is simply a tool for understanding.
Using the Enneagram in therapy sessions with a qualified therapist doesn’t mean the bulk of your work will be around the Enneagram itself. Your therapist will help you get a solid grasp of the language and theories behind the Enneagram and, together, you’ll use those to more deeply explore your experiences, your emotions, your habits, and your triggers.
The crucial difference between studying the Enneagram yourself and through Enneagram therapy?
Your therapist will help you move beyond those subconscious patterns and develop healthier ones that allow you to be present in your own life and actively move toward the goals you’ve set for yourself.
All while honoring you and your unique mix.