Type One
Recognising the description of my type has helped to see there are patterns of responses and behaviours ingrained in me during my life that I share with others. There are good reasons why they developed and although they served to protect me in some way in the past, they also cause pain. They hide deeper levels of me that I want to ‘uncover’. Learning that these are almost inevitable responses, given my circumstances, gives me a level of compassion for myself I didn’t have before, and a desire to change because change feels more possible.
The Enneagram is a process, and with the help of others, including the able support of the course leaders it helps to identify triggers to unexplained outbursts of emotion. This has been a very helpful and on-going exercise! For anyone interested in understanding themselves and the impact they have on others, I would recommend the Enneagram as a tool for exploration and a path to transformation. It also helps you understand other people better, showing how we think differently about things and why this matters in our interactions with others. It does more than look at ‘strengths’ and ‘weaknesses’, it helps you understand why things happen, why you (and others) feel and then behave in particular ways. It gives room for more compassion for each other.
Naomi
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Previously when I’d investigated the Enneagram, each quiz I’d done to determine my type had given different results. I hoped that attending the course would help, and although I really enjoyed the first session, I still didn’t feel sorted. So I was pleased when Miranda and Sarah supplied some extra questions and challenges, which helped me to reveal that I am a One. Now I’ve settled in that place I realise I’m not necessarily the same as other Ones I know. I wonder how I didn’t see it before, but understanding more about wings and subtypes clarified a lot of my previously confused thinking. It takes time. Great sessions Miranda and Sarah, thank you so much.
Liz
Type Two
Since my divorce 5 years ago I’ve been on a journey of trying to understand myself better and in particular changing I hope, for the better, particularly in my relationships. Being introduced to the Enneagram has really enhanced this journey. I easily identified with being a two. The need – sometimes desperate, sometimes at almost any cost, to bring people on board, to have them like me is very dominant. Just this awareness has made me more conscious of when I’m doing it, and forces me to question why I’m doing it and whether this is making me whole. I’m learning to have boundaries. This feels very uncomfortable and I’m actually fearful that I’ll lose connection, and that I’ll lose a person’s love. I’m finding that my worst fears don’t materialise.
The Enneagram makes so much sense. It’s also been invaluable as some of the friends/family I have close relationships with have also identified themselves, and being able to understand them and how we can best relate is not only helpful for growth but also aids better communication.
You have to be vulnerable to do the process. You have to be open and ready to hear some difficult stuff. It helps I think if you can have a sense of humour! Coming to terms with the fact that when I’m stressed I can go to a place of revenge was not easy to digest, but you know it’s correct. It is wonderful to recognise that’s where I’m going and laugh at myself, and hopefully pull myself out of that unhelpful place.
Lesley
Type Three
To come
Type Four
The Enneagram began a deep analysis of my unconscious behaviours, emotions and patterns. I started to recognise how I think and react in various aspects of my life. A Four’s default feelings of envy, shame and melancholy have been clearly identified and I’m proactive in creating an inner emotional balance. The encouragement for Enneagram beginners is that it provides personal insights that I don’t believe you can discover anywhere else.
Will
Type Five
To come
Type Six
The Enneagram has offered me a way of addressing some of the challenges I face in the way that I relate to myself and others, particularly my reactive behaviours during stress. Unlike other personality tests that I have taken, it has offered a means of understanding my shadow side in a non-judgemental way and offered up a path to gradual transformation and growth.
I have loved the focus on the strategies I have developed for getting my needs met, and it integrates well with my work as a therapist and my understanding of attachment theory and defensive mechanisms.
The Enneagram has also been helpful in understanding how seemingly contradictory aspects of my personality go together; how as a type six, I search for authority figures but also am suspicious and challenge them. The title ‘loyal skeptic’ fits well for me. Decision making is difficult for me and my tendency to self-doubt and questioning is strong.
I think, through being in a group, studying a book, attending Miranda and Sarah’s training sessions and listening to podcasts and the experiences of other people who identify with being a six, as well as all the other numbers, it has brought to light many of my fairly automatic responses (default thinking and feelings), so that I am now able to recognise them more quickly and this has somehow lessened their grip.
I would encourage others to do the Enneagram because it is a great tool in the development of self-awareness, and increased understanding supports change.
I was first introduced to the Enneagram in the context of a church group and it was fascinating to sit alongside others and hear their experience of the particular numbers they identified with. Without a doubt, it increases a sense of compassion for others because it enables vulnerability.
Debs
Type Seven
It didn’t take much persuasion for me to see myself as a seven. I love all things new. Variety, new projects and change, with the delectable possibility of new opportunities has always been my opiate. But I’ve also realised there are different subtypes of seven’s. I’m a mild introvert, so although I can sometimes exhibit the more stereotypical seven ‘life and soul of the party’, I relate more to the addiction to new opportunities, to savour life in all its fullness.
The most helpful thing for me was to recognise that a seven will do anything to avoid pain. This is so true of me. I love to self-comfort and people-please as ways of avoiding conflict, difficulty and pain. This realisation has made me face this trait, to increase my assertiveness and stop people-pleasing. Also useful is realising where I go under stress – to a one where I get super-controlling and unreasonable, as I feel less and less healthy. The healthy me moves to a five – the calm observer. As I mature, I hope I can increase this perspective. The Enneagram is a powerful tool used in association with other psychological profiles for knowing yourself. It seems unique in giving you real concrete areas to improve, work on, avoid and grow. When seen in both a spiritual and psychological healing context it can be powerful to move to wholeness.
Doug
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The Enneagram has helped me make sense of different parts of me – what happens when I am under pressure and what gives me life AND then grow in a healthy direction; it resonates with what I see and integrates with other tools. It has helped me see that when I get ‘triggered’ by a certain situation, I sense my own ‘tightness’ and become more controlling – (a one, when I want to button everything down,) which is frustrating for other people. It has given me a tool to stand back and say. Whoa!! What is going on here? I would encourage someone to do the Enneagram because unlike other ‘tests’ it gives you a way forward, a healthy place to go and grow into; to cultivate more the me I was created to be.
Anna
Type Eight
By seeing my character traits in black and white helped me to understand my feelings and emotions. It has enabled me to get some ‘distance’ from the voice in my head and the ability to watch it and not engage. I can now spot a downturn and understand it, and more importantly see how the ‘downturn’ or ‘upturn’ will look. The Enneagram, when used as part of a self-improvement programme will enable you to live and not just exist.
Nigel
Type Nine
Naturally, as a Nine I have put off writing this testimonial! The course has provided new awareness of characteristics that I have and suggested ways to address the more negative features of being a Nine.
Claire
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I have enjoyed gaining understanding of myself as a Nine. Understanding others (by reference to the enneagram) has been very helpful in dealing with conflict and disagreement. I have not been great in caring for myself. They say opposites attract, but being married to another 9 is wonderful!
Ian
enneagraminpractice.org 