Providing guidance and learning opportunities that invite true self-discovery and transformation.

More Advanced Concepts

In addition to the basics presented in introductory programs, there are more advanced concepts being taught and developed.  Most deserve more than one session to cover adequately. Kathleen is happy to provide private small group or individual trainings on any topic of interest.

TRIADIC GROUPINGS:

Centers of Intelligence – The three centers of intelligence (body, heart, and head) are the primary triadic grouping. The Body or Instinctual Types are 8s, 9s and 1s. The Heart Types are 2s, 3s and 4s and the Head Types are 5s, 6s and 7s.  The intelligence of each Center (instinct, feelings, thinking) is not necessarily what we are best at.  It is actually the area of our greatest challenge!

Harmonics – How we respond or defend against loss or disappointment (coping).  Three Types are in the Emotional Realness Group (4,6,8), three Types are in the Positive Outlook Group (2,7,9) and three Types are in the Competency Group (1,3,5).  This topic can be very helpful in relationships and team building.

Hornevians – Our strategy to get what we need or want.  Three Assertive types Demand (8,3,7).  Three Withdrawing types Withdraw (4,5,9).  Three Compliant (or Dutiful) types Earn (1,2,6).  This topic is extremely helpful in understanding and building relationships.

Object Relations (Dominant Affect Groups) – Our ego exists only in relation to something else!  It is how we affect or are affected by the other.  The three fundamental affects are attachmentfrustration and rejection.  Although everyone experiences all three affects, each Enneagram Type derives its strongest, most familiar sense of identity primarily from one. Three Enneagram Types are attachment-based (9,3,6), three Types are frustration-based (1,4,7) and three Types are rejection-based (8,2,5). Object Relation patterns reveal an unconscious emotional background that we bring to all areas of our lives.

LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS  – This theory of psychological measurement is the brilliant work of Don Richard Riso. He originally called it the Levels of Development. The Levels show how each type is structured into healthy, average and unhealthy areas of functioning. The more “conscious” or awake we are, the more healthy. When we are unaware of the patterns of our personality playing out, we fall to lower levels of health. A person’s Level is one of many factors that explain why two people of the same Type can appear so different.

ESSENTIAL QUALITIES of the Nine Types – Our essential nature is vast and subtle and arises when we are in contact with Presence.  Our ego compensates for the loss of contact with our essential qualities by imitating it in various ways.  Consistent practice is needed to recognize our identifications, fears and resistance.

INSTINCTUAL VARIANTS – As a human species we have three basic instinctual drives – Self-Preservation, Sexual and Social.  These drives profoundly influence our personalities.  We see what, how and why we are pre-occupied by certain things and why other things seem inconsequential or even burdensome.  Each person’s dominant Instinct is “the playground” for our personality issues.  You can take the Riso-Hudson IVQ (Instinctual Varant Questionnaire) on line to discover your individual instinctive priorities.

PSYCHIC STRUCTURES (or INNER CRITIC) – Based on the psychological work of Sigmund Freud, we can understand how all nine Enneagram Types struggle with the voice of the Inner Critic or Superego residing in the subconscious and unconscious mind.  It is the voice that keeps us in our place and limits our growth, confidence and freedom.

TRITYPES – Developed by Katherine Chernick Fauvre and David Fauvre, this theory states that we each have a dominant personality type (residing in one of the Centers of Intelligence) and two other types as well.  Each of these two other types resides in each of the other two Centers.  We therefore, have a personality type activated in each of the three Centers of Intelligence and we use them in a predictable order based on their effectiveness in the situation.  You can take their Tritype Test here.

TRIANGLES – The true diagram of the Enneagram shows an “inner triangle” with lines connecting points 9, 3 and 6.  The “flow” around this triangle can be seen as a “movement” to Awakened Consciousness. There is a fascinating theory about the invisible lines of the Enneagram.  If you connect Types 4 and 7 and you connect Types 2 and 5, you will see three triangles, each with it’s own movement.  The 1, 4, 7 triangle is the movement to Wholeness. The 2, 5, 8 triangle is the movement toward complete Aliveness. See the work of Ginger Lapid-Bogda for further study.

The above concepts are a sampling of topics that relate to facets of the Enneagram as a tool for understanding.  Because the Enneagram is so foundational in our human interactions, just about any imagined topic can be enhanced and used to create a depth of self-understanding with insights that lead to constant learning and growth.

Any of the above topics can be studied with the assistance of private Enneagram Coaching or customized and developed for a group session.