The Enneagram -
Integrating Psychology and Spirituality

The Enneagram, a dynamic system of personality types that identifies nine unique approaches to life, respects all spiritual paths and traditions, and is a powerful tool for the discovery of emotional and thought patterns that can distract us from our experience of God and each other. 

While rooted in sound psychological and spiritual knowledge, the Enneagram is not an abstract, esoteric theory. Prayerful awareness of our personalities frees us from the “boxes” in which we unconsciously live. Gentle self-observation, aided by spiritual practice and a practical knowledge of the Enneagram, helps us recognize, accept and let go of our reactivity, and become more fully present to ourselves, others and God.

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Familiarity with the Enneagram promotes spiritual freedom via increased self knowledge by:

• Helping you discover blind spots and biases that decrease receptivity to the Divine

• Providing discernment tools to distinguish between automatic patterns of reactivity and deeper invitations to freedom and relationship with Spirit

• Increasing respect, understanding and compassion for the diversity of human expression

• Providing tools for identifying and working through personal “hot buttons” 

• Offering fresh spiritual perspectives on recurrent life and faith challenges

• Building upon your innate spiritual capacities and encouraging contemplative practices for spiritual growth 

The Value of the Enneagram in Spiritual Direction

In spiritual direction we aspire to set ourselves aside to listen with the directee to the still small voice of the Holy at work. The Enneagram brings unparalleled benefits to those working with others by providing accurate descriptions of the core structures of the nine personality types as well as type-specific understanding of the relationship between psychological issues and spiritual qualities. Without understanding the vantage point of our personality type, we tend to assume that everyone sees the world the way we do, and to believe that if only others would change, our lives would be better.

Spiritual directors who know their Enneagram type have a new window into understanding how their own personality influences their views of the world and God, and affects their interactions with their directees.

Regular spiritual practice is a vital component of the Enneagram as a tool for spiritual conversion. The Inner Witness, which detects when we are acting out of reactivity rather than freedom and wholeness, grows with spiritual practice. The director and directee discover a deeper ability to access the True Self, which is connected to all that is.

Enneagram Studies in the Narrative Tradition offers a full range of Enneagram programs that integrate psychology with spiritual experience. Helen Palmer, co-founder, has made many original contributions toward understanding how meditation and awareness training relate to the nine psychological types. She has developed and teaches an in-depth psychological-spiritual curriculum for type and spiritual freedom. She presents classes around the world that focus on key topics of psychological and spiritual integration. Some of the themes include type and false identity, projection, presence and self-forgetting, virtues of the heart, intuition and retrieving the Holy Ideas.

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