ENNEAGRAM THERAPY
Therapy Backed By A Powerful System That Celebrates Your Strengths
What is enneagram therapy?
Enneagram therapy combines traditional psychological techniques with the wisdom of the Enneagram system. This system originated in the Middle East and has been used for centuries as a tool to help people understand their personality traits and grow. It emphasizes the strengths and challenges of your internal world and helps you interface with people who are different than you in effective, compassionate ways.
Enneagram Types And How They Show Up In Enneagram Therapy
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Type 1 - The Reformer
Orderly, reliable, able to see the ideal version of everything around them and steps toward making it happen. In therapy, Ones might work on feelings of anger, self-criticism, black-and-white thinking, and deep worry that they are bad or corrupt.
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Type 2 - The Helper
People-oriented nurturers who love to be helpful and needed. In therapy, Twos might work on not diminishing their own needs and desires, fears they are not lovable, not creating relationships based on dependence, and preventing feelings of resentment that happen when they have been caretaking for too long without receiving.
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Type 3 - The Achiever
Highly driven by success and achievement in their goals, they can be charming and adaptable. In therapy, Threes might work on separating their achievements from their self-worth, developing a more authentic relationship to their own emotions and to others, allowing themselves to rest, and building intimacy.
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Type 4 - The Individualist
Self-aware, sensitive, and creative individuals who have a deeply individualistic approach to life and value being unique. In therapy, Fours might work on depression, feeling like an outcast, regulating emotions, unlearning beliefs that they are “too much”, and navigating a world that may operate with less sensitivity and attention to individualism than they do, without compromising their values and identity.
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Type 5 - The Investigator
Inquisitive minds that are always questioning things and searching for answers. In therapy, Fives might work on integrating with others more, opening up to others in a way that feels safe, connecting to their emotional selves, engaging with the world beyond their area of expertise, and confronting their fear of scarcity.
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Type 6 - The Loyalist
Highly loyal people who value community and commitment in relationships with family or friends above everything else. In therapy, Sixes might work on deep and pervasive anxiety, concerns about society and the planet at large, issues with relationships, family, and work, and conflicting feelings about people in positions of authority.
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Type 7 - The Enthusiast
Adventurous people with an overflowing enthusiasm for life’s joys and experiences big and small. In therapy, Sevens might work on identifying and tolerating uncomfortable emotions, combating feeling trapped by commitments and routine (hello, FOMO), and engaging in healthy coping rather than escapism and avoidance.
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Type 8 - The Challenger
Bold personalities who like to protect others, take risks and confront challenges and injustice head-on. In therapy, Eights might work on their fears of being controlled or manipulated, softening their approach to others that may not tolerate conflict or challenge as well as they do, bringing out their natural caregiving and protecting qualities, and tolerating the discomfort of being vulnerable in safe situations.
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Type 9 - The Peacemaker
Harmonious individuals who focus on promoting peace and harmony at all times. In therapy, Nines might focus on depression, identifying and honoring their own needs over others’, developing a solid sense of self, setting and maintaining boundaries while staying connected, and being more assertive and confident.
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The enneagram can be powerful in therapeutic settings as it allows both client and therapist to understand something deeper than what lies on the surface. The enneagram delves into your core values, beliefs and fears, which helps therapists develop a more effective treatment plan tailored specifically around you as an individual person rather than just trying a one-size-fits-all approach based on a DSM diagnosis. The enneagram is also trauma-informed, as our core fears and desires are shaped by our formative and often traumatic experiences. Your therapist can address your enneagram growth points alongside your trauma for maximum impact and healing.
Understanding Your Greatest Desires and Deepest Fears Through Enneagram Therapy Will Change Your Life
Identify Your Type
At the beginning of Enneagram therapy, it’s important for us to first understand your type according to the Enneagram system. If you already know or have a strong inkling about your type, great! If not, it's something we can explore together. While we all have a little bit of every type in us, think of your primary type as your core operating system, such as Windows, Mac, or Linux.
Each person is assigned one of nine distinct personality archetypes based on the system. The core types are reformer, helper, achiever, individualist, investigator, loyalist, enthusiast, challenger, and peacemaker. Learning about each type will help you gain insight into your own character traits and areas for growth. It's best not to take a test, but rather to read about each type and note which types resonate, which types make you feel uncomfortable, and which seem most mysterious to you. Pay close attention to each type's core motivation and core fear. We go over the nine Enneagram types in this post.
Explore Your Traits and Identify Unhelpful Patterns Through Online Enneagram Therapy
Once we know your primary type, we can begin exploring your underlying motivations and unconscious behavior patterns in more depth. These sessions involve discussing your thoughts, feelings, behavior patterns, reactions to others, to stressors and triggers from past experiences, as well as hopes and dreams for the future. The goal is to heal trauma, build compassion for yourself and others, and live up to your fullest potential, no matter what type you are.
There are no bad types, only unhealthy versions of each type that present with unique problems. Enneagram therapy sessions allow us to identify any unhelpful or negative patterns that you may have developed over time as well as how they impact your daily life. This may include difficulties with relationships or navigating difficult situations at work or home environments. Understanding these behaviors - and most importantly, their motivations - can help individuals develop new coping strategies that replace old patterns with healthier alternatives when faced with challenging situations.
Make meaning.
Deepen Relationships
Have you ever wondered why your partner or friend is behaving a certain way when it's clearly not effective or in their best interest?
As you move through the world, you are constantly interacting with people who have a different core type than you. You may find yourself confused, bewildered, frustrated, or angry at others and wonder why people behave in certain ways. Understanding the essential motivations and fears of others through the enneagram system can deepen your romantic relationships, family relationships, friendships, and even work relationships in profound ways, leading to less conflict and more feelings of connection, compassion, and love.
​Develop New Strategies and Habits Through Online Enneagram Therapy
During an Enneagram therapy session, you'll likely discuss how events or particular relationships have impacted you throughout your life and form strategies for overcoming negative thoughts about yourself around specific topics such as self-worth or self-image issues.. You'll also explore healthier solutions for managing stressors and communicating with others who have a different internal world that you.
In addition to identifying unhealthy behaviors associated with one's primary personality type, one of enneagram therapy's greatest objectives is addressing habitual thought and behavioral processes which lead people down emotional dead ends rather than paths towards growth.
Knowing your therapist is using a time-tested and reliable system may help you feel trust in the process and theoretical foundation of our work. I'm excited to guide you through personal exploration while finding the solutions best suited towards achieving peace through life’s many ups-and-downs.
Therapists Who Specialize In Enneagram Therapy
Laurel Roberts-Meese, LMFT
Alexis Bibler, AMFT
FAQs: Enneagram Therapy
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No one likes to feel pathologized or labeled, especially in therapy. You’re more than a cluster of symptoms. We have found that by using the Enneagram, we can take a holistic view of who you are and what makes you tick. We can also look at how your early experiences shaped your motivations. Then, by finding ways to get your unmet needs fulfilled, we can help you unlearn patterns that no longer serve you.
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Yes, working with an enneagram therapist focuses on the motivations for these patterns rather than simply extinguishing them. When we understand Why something is happening, it’s much easier to address and change.
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There are many techniques that go well with the Enneagram. Your Enneagram therapist will create a customized approach for you. Some connect techniques and approaches we use are narrative therapy, holistic and psychodynamic therapy, Gottman Method Couples therapy, EMDR therapy, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
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Yes! We have found that couples therapy using the Enneagram framework works fabulously. By combining Gottman Method Couples Therapy with the enneagram, we can make perpetual arguments and frustrating patterns less personal and give you tools to end negative patterns . When things are less personal, we have a greater chance of making permanent change.
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The Enneagram is fundamentally about identifying your core motivations and fears. Often, it is these very motivations and fears that cause anxiety, depression, and relationship conflicts. By focusing on your motivations and using the Enneagram framework for growth, we can help overcome these challenges.
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All types can experience mental health issues. Remember that your type has many possible expressions and many possible levels of health. But some types, particularly withdrawn types like 4, 5, and 9, can be more prone to depression when they are out of balance. More conflicted types, such as 1, 2, and 6, might be more prone to anxiety when out of balance.
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That’s the core goal of Enneagram therapy. Our limiting beliefs and our fears are what drive each type to manifest its unhealthiest traits. But identifying your type and the resulting negative core belief, you can liberate yourself from it.
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The enneagram system is complex, dynamic, and interconnected. There are endless possibilities for growth and expression. It provides a solid roadmap toward the healthiest version of yourself. For example, a self-involved and competitive Type 3 can engage in healthy Type 6 behaviors to grow: connecting with community, creating a sense of shared security, and promoting the good of the group can balance out the self-serving 3 behaviors.
We offer Enneagram Therapy for people in California, Florida, & Pennsylvania
Other Teletherapy Services in California
At Laurel Therapy Collective, we offer personalized teletherapy designed to empower you on your mental health journey. Our therapists are skilled in addressing a wide array of concerns, including anxiety, EMDR therapy, LGBTQ issues, couples' therapy online, therapy for lawyers, holistic therapy, trauma therapy, and therapy for teenagers. We serve all of California and Florida, and concentrate on serving driven professionals in Santa Cruz, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. As a team that celebrates diversity, embraces anti-racism, promotes body positivity, and supports a healthy attitude towards sexuality, we are committed to providing a safe and nurturing space for your healing. You deserve to find peace, resilience, and joy.