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The Enneagram has been used for personal growth around the world since 1970 and is an amazingly insightful tool that has been used in settings as varied as the Vatican, the CIA, Motorola, the US Bureau of Mines and the Prudential. If you want to find out more, I suggest you read Personality Types by Don Richard Riso with Russ Hudson, revised edition published 1996 by Houghton Mifflin or The Enneagram by Helen Palmer, published 1991 by Harper San Francisco.

The following is a brief summary of each type, based mainly on the work of Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson, but with the labels used by Helen Palmer also shown.

In each description, the first name is the one used by Riso, the second is the label used by Palmer, and the following words are descriptions of the type - going from healthy to unhealthy. Finally, there is an example of a famous person who Riso suggests may be the type - you decide how far they fit the healthy descriptions!

Type 1
The Reformer
The Perfectionist
rational, idealistic, perfectionist, self righteous
Margaret Thatcher

Type 2
The Helper
The Giver
nurturing, concerned, possessive, manipulative
Mother Teresa

Type 3
The Motivator
The Performer
self assured, adaptive, image-conscious, deceiver
Tony Robbins

Type 4
The Individualist
The Tragic Romantic
intuitive, expressive, self absorbed, depressive
Judy Garland

Type 5
The Investigator
The Observer
perceptive, conceptualiser, detached, reclusive
Bill Gates

Type 6
The Loyalist
The Devil's Advocate
endearing, responsible, evasive, paranoid
Princess Diana

Type 7
The Enthusiast
The Epicure
enthusiastic, fun loving, excessive, manic
Robin Williams

Type 8
The Leader
The Boss
assertive, decisive, aggressive, ruthless
Saddam Hussein

Type 9
The Peacemaker
The Mediator
receptive, supportive, self-effacing, dissociated
Ronald Reagan

Our pathway to development and integration is to move to another number, along the following sequences:

1 to 7 to 5 to 8 to 2 to 4 to 1 or 9 to 3 to 6 to 9

Under stress we are likely to move in the opposite direction! This information is only brief but you can probably identify a type or types that seem to match you. Check then whether you move towards the appropriate numbers when under stress and when things are going well for you.

© 1998 Julie Hay

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