Enneagram Typing using a Narrative Approach

I have been working with the Enneagram for my own personal development since 1992 and later began using this life-changing system in my consulting and coaching practice with clients.

The first step of using the Enneagram in my coaching practice is helping my client to discover his or her own Enneagram Type. At times, this process can be pretty straight forward and at others, it can be baffling to the client.

Why? It has a lot to do with how well the client knows herself / himself and how accurately they can self-assess.

There are several different ways that people go about identifying their Enneagram Type. The most accessible, and probably most used is to go online and take one of the Enneagram Indicators; emphasis on the word Indicator.

Unfortunately, no matter how often we tell people that it is only an indicator; a starting place, they become wedded to the idea that it is a test and the results should be accurate. However, they often don’t understand the results or how to interpret them and become befuddled in the process of identifying their type. Or they take the indicator a few times and come up with different results each time. When they seek me out to help them unravel it, I start over, going through a question and answer process to uncover their underlying motivations and habits of thinking, acting and feeling. The Typing Interview can take upwards of an hour or more (not including the need to unravel their earlier attempts at self-typing).

Because of the challenges I faced in having clients accurately self-type, I developed a tool called the Enneagram Typing Cards. It is a fun, engaging and productive way to work with clients. The images were chosen with great care to capture the Archetype of the 9 Enneagram Types and each is paired with a motto. On the flip side of the card, there is a description for each Type, much  like a reduction sauce. There are also instructions on how to use the cards as well as the  motivational aims for each Type.

The cards are a kinesthetic way for the client to become fully engaged in the process.  

I am able to do a Typing session over the phone or Skype;  each of us with a set of cards laid out in front of us. We explore their relationship to the different Enneagram Types and they are able to fairly quickly and accurately identify their Type, while also learning about the Enneagram system in the process. They love having this handy reference to carry with them too!

Discovering one’s Type is just the beginning! 

Quickly I discovered that I needed a companion product for the Enneagram Typing Cards so that my clients had a way to work with their Enneagram Type’s traps and gifts. Colleagues began asking me for ways to use the cards and something more in-depth to give their clients. Thus began the creation of my book, InsideOut Enneagram: A Game-Changing Guide for Leaders.  

And you? Have you discovered your Type? If so, how? What have you found to be a useful way to discover your Type or to help someone discover theirs'?