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2023
Enneagram type illustration

What exactly is the Enneagram?

enneagram types

The Enneagram (Ennea=9, “N-E-YA,” Gram=Diagram pronounced ) is used at it’s most basic level to type nine different personalities. Discovering your Enneagram type reveals the ways you think, feel and act. It also shows your basic fear and desire, as well as your type’s virtue and hidden “Passion” (the emotion that drives you to certain less helpful behaviour), amongst other insights. This easy to access Enneagram for parents and couples will help create better relationships to yourself, your children and others.

Basic aspects of the Nine Types:

Enneagram 9 type descriptions

Start the journey to yourself

Get your FREE 9-Type download

Your PDF download includes: General characteristics, common things each type says, common career choices, triad (head, heart, gut/action), famous people of the type, main desire, main concern, gift each type brings as well as a general type overview. The information should help confirm your type and help guide you on your inner journey as well as a quick reference guide for others.

people holding up question marks Enneagram for parents and couples

Why would I want to learn about it?

The gift of the Enneagram enables us to understand ourselves and the habits that restrict us, so that we can then make conscious choices to transform our behaviour. The Enneagram for parents and couples is particularly useful to strengthen relationships. Using the infinite wisdom contained in the Enneagram system, we can liberate ourselves from the constraints of our ego-based personalities and the self-limiting habits that have held us there to realise our most self-actualised state. This awareness leads to a deeper compassion both for yourself and others.

Will I find my type straight away?

Some people recognise their type instantly, but for many, it takes a bit longer. Doing online tests, attending Enneagram workshops, getting feedback from family, partners and colleagues and reading Enneagram books all helps to “find yourself.”

Are there only nine types?

Yes. The Enneagram consists of nine basic types, which can then be divided further into various three-way divisions, resulting in many other sub-types.

Nature or Nurture?

Enneagrams are helpful for parents to understand their children. Each of us is born as one type, which remains constant throughout our lives. The types give us insight into how we navigate the world. Our type is then not formed by our youth, but rather one could say our childhood is formed by our type, meaning that children of certain types will experience similar types of events (not necessarily in the way they manifest, but more issues such as feeling overlooked, or growing up in a conflict-ridden household etc.).

long row of different people Enneagram for parents and couples

Which is the best Enneagram type to be for parents and couples?

There is no hierarchy in the Enneagrams. A Type One is no better or worse than an Eight or any other types. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, although the form they take is different. Because of this, each type has lessons to learn and issues to work through, as well as positive traits.

Does it make a difference if you’re male or female?

The types are relevant irrespective of sex, race, creed or any other factor. Consequently, a Type Six male tribal member of the Ashanti tribe in Africa will have a similar emotional/mental makeup to a Type Six woman living in the USA. (That’s one of the many things I love about the Enneagrams – it unites us across continents.)

Isn’t it boxing people though?

This is a question that frequently arises in workshops. My answer is: “No. rather than box people the Enneagram shows us the box we’ve put ourselves in and gives us the insight to sift out of our box should we make the conscious effort to do so.

man trapped in a box Enneagram for parents and couples

For more about Ann Gadd: