Typing Tips for Counselors Using the Enneagram in Therapy – Part 2

As I mentioned in Typing Tips for Counselors Using the Enneagram in Therapy – Part 1 , The Enneagram can be incredibly useful in case conceptualization, treatment planning, and organizing a relevant approach to therapy. It does this by quickly clarifying the client’s issues and patterns as well as by offering specific interventions and pointing out potential paths to positive change and growth in life and therapy.

In addition to each Type’s visible patterns of behavior and insights gleaned from Part I on Typing, below are a few more ways, albeit less popular and more difficult to decipher, that can be used to narrow down a client’s Enneagram Type in clinical practice. These few strategies include further reflection on the client’s Subtype, Dominant Center, Repressed Center, and history of past experiences.

Consider Subtype

Subtypes reflect the client’s focus or preoccupation.

Something to keep in mind is that some primary Types can look like other Types due to their subtype.

Self-Preservation (SP) – physical comfort, safety, resources, structure, security
Social (SO) – belongingness, community, groups, relationships, status, influence, support
One-to-One (1:1) Self with one other, affection, intimacy, bonding, attraction

Dominant center: What activity does the client seem engage in the most?

Type 1, 8, 9: Doing
Type 2, 3, 4: Feeling
Type 5, 6, 7: Thinking

Repressed center: What activity does the client seem to struggle with the most?

Type 4, 5, 9: Doing
Type 1, 2, 6: Thinking
Type 3, 7, 8: Feeling

When the Dominant Center and Repressed Center are The Same

Type 3, 6, and 9 have a Dominant Center that is the same as their Repressed Center. This indicates that for these three Types, the dominant center of feeling, thinking, or doing is an unproductive form of that kind of expression.

Type 3s often suppress or disconnect from their feelings to maintain an image of competence and success. Feelings are avoided because they are not efficient and interfere with getting things done. It’s not productive to ignore or compartmentalize emotions until they become unavoidable.

Rather than truly “repressing” thinking, it’s more accurate to say Type 6’s thinking gets hijacked by fear and doubt. They rely on thinking but don’t trust it leading them engage in unproductive forms of thinking (ex. worry, self-doubt, over-thinking, over-planning, ambivalence, reassurance-seeking, etc.).

Type 9’s doing is unproductive since it seeks to avoid disruption and tends towards comfort-seeking with the mostly unconscious goal of suppressing their own agenda to keep the peace. Examples can include non-essential busyness, numbing, procrastination, overly engaging in passive activities (ex. TV, SM, scrolling), belaboring decisions, letting others make choices for them, favoring passive-aggression, and resisting saying what they really want or need, rather than asserting themselves.

Consider Past Experiences

Is there a set of reoccurring experiences that may be meant to teach the Type what they most need to learn? These experiences would have triggered the Type’s core wounding, challenged the Type’s foremost, albeit unhelpful, coping strategy, and reinforced the core wounding message.

Type 8s often experience betrayals of trust or neglect, rejection, attacks, or hostility from others leading them to feel victimized by injustices and blame individuals, groups, or institutions for their pain such that anger becomes a reliable and trusted defense against softer emotions and vulnerability.

Themes: trust in others, empathy, sensitivity, vulnerability, containment, non-blaming, emotional awareness

Type 9s often experience being lulled into complacency or being consumed by and resentful of others’ agendas. They surrender to others’ agendas because it reduces the risk of conflict, yet they become depressed, angry, passive-aggressive, and/or resistant to taking empowered action.

Themes: self-assertion, acknowledging anger, action, persistence, self-remembering, and doing what matters

Type 1s often have experiences where they feel compelled to call someone out for their unethical, improper, or harmful behavior and/or having tried to “do the right thing”, but have been cut-out or pushed away from jobs, relationships, and/or opportunities as a result.

Themes: self-compassion, play, humility, perspective-taking, curiosity, acceptance, and noticing projection

Type 2soften attract people or situations where they are under-appreciated, openly taken advantage of, or their wants or needs are minimized by others culminating in shame, anger, and resentment as well as vainglory and pridefulness (unwillingness or inability to acknowledge own needs/suffering).

Themes: setting boundaries, self-advocacy, self-care, self-awareness, humility, and asking if ok to help first

Type 3s may experience the costs of over-emphasis on achievement, burnout, and/or success culminating in a negative impact to their image or status as well as shame or embarrassment. Such experiences can guide Type 3s towards self-honesty, authentic living, and prioritizing fulfillment.

Themes: identity, presence, finding one’s passion, tolerating failure, results and relationships, and slowing down

Type 4 often have a history of being abandoned or left out or denied what others’ have leading them to feel victimized, angry, misunderstood, and ashamed, yet also unwilling or unable to validate themselves or take purposeful action to pursue their goals preferring instead to wait on a rescuer.

Themes: take action, emotional fitness, self-compassion, acceptance, gratitude, and tolerating ordinariness

Type 5 often attract situations where they are overlooked, dismissed, or feel invisible, not kept in the loop regarding important communication, changes, or expectations, and have experiences where people in their lives may neglect them or do not express much interest in them or their lives.

Themes: trust in abundance, participation, emotional availability, taking action, receiving, practicing generosity

Type 6s often attract situations characterized by instability or unpredictability where their trust in caretakers, authority figures, and/or organizations is weakened or corrupted thereby cracking their foundation of safety leaving them feeling unable to trust themselves, others, or life.

Themes: self-trust, tolerating uncertainty, being own authority, optimism, noticing projection, managing worry

Type 7s often show signs of multiple stops-and-starts, frequently shifting interests, superficial relationships, a pattern of distractibility, over-doingness, or burnout that may be due to low levels of commitment, FOMO, or treating people and problems with avoidance or positivity.

Themes: commitment, accepting limits, boundaries, depth, stillness, presence, and tolerating difficult feelings

These are just a few more ways I’ve found helpful in identifying a client’s Type. Of course, you can also ask the client to take a Typing test or ask them to read the type descriptions. While not always entirely accurate, the client’s self-selected Type could illuminate some things you may have missed or their findings can lead to further inquiry. Even if you don’t agree with the client, you can ask the client what they identify with in their chosen Type. Such inquiry can lead to insights and exploration into what matters to the client regardless of their Type and lead to positive outcomes in therapy.

Helpful Resources for Typing

Online

The Enneagram Institute
The Narrative Enneagram

Books

The Art of Typing: Powerful Tool for Enneagram Typing by Ginger Lapid-Bogda Ph.D.
The Wisdom of the Enneagram by Don Riso and Russ Hudson
The Complete Enneagram: 27 Paths to Greater Self-Knowledge by Beatrice Chestnut Ph.D.