Why Study the Personality?
What the Enneagram has to offer
New Pattern Counseling is offering its first workshop on the Enneagram this February(!) but what is the Enneagram?
The Enneagram is a 9-point personality measure with origins in ancient eastern philosophical traditions, and has been rediscovered in our times as one of the most robust and detailed methods of understanding the human personality. Drawing on classical archetypes, mindfulness traditions, and paying close attention to both the blind spots and strengths of each Type, the Enneagram offers valuable language to the individual wanting to understand why they do what they do, how to do differently, and how to “come awake” to their true and thriving selves.
Why bother to study the personality?
All of our actions, choices, feelings, and motives happen as part of patterns. Many of these patterns originated when we were small, and become the bedrock commandments of our lives. They became our instincts & skills, our reflexes & strengths, our biases & perspectives…and sometimes our compulsions, and always our blindspots. If we’re not careful, these patterns can continue operating, running our lives, causing problems, and we won’t even know what is happening or why! If we are unconscious of our patterns, we will have an extremely difficult time making any helpful changes.
But on the other hand, if we can wake up to our patterns, and to our deeper selves, then we unlock the key to our personality, and what we need to change in order to thrive.
There are many ways to wake up to yourself and learn the terrain of your inner life and personality measures are a wonderful approach. Amongst all personality measures, one of our favorites is the Enneagram!
We invite you to learn about the Enneagram and other tools like it so as to join us in becoming students of yourselves in order to become the very best version of yourself you can be.
