Enneagram-based Coaching
What does Enneagram-based Coaching help with?
Life coaching in general can sound a bit “woo-woo.” Life coaching using the Enneagram may sound even more “woo-woo” to you if you are not familiar with the framework and structure the Enneagram provides in understanding personality and behavior.
The Enneagram teams up well with life coaching by leading us to a deeper understanding of self, by showing us how we “see the world,” and how we can change the ways we respond to the world. Enneagram work is about finding balance. It helps us answer the questions, who am I? why am I here?” and why do I do what I do?”
I’ve never had a broken leg or arm. But, I got an up front view when my 13 year old daughter broke her tibia and fibula while ice skating. Her leg was immobilized for about 6 months. When the final cast came off, there was little muscle covering her restructured leg bones. The muscles in her leg had atrophied during the healing process. But the muscles in her arms and her other leg had gotten stronger as she had to use them to compensate for the broken leg. It took intentional physical therapy, exercise, and activity to bring all the muscles back to a balanced state. It also helped that she was 13!
Similarly, parts of our personality can atrophy when not used. And other parts of our personalities can get bigger to compensate — or to protect us from life. As an Enneagram Type 7, I learned as a young child how to reframe almost any situation from a negative to a positive. I do this automatically and without thinking. It’s helpful to keep an optimistic and open mind. But, it also prevents me from feeling emotions like sadness and despair, or fear and rejection. Reframing is part of my personality that has grown bigger in order to protect me from fear and unhappiness. In exchange, my full range of emotions has experienced some atrophy. Without access to all my emotions, I’m not living a balanced life. The Enneagram has allowed me to understand this reframing behavior and find self awareness and growth through it.
If you are in the midst of living life and feeling a bit unbalanced, Enneagram coaching might be for you — whether you’ve never heard of the Enneagram or you know your type and have read books and attended seminars. Coaching with Enneagram at its core can help anyone unlock parts of their personalities that are holding them back.
If you’ve thought of the Enneagram as a fun internet test or conversation topic, I invite you to discover that it is so much more than that. It is not a solution but a process that helps us look inside ourselves to find balance and change.
Here is a brief list of things that Enneagram-based coaching can help with:
Making tough decisions
Navigating next step-life changes
Creating goals and plans
Personal and spiritual growth
Understanding self and others
Relationship issues
Seeking change - A path to find your true self
A safe space to be heard, seen, and understood
Parenting and caring for aging parents
Moving from victim to a victor
I am a Master Certified Life and Leadership Coach with a Master’s in Counseling, and I’m a current member of the Enneagram Cohort with Suzanne Stabile. I would love to talk with you more about life and Enneagram-based coaching.