This is a curated list of some of my favorite, reliable resources on the Enneagram. If you are ready to learn more, then this is a great place to start.
How To Find Your Type:
The best way to determine your type is to study, self-observe, and reflect. You determine what type you most identify with.
If you are unsure of your dominant Enneagram type and Subtype, schedule a Typing Interview. Talk with a coach to help you learn your thought patterns and developed habits, and, how knowing these will help you grow. You will leave the Typing Interview with hearing from the coach what your two most likely enneagram types are (and why), a potential dominant instinct (your subtype), as well as next steps for your journey. (Ask your coach where they were trained in conducting Enneagram Typing Interviews)
You can take an online test, though be aware that many do not use psychometrics, so it is best to pair an online test with a typing interview. Any enneagram test is just a starting point. One test I like in particular is the Free Online Test with Truity since it draws attention to how you score within each type instead of giving you just one number.
Video Panel Interviews For Each Type:
8, 9, 1 | 2, 3, 4 | 5, 6, 7
The best way to learn about each type is through inquiry about how that type experiences life. In each of these videos, Beatrice Chestnut (an Enneagram author and licensed psychotherapist) interviews a panel of 3-6 people that exemplify that particular Enneagram type.
She introduces distinctive characteristics of that type, and then asks the panel:
- how they’ve recognized themselves as that type,
- how they grow,
- how they navigate relationships, and
- a Q&A from the audience.
Each interview is about 1.5 hours, rich with different expressions of each Enneagram type from a panel of exemplars as they answer questions and share their experiences, motivations, and behaviors.
Relationship Pairings
See how your type matches up with who you are in a romantic relationship with. It describes what each type brings to the relationship as well as potential trouble spots.
How to access: Click on your type, from the Enneagram Institute, scroll down to “Compatibility with Other Types,” then click on your partner’s type number.
How To Handle Conflict Based On Your Enneagram Type
A blog published on YellowCo.
People fulfill certain roles during conflict based on their values and personality. This blog describes how each type shows up in conflict, and how to navigate that with humility, empathy, and the opportunity to see the world from another’s perspective.
How To Use The Enneagram
A healthy relationship to the Enneagram is when it is used as a way to discover your truest self, for honest self-reflection alongside a mentor, and to better understand others in a safe community. Take a step back when you wear your Enneagram number as a badge, use it to limit others (or yourself!), or when it is used to discriminate. Read the blog and assess where you are at on the Enneagram Journey.
Daily Encouragement For Your Type
Enneathoughts can be sent to your inbox!
If you know your type, subscribe to daily encouragement sent to your email inbox. This is based on Russ Hudson’s book, The Wisdom of the Enneagram.
Interactive Products: Nine Shapes
Nine Shapes is an interactive card game to be able to ask questions and to be known around your enneagram type. Use these with close friends and people that you are safe around.
Recommended Reading:
The Complete Enneagram by Beatrice Chestnut traces the development of the personality, dives into the three different subtypes that each type can take, and guides the reader in how to use the Enneagram as a tool for both leadership development and personal transformation.
The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path To Spiritual Growth. Author Chris Heuertz offers both insightful and practical wisdom on how we relate to others and to God, and how we find our way home to our truest self.
The 9 Types of Leadership: Mastering the Art of People in the 21st Century Workplace, by Beatrice Chestnut. This is a short, easy reference guide that tells you how to best interact with co-workers and how to more effectively lead others.
The Enneagram In Love and Work: Understanding Your Business and Intimate Relationships. Author Helen Palmer explains how types pair together at work and in relationship, giving both the strong points and trouble areas. The book gives detailed practical advice on how to have the best possible relationships.
Enneagram Workshops + Retreats
The best way to learn the Enneagram is through interacting with other people. Learn the Enneagram through storytelling, reflection, and in person conversation. Attend a retreat and, or workshop around the Enneagram.
Training Programs
In person: CPenneagram.com – Trainings happen all over the world to support people in both inner transformation and outer impact. This is the most thorough and grounded training one could get with the enneagram.
The Narrative Enneagram offers a Core Program, a professional training program, and a program for practitioners who work one-on-one with clients.
If you plan to use Enneagram in your practice I recommend an in-person program. For those looking for excellent resources to pair with how they teach Enneagram, consider an online program.
Online: mundoeneagrama is a global learning community that is based in Brazil. For a membership fee, you get access to: live classes, live learning circles, videos, articles, podcasts, interviews, and more.
The number of Enneagram resources is growing as the Enneagram becomes increasingly popular; however, this curated list contains some of the most respected and reliable resources to guide you on your journey.
Lastly Claudio Naranjo, the father of the modern day Enneagram, stated that the Enneagram is not a stand alone tool. It is important to pair your Enneagram studies with coaching, counseling, community, spiritual direction or something in this category.
As you dive deeper into the Enneagram, my hope is that you will experience significant positive changes in yourself and your relationships, and appreciate the rich complexity of your own personality and of those that you encounter. Remember that the Enneagram is a tool for self-discovery, and it is meant to deepen your understanding and compassion for yourself and others.
Ashlee Sikorski
Ashlee lives in Portland, OR and is a Team Development Coach working alongside organizations build a genuine team culture and emotional intelligence. She also specializes in teaching the enneagram, and, is the creator of Nine Shapes: Conversational Cards around the enneagram.
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