What are they?

Students often ask “How do I discover my Enneagram Type?” Typing Interviews are usually more effective and accurate than tests because through skillful dialogue and questioning the student’s core or basic motivation is revealed. This happens sometimes within an hour, or even in a matter of minutes, and with that the underlying Type is revealed. I often rely on a Typing Interview to explore and help determine a person's Enneagram Type. The Enneagram of Personality really comes alive through dialogue with an experienced teacher, one who already knows and has been working with his or her own Type for many years. 

 

Why are tests not enough?

Tests tend to intepret outer behavior, especially for beginners. Interviews will try to quickly uncover the basic motivation for the same set of behaviors. For example, if a test asks: “How important is privacy to you?” various Types might answer “Yes!” but for very different reasons. An Achiever (3) might need some privacy to create their new action plan; An Individualist (4) might want some solo time and space to create original art; An  Enthusiast (7) might want to pull back in order to concentrate, focus and stay grounded; A Protector (8) might want time and space to consolidate power and move into a place of leadership that benefits themselves and others; These are real differences that need to be addressed and differentiating if accurate results are ever to be attained.

 

Enneagram tests in books and online are can be, and often are, misleading and inaccurate. Why? Because the Enneagram illuminates very deep aspects of our psyche; it’s primarily focused on our deepest psychic structure and motivation, and only secondarily on its outward manifestations. It highlights our unconscious blind spots and biases, fosters a transformative capacity to self-observe and self-remember. Enneagram work, whether at the psychological or more spiritual levels, is most effective when you already know your own Type, which becomes the gateway to further, deeper and more comprehensive understandings.

 

Typing Interviews offer informed, sensitive and supportive guidance, in a safe space, that can be useful in quickly discovering your Enneagram Type. They can help elucidate the  issues the student is dealing with, and clarify the motivations behind past behaviors, choices, attitudes, interests, and values. After reading a book or materials online, or taking a class or workshop, people often can narrow down their Type attribution to two or three possibilities. But then they get frustratingly stuck. A Typing Interview can be helpful here. It’s similar to a differential diagnosis in medicine, except that we are looking at the person from broader and healthier perspectives, and we make sure to include the spiritual dimensions of human existence.    

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How does a Typing Interview work and what types of questions should I expect?

You don’t need to bring anything other than something to write on. I will guide you, sensitively, through the process. The most important questions are designed to answer the questions: “Where does your attention habitually go, and why? What is the strongest underlying motivation for doing what you do, and how is that a result of the structure and dynamics of your inner life?” Most people find the experience educational, inspiring, hopeful, and enjoyable. Once the student’s Type is discovered, some may soon be ready for follow-up Enneagram Counseling to help apply these “aha moments” in daily life.

 

Sample questions:

• Would people say you are competitive, especially around work and accomplishments?

• How familiar and comfortable are you with heavy or darker emotions, such as sadness, melancholy, depression and envy?

• How important is privacy to you? Why? What do you do with your alone time?

• How easy is it for to make and keep major commitments? 

• Which are more important to you: your own needs or the needs of others?

• What is your relationship to authority figures?

• How important is getting things "right" or "correct" to you?  Why is that important?

• How comfortable are you with anger and conflict?

• How important is being in a position of power and control to you?

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What is the cost?

Typing Interviews cost $145.00 for a 75 minute session, and can be conducted via Zoom or in person.

 

One Typing Interview and two Mentoring Sessions can be bundled for $375.00.  This is a great way to begin the journey of discovering and working with your type.

 

To schedule a Typing Interview email: enneagramsantafe@gmail.com