Cycle Breaking and How the Enneagram Can Help
The Enneagram describes 9 distinct ways of perceiving the world and responding to it through our personalities. When I teach the Enneagram, I teach that our Enneagram personality type is a way of coping with life. It’s a set of beliefs, behaviors, and emotional reactions that help you solve problems and try to get your needs met. For example, a type 7 (The Enthusiast) has a core fear of being trapped in negative experiences. Because of this fear, it can feel quite challenging for them to stay in their emotions, especially the negative ones. They try to resolve this fear by keeping things positive, focusing on intellectual problem solving, and avoiding experiences that make them feel they could get trapped.
For a child growing up in a family where showing emotions or negativity was unacceptable or dangerous, this is likely an effective coping strategy that helped protect them. As an adult, however, a type 7 continuing this pattern may cope with their trauma by putting a positive spin on things and avoiding their emotions. They may avoid having hard conversations with their partner(s) or other important people in their lives. They may alienate themselves from the kind of support they need because everyone thinks (including them) that they are doing just fine.
Sometimes it’s hard to see ourselves or know where our barriers to connection are until a mirror is held up in front of us. The Enneagram acts as a mirror and a guide to help you understand how you get in your own way. While it can be painful to see, this clarity is liberating because it means that you can do something about it. Identifying specific areas to work on, the Enneagram will help you resolve what gets in your way and help you grow out of old patterns that do not serve you.
This is helpful for everyone, but it’s really helpful for Cycle Breakers. For them, self-work often feels overwhelming and like they’re trying to navigate new, unfamiliar territory blind-folded, with everyone shouting at them that they’re doing it wrong. As a therapist, I help my clients learn how to tone down all of those other voices and listen to their own. The Enneagram is a great tool for that. I can help you navigate and use the Enneagram as a compass in therapy or coaching. Therapy focuses on weaving Enneagram work with mental health. It’s slower and takes intentional time to give trauma and deep childhood wounds time and space to heal. Enneagram coaching is faster paced and more goal oriented. We will do a deep dive into emotions and how your Enneagram type has manifested throughout your life, and focus on specific goals to help you move through the work of your type.
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Hanna Woody is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor in Asheville, North Carolina. She has over 12 years of professional counseling experience and specializes in breaking cycles of intergenerational trauma, childhood trauma, and the Enneagram. Certified in the Embodiment Tradition, she has over 150 hours of training and teaching experience. Hanna is in private practice and provides online mental health therapy, Enneagram coaching, and Enneagram training.