Going in circles, tripped up by the same things?
If you’re needing to FINALLY break out of your lifelong habits, the Enneagram (“ANY-A-GRAM”) can reveal:
Where you are now
Where you could be
How you get there
Though I’ve been in therapy for a decade, no resource has helped me break out of my autopilot mode as effectively, efficiently, and consistently as the Enneagram.
Your Enneagram Type
= Your pattern of Thinking, Feeling, & Doing
Ennea (“nine”) + gram (“points”)
The Enneagram is a personality model that powerfully describes our core motivations, needs, and fears that drive us to engage life in consistent (and often constricting) ways. The very patterns that helped us cope with difficult experiences have over time become rigid, fixed, and automatic, keeping us unconsciously trapped in painful lifestyles and relationship patterns.
Consider these “stuck points” like muscle knots you develop from poor posture or from an over-reliance on some parts of your body. The tighter the knots, the more painful and out of alignment the rest of your body is, creating other problems and limiting all that you could do.
Unless we catch ourselves in our unconscious habits and then consciously “shift our posture,” we reinforce our knots and become more trapped and in pain.
If you are confused or frustrated from getting stuck in the same dynamics, the Enneagram can help you learn:
WHY you do what you do,
WHAT your core needs, fears, strengths, stuck spots, and blindspots are,
HOW to turn off your autopilot mode and be more responsive, not reactive,
HOW to foster new, lasting ways of being.
Let’s get you realigned!
My name is Joanne Kim, a Marriage & Family Therapist who uses the Enneagram to help you break free from your unconscious, reactive patterns that keep you trapped.
The Enneagram has been a gamechanger in helping me create a new way of living life and doing relationships. As a Type Four, I can get easily sucked into an emotional whirlpool, play out push-pull dynamics in relationships, or engage in self-sabotaging behaviors like procrastination or conflict avoidance.
The Enneagram has also helped tons of my clients (who are mostly Type Ones, Twos, Fours, and Nines), who reach out because they:
hit burnout/compassion fatigue
had another strained relationship or breakup, or
just could not shake off their anxiety, guilt, shame, or resentment.
(Scroll to the bottom for a list of all the Nine Enneagram Types.)
Here’s a blog about how to find your Enneagram type.
Where do I go next with the Enneagram?
Maybe you just found out what your Enneagram type is and feel like someone’s read your journal.
Maybe this is new but you’re intrigued - Could this be the key to unlock my potential?
Or maybe you’ve known your Enneagram type for years and read all the books, but are not sure how to concretely do the deeper work.
Whatever the case, the best place for you to start your growth journey is where you are right now.
The next step for you to take is to book your free 15-min consult call, so we can chart your course to build a life where you can live freely, laugh fully, and love deeply in the ways you’ve always wanted!
Live intentionally, not reactively!
Book your consult call for Enneagram therapy or coaching today
Or keep scrolling to learn more below!
*Enneagram Therapy vs. Coaching
These two options inform what will happen during our meetings. Therapy and coaching may be very similar in destinations, but vary in the specific paths taken and vehicles used. As psychotherapy is a strongly regulated field (involving a licensing board), we must clarify which of the two paths we’re taking before we begin.
ENNEAGRAM THERAPY
Focus on mental or emotional health issues, relationships, and/or traumas, using the Enneagram as ONE tool of many. Other therapy-specific approaches (e.g. Brainspotting) may be used as well according to my therapist training.
Balanced focus on past, present, and future.
More insight and experience-oriented.
Medium-paced and weekly full sessions for 40ish sessions for optimal benefit.
You MUST be physically located in the state of California for these sessions.
Can potentially be covered by insurance (out-of-network).
ENNEAGRAM COACHING
We only focus on Enneagram work and don’t cover trauma topics, specific relationship issues, or emotional/mental health issues (e.g., anxiety and depression). I cannot use any therapy approaches or tools.
More future-oriented with a focus on goals and tasks.
More action-oriented.
Fast-paced. We can meet at various frequencies (e.g., once or twice a month) at various lengths (full or half sessions) depending on need.
No restrictions on where you are or on how long or frequent our sessions are.
NOT covered by insurance.
Use the Enneagram to transform the way you live and love!
The Nine Types of the Enneagram
*Note: You are NOT just one type. You are more complex than that! You can totally resonate with a bit of everything. Your type is your starting point, not the end, for growth.
If you are curious about what your Enneagram type is, check out this blog.
Type One:
The Improver
- Focus on what’s wrong or on what could be “better”
- Ethical, dedicated, reliable, critical of self and others, rigid, perfectionist
- Motivated by a desire to live the right way or improve the world
- Avoid fault, blame, and criticism
Type Two:
The Helper
- Focus on being connected in relationships
- Warm, friendly, serving, others-oriented, indirectly self-serving
- Motivated by a need to be liked/loved or be needed
- Avoid rejection and acknowledging own needs
Type Three:
The Performer
- Focus on tasks, goals, success
- Success-oriented, high achieving, image-conscious, shapeshifting
- Motivated by a need to be (or appear) successful
- Avoid failure
Type Four:
The Romantic
- Focus on emotions, the state of relationships, authenticity, strive for what's missing, feeling different or “not enough”
- Creative, emotionally sensitive, moody, self-absorbed
- Motivated by a need to be understood and to experience their oversized feelings
- Avoid being ordinary or unoriginal
Type Five:
The Investigator
- Focus on knowledge, privacy; managing time, energy, space, resources
- Analytical, objective, private, detached/withdrawn
- Motivated by a need to gain knowledge, conserve energy
- Avoid relying on others or connecting to emotions
Type Six:
The Loyalist
- Focus on risk, danger, and threats; the worst case scenarios
- Committed, practical, analytical, and skeptical/doubtful
- Motivated by fear and the need to feel safe and secure
- Avoid uncertainty and spontaneity
Type Seven:
The Enthusiast
- Focus on pleasure, positives, possibilities
- Fun, upbeat, spontaneous, adventurous, frenetic, evasive
- Motivated by a need to be happy, to plan stimulating and exciting experiences
- Avoid pain, discomfort, negatives
Type Eight:
The Challenger
- Focus on power and control
- Commanding, powerful, intense, confrontational, dominating
- Motivated by a need to be strong
- Avoid feeling weak or vulnerable, being exploited or betrayed
Type Nine:
The Peacemaker
- Focus on the outside (the environment and others)
- Pleasant, laid back, flexible, procrastinating, self-forgetting
- Motivated by a need to keep the peace, achieve harmony
- Avoid conflict, anger, separation from others
Find and grow beyond your Enneagram type!
I was a panelist at the EnneaSummit 2024 for the Enneagram Practitioner Panel.
In this panel, we share our experiences and observations about what different Enneagram types think they need in therapy, what they actually need, and some important growth steps so they can grow beyond their type.