Exploring Modalities: The Enneagram
Exploring Modalities: The Enneagram
In my early twenties, I struggled with a sense that I was fundamentally different than other people. I felt there was something essential missing in me, a naturalness and ease that others seemed to have that I didn’t. In a happy accident, I was exposed to the Enneagram in a personality psychology class. As I read about the 9 types, I stopped dead in my tracks as I read the descriptions of Type 4: the moody, melancholic type who feels like an outsider, yet at the same time, a rose among thorns. The 4 is attracted to the distant, the unavailable, the hard to get, and repelled by the mundane, the conventional, and the ordinary. The descriptions hit home in a way that I can only explain as the veil being lifted, and that I was seeing myself clearly for the first time. I was shocked that not only was there a name for people like me, but there were many, many books with chapters about people like me – what a relief! This powerful encounter with the Enneagram made me want to provide others with this same experience: one of seeing ourselves clearly, breaking free from our patterns, and finding the highest expression of who we are.
What the Enneagram Is (and Isn’t)
The Enneagram is a system of nine fundamental human archetypes, each defined not by surface-level behavior but by core motivation — the deeper why beneath what we do. It has roots in ancient wisdom traditions and has been developed over the past several decades through the work of clinicians and mystics alike.
The Enneagram is often lumped together with other personality typologies. Most typologies focus on superficial traits, like being extroverted or introverted, organized or disorganized, cerebral or intuitive. But the Enneagram asks something deeper: what are you afraid of, what do you want most deeply, and how do those forces shape how you move through the world?
Don Riso and Russ Hudson, fathers of the modern Enneagram, write, “The Enneagram doesn’t put you in a box. The Enneagram shows you the box you’re already in, and the way out.”
Your Enneagram type doesn’t limit you. Rather, it illuminates the subconscious patterns that are already limiting you.
Getting to the Root of our Patterns
Most of us have tried, at some point, to change something about ourselves through willpower alone. We know that we are overly critical of ourselves and others, get stuck in preparation mode and neglect taking action, or say yes when we mean no. We know that these lower expressions of self are not who we want to be, but without any strategies or tools, most of us tell ourselves to just stop doing that. It rarely works for long, because the behavior isn’t the root. To get to the heart of the matter, we need a tool like the Enneagram.
In the Enneagram, each type has something unique motivating them. A Type 2 may overextend themselves in order to get affirmation and validation from others. A Six may be hypervigilant and overprepared as a way of feeling safe and secure. A Type 8 may act larger than life as a defense against feeling vulnerable or being controlled. A Nine may go along with something they disagree with in order to avoid conflict and maintain harmony.
When we can see our patterns clearly and with compassion, we create some space between the trigger and the reaction. That space is where growth happens: with the awareness the Enneagram gives us, we can catch ourselves acting out our patterns in real time and make a new choice.
A Starting Point
At Tribe, Enneagram coaching can serve as a standalone practice or as a complement to other work you may already be doing — somatic bodywork, emotional processing, nervous system support. The Enneagram doesn’t replace those modalities; it often deepens them by offering language for what’s showing up in the body or in your relationships.
If you’ve ever felt like you keep bumping into the same wall, or like you understand yourself intellectually but can’t quite change what you want to change — the Enneagram may be the missing piece.
But, like with any meaningful inner work, it’s not a quick fix. It unfolds slowly and rewards patience. It’s more about “letting go” than trying harder. But for many people, the Enneagram becomes one of the most clarifying tools they’ve ever encountered.
I’d love to explore it with you.
Written by Tribe member Colin Anderson, certified Enneagram coach.
In addition to one-to-one coaching, Colin leads workshops in our studio to help you learn more about your Enneagram type.
