Living A Rich Life - Frank De Luca, Ph.D.

What is the Enneagram?
The Enneagram is a dynamic tool for understanding ourselves and others. Based in ancient and modern spiritual systems, it has been further researched and developed by psychiatrists, psychologists, educators, consultants and counselors over the past thirty-five years. This personality system is used in business, counseling and by anyone seeking better relationships, self-understanding and community building.

The Enneagram describes nine distinct ways of seeing the world. Discovering your way (your personality type) allows you to understand your deeper motivations, your patterns of feeling and behaving and those of others.

How I teach the Enneagram
While the Enneagram is something you can learn about, it is best used as a tool to learn from. That is, bringing the information together with your daily experiences allows these teachings to come alive. They become less intellectual, more embodied and more useful.

I have found that the Enneagram is best absorbed through four learning modalities: lectures and reading, listening to people's personal stories (oral tradition), self-observation practices, and group discussion. Using these modalities, my programs consist of the following:

The Enneagram: Why people act the way they do
This one-day class is an introduction to the Enneagram. I provide a background for the information and lay the groundwork for approaching these teachings. After you take a simple assessment test, you will watch a one-hour video introducing you to the nine personality types. The rest of the day consists of guided meditations, short vignettes and group discussion on each of the nine types.

Follow-up class
This small 90-minute class is included as part of the introductory class. It is an opportunity for you to talk about and ask questions about your personality type and learn about ways to further your understanding.

The Nine Paths Video Series
Listening to people talk about their daily lives from the perspective of their Enneagram personality point is one of the most dynamic ways of learning. This series consists of nine weekly classes, each devoted to one of the types. We use recorded interviews with several exemplars of each type. Through individual stories, you will gain a more in-depth understanding of the nine worldviews. When possible, there will be at least one individual present who has identified with the personality type being discussed to answer your questions.

Fundamentals of Self-Observation
For those who are interested in using the Enneagram as a tool for personal growth, this four-week series (based on David Daniels and Virginia Price's The Essential Enneagram) offers you guidance and practices for observing your patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving, as well as your hidden strengths. You will learn to see the wisdom of the Enneagram in action and learn specific practices for releasing old patterns. Prerequisite: Introductory class.

Self-Study Groups
The Enneagram seems to reveal itself through time as we become more observant of ourselves and others. There are many layers to the Enneagram and to ourselves. For those who would like to make this an on-going study, I provide groups that meet regularly. Prerequisite: Introductory class and Fundamentals of Self-Observation. By application only.

Click here to register for the introductory class.