Summary of Beatrice Chestnut's The Complete Enneagram

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

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#1 The Enneagram is a personality test that views the personality as a false self that developed to allow your true self to adapt and fit in with other humans. It views the personality as a defensive or compensatory self whose coping strategies developed to help you fulfill your needs and reduce your anxieties.

#2 The Enneagram is a tool that helps us recognize and accept all of who we are, including the Shadow side and difficult parts of our experience. It allows us to compassionately address the disowned and fixated parts of our personalities.

#3 The Enneagram helps us identify specific patterns of personality and their accompanying Shadows. It describes the habits and traits of twenty-seven false selves in a systematic way. Each of these three centers is then further divided into three personality types, for a total of nine types.

#4 Each Enneagram type is associated with one of nine passions, which point to the central emotional-motivational issue for each type. The passions are emotional drivers based on an implicit view about what you need to survive and how you can get it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Mar 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669365242

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Insights on Beatrice Chestnut's The Complete Enneagram

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The Enneagram is a personality test that views the personality as a false self that developed to allow your true self to adapt and fit in with other humans. It views the personality as a defensive or compensatory self whose coping strategies developed to help you fulfill your needs and reduce your anxieties.

#2

The Enneagram is a tool that helps us recognize and accept all of who we are, including the Shadow side and difficult parts of our experience. It allows us to compassionately address the disowned and fixated parts of our personalities.

#3

The Enneagram helps us identify specific patterns of personality and their accompanying Shadows. It describes the habits and traits of twenty-seven false selves in a systematic way. Each of these three centers is then further divided into three personality types, for a total of nine types.

#4

Each Enneagram type is associated with one of nine passions, which point to the central emotional-motivational issue for each type. The passions are emotional drivers based on an implicit view about what you need to survive and how you can get it.

#5

Eights have a lot of energy, can accomplish big things, and can confront others when necessary. They can be workaholics who take on more and more without acknowledging their physical limits. They can sometimes overwork themselves, even to the point of physical illness.

#6

Threes focus on tasks and goals to create an image of success in the eyes of others. They identify with their work, and they lose touch with who they really are. Threes are extremely productive and effective because of their laser-like focus on getting things done and reaching their goals.

#7

The Twos focus on relationships, gaining approval, and seducing others through helpfulness as a strategic way to get their disowned needs met. They are upbeat and friendly, though sometimes this can mask repressed needs and a tendency toward depression.

#8

Fours focus on their own feelings, the feelings of others, and interpersonal connection and disconnection. They feel a sense of deficiency about their own worth, so they seek idealized experiences of qualities they perceive as outside themselves.

#9

The Sevens are focused on what feels pleasant and avoid unpleasant feelings by focusing on what feels pleasant. They are energetic, fast-paced, and active. They usually have many interests and activities.

#10

There are three instinctual goals that all social creatures share: Self-Preservation, Social Interaction, and Sexual Bonding. When the passion and the dominant instinctual drive come together, they create a more specific focus of attention that drives behavior.

#11

There are two subtypes that go with the flow of the energy of the passion, and one that goes against it. The countertype of each of the type’s group of three subtypes is called the countertype of the three subtypes. The most well-known of these is the Sexual Six, who is unafraid.

#12

The Self-Preservation Three has a sense of vanity for having no vanity. They want to be admired by others, but they avoid openly seeking recognition. The Social Three focuses on achievement in the service of looking good and getting the job done. The Sexual Three focuses on achievement in terms of personal attractiveness and supporting others.

#13

The One-to-One Two is similar to the femme fatale archetype, and they use the methods of classical seduction to attract a partner who will meet all their needs and give them whatever they want.

#14

The Sexual Sixes are afraid of being dependent on others, so they go against fear and become strong and intimidating. They trust themselves more than others, and have the inner programming that when you are afraid, the best defense is a good offense.

#15

The Enneagram is a model of transformation that indicates a path for growth. It helps you understand yourself better so that you can make more conscious choices. It is about self-observation, which is the path to dis-identifying from your personality.

#16

The point ahead of our core point along the arrow lines is not only a stress or defensive point that we get pushed to in distress, but a key opportunity for growth through meeting the specific challenges represented by that point.

#17

If we can see the personality not as all of who we are but as a necessary survival mechanism, we can rise above it and embody our higher capacities.

Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The wisdom behind the Enneagram is a body of knowledge that can help us understand our purpose