Enneagram 9
The Peacemaker | The Healer | The Optimist | The Reconciler | The Comforter | The Utopian
The Peacemaker | The Healer | The Optimist | The Reconciler | The Comforter | The Utopian
Type 9 Overview
Type 9’s want peace, harmony, and mutual positive regard. They avoid conflict and don’t readily access or express their own points of view. They embrace multiple perspectives, for better and for worse. They prefer a relaxed demeanor or “going with the flow” as a way of avoiding conflict within themselves or with others.
Basic Desire: To maintain their inner stability and peace of mind.
Basic Fear: Of loss and separation, or annihilation.
Holy Ideal: Holy Love - Knowing that there is an underlying love and harmony in the world based on unconditional regard, respect, and appreciation, combined with the state of being so present that you are fully awake and know exactly the right action to take.
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Peaceful, unselfish, comforting, inspiring, imaginative, stable, harmonious.
Healthy 9’s let go of the belief that their participation in the world is unimportant or unwanted, thus they can truly connect with themselves and with others and have inner stability and peace of mind. They focus on peace and stability in their environment and relationships as a whole and are easygoing, steady, and kind.
They use their patience and levelheadedness to mediate conflict and support others. Healthy 9’s are imaginative and others are often inspired by their positive outlook on life.
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Serious, driven, evaluating, organized, punctual, methodical
Can be irritable, intense, perfectionistic, opinionated, sarcastic, and correcting.
1’s begin to fear that others are indifferent to their principles, so they want to convince others of the rightness of their viewpoint.
The voice in 1’s heads is constantly correcting themselves and others, and 1’s in average health might vocalize those corrections, whether the criticism is welcome or not.
They worry that others will condemn them for not living up to the standard of perfection they vocalize, so they are obligated to live up to them at all times.
They can become irritable and angry with others for not taking their ideals as seriously, holding resentment - oftentimes in their bodies, especially their jaws and shoulders.
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Can be: Controlling, defensive, condemning, bitter, self-righteous, closed-minded, uncompromising, hypocritical, extreme, and even violent
1’s fear that their ideals may actually be wrong (which may be true), but they justify it to themselves an others to save their self-image.
They are uncompromising and closed-minded when it comes to negotiations, compromises, and debates.
To defend themselves from judgement (from themselves or others), they become obsessed with the need for control.
At a certain point, they might even begin to act out all of their repressed desires while still publicly condemning them.
They try to rid themselves of any thoughts, feelings, and behaviors they deem unacceptable by obsessing over control of others and their environment.
In extreme cases, they can even resort to violence and harm to themselves and others.
Wings
9w8
“The Referee”
HEALTHY: Healthy 9w8’s mix the ability to be agreeable and to comfort others with endurance and strength. They are both powerful and gentle, able to easily engage, mediating between people and lessening conflicts. They often seek new projects to have an occasional change of pace from their normal routines. They are also practical and are typically concerned with their immediate needs and physical and financial circumstances. They are more sociable than 9w1’s, generally preferring to work with other people. They excel in helping and nurturing professions, as well as consulting and business, especially in negotiations or in human resource capacities.
AVERAGE HEALTH: They enjoy socializing in goo times and are more attracted to losing themselves in sensuality and comforting routines that interfere with their ability to stay focused on significant goals. They can be stubborn and defensive, tending to dig in their heels and refusing to listen to anyone. People of this subtype often have bad tempers, although it is difficult to predict what will set them off - threats to their sense of personal well-being or to their family, job, or beliefs are typical. They can be blunt and explosive but suddenly return to a state of calm and placidity.
9w1
“The Dreamer”
HEALTHY: Healthy 9w1’s are imaginative and creative, often able to synthesize different schools of thought or points of view into a vision of an ideal world. They are particularly good at nonverbal forms of communication (art, instrumental music, dance, sports, or work with animals and nature) and can thrive in large institutions. They are typically friendly and reassuring but have a distinct sense of purpose, especially about their ideals. They often make good therapists, counselors, or ministers, balancing nonjudgemental listening with the desire to be of help to others.
AVERAGE HEALTH: They want external order as a way of giving order to their internal world. People of this subtype tend to get caught up in nonessential activities and busy-ness. They can be energetic but in a detached and uninvolved way that interferes with their ability to stay with long-range goals or to enlist others in joining them. they are less adventurous and more reserved than 9w8’s, expressing anger with restraint and smoldering indignation. They are also concerned with respectability and often feel morally superior to different classes, cultures, and lifestyles. There may be a puritanical streak to them, as well as prim and proper, perfectionistic quality to their personal style.
Subtypes
There are 3 instincts: Self-Preservation, Social, and One-to-One (AKA Sexual). We each use these instincts throughout our lives to survive and thrive; usually we use one of them quite often, one not much or not enough, and the other is somewhere in the middle. The strongest instinct is known as your “Dominant” instinct, which determines your subtype. So for each Enneagram type, there are three subtypes.
Many people know more about the wings than the subtypes, but each subtype can look very different from another subtype, even if they share the same core type. For example, Self-Preservation 3’s look VERY different from Social 3’s.
Self-Preservation 9
“Appetite”
SP 9’s merge with the comfort of routine and rhythmic or pleasant activities as a way of not paying attention to themselves. They often have a collection of multiple versions of similar items to which they have a sentimental attachment.
Social 9
“Participation”
SO 9’s merge with - and work extremely hard on behalf of - a group, organization, or cause that they support or belong to as a way of not focusing on themselves. (Can often be confused with a 3)
One-to-One 9
“Fusion/Union”
SX 9’s merge with one other person or a series of others as a way of not paying attention to their own thoughts, feelings, needs, and desires. (Can often be confused with a 2)
Arrows
Each Enneagram type has 2 arrows connecting it to 2 other types. These arrows express your direction of Growth and Stress, determining how you will likely act int hose situations. Understanding your type’s arrows is one of the best ways to use the Enneagram as a tool for growth (learning about your growth number) and how to cope with stress (learning about your stress number).
Stress Arrow: 6
When moving in a direction of disintegration (stress), they first dip into the unhealthy traits of the 9 (indecisive, passive aggressive, forgetful). If they continue in that state or become even more stressed, they will move towards the 6 and take on the 6’s unhealthy traits.
Unhealthy 6 traits a 9 might adopt when stressed:
Becoming anxious
Overthinking
Analysis paralysis
Thinking about worst-case scenarios and how to avoid them
Healthy 6 traits to keep in mind when under stress:
Preparing yourself for potential outcomes
Sticking to healthy routines
Remaining loyal to your people
Caring for yourself and others
Growth Arrow: 3
When moving in a direction of integration (growth), 9’s can take on some of the healthy attributes of the 3. Keep in mind that the 9 does not BECOME a 3 in growth, but simply adopts behaviors, thoughts, and emotional patterns of the 3, mixing the 9’s sense of peace and comfort with 3’s action-oriented mindset.
Healthy 3 traits to adopt in a state of growth:
Being present and energetic
Setting and achieving goals
Strong work ethic
Good balance between self care and getting things done
Want to dive deeper?
Get support on your inner work through 1-on-1 coaching, relationship coaching, group workshops, or figure out your type in a typing interview!
Resources:
The Wisdom of the Enneagram:
Book by Don Richard Riso & Russ Hudson
Do It for The Gram Podcast:
Podcast by Coach Milton Stewart
The Art of the Enneagram:
Book by Dr. Ginger Lapin-Bogda
The Enneagram Institute:
Organization & Website
The Art of Typing:
Book by Dr. Ginger Lapin-Bogda
Random Acts of Caroline:
An Enneagram Podcast