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TRANSFORMATION THROUGH THE LEVELS OF DEVELOPMENT © Belinda Gore, Ph.D., 2004 Don Riso and Russ Hudson have written extensively on the Levels of Development within the Enneagram system of personality types. Don first discovered the Levels in 1977 as he struggled to account for the differences among representative individuals in each type. He found that “each Level demarcates different related themes and clusters of behaviors, attitudes, and motivations for each type.” These stages of development show a natural progression as the highest manifestation of a type gradually constricts under the pressure of stress and fear. For those people whose early life experiences were unstable, whose family or family surrogate was highly dysfunctional, childhood began in the unhealthy stages. Individuals who experienced more love and support in their early holding environment tend to have a higher anchor point. For everyone, the path of return to higher levels of functioning is possible, using the tools of focused awareness, non-judgmental guidance, and support. SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE LIFT JANET FROM HER FEAR OF LIFE Janet has a Type Nine personality with a Self-Preservation Instinct. When she first came to therapy she was functioning at Level 7, in the unhealthy range. She was typically depressed, with very low energy and a flat, listless appearance. While highly intelligent and well educated, she had become severely neglectful of herself, often failing to even brush her teeth or bathe. Nines at level 7 feel powerless, as though they cannot muster the energy or passion to deal with being emotionally dead. Our first task was to establish a relationship. In the case of Nines, who do not want to lose connection and fear loss and separation, the Leaden Rule is to cut others off and not be available. My challenge was to maintain my own Presence with her. Full Presence is the most supportive contribution any of us can make to another person because it has a contagious effect and can help another awaken to fuller Presence themselves. After several sessions Janet and I identified something she could do toward her own self-care. She was taking numerous medications and believed the combination was not helpful to her, but her psychiatrist was unwilling to make changes. Eventually she was willing to see a new psychiatrist, a compassionate woman who listened to her and tried a combination that Janet—who was very well informed about psychopharmacology in general and her own experience in particular—suggested. The results were positive, giving Janet enough energy to eventually face leaving the previous doctor who reminded her of her father. Fortunately Janet was interested in the Enneagram and benefited from reviewing her life history to identify the personality types of family members and key people in her life, as well as from recognizing that many of her own behaviors were indicators of her level of identification with fear and strategies for ego survival. At Level 5, people with Type Nine personalities are huge procrastinators, basing life activities on routines so they do not have to really show up and make decisions. While even healthier Nines do not like change, Janet is learning to see her patterns of resistance and denial as they are happening. As a result, she is feeling better and actually standing up for herself when she perceives others pushing her around, while at the same time able to understand where their attitudes and behavior seem to originate in their own personality patterns. She is ready to recognize the Wake Up Call for Nines, saying “yes” when she means “no” and can stop herself sometimes. In a recent therapy session, Janet confessed that she knew she was getting better but that she needed time to adjust to being a healthier person. Her anchor point is higher now, and she is learning to experience herself and her life in new ways. The process has taken several years but the change is likely to last. EXERCISE: Find your type in the list below that identifies the Social Role of each Enneagram type. The Social Role is identified at Level 4, the level of imbalance , at which the ego’s drives begin to block connection with Being and we identify ourselves only as personality. Identification with the Social Role is a tip-off that we are losing awareness and moving into unconscious patterns of behavior and attitude, even though level 4 is the healthiest level of average functioning. Average means that most people are in these levels most of the time, so we are likely to find ourselves identified with the Social Role frequently. For many people, it is an awakening to discover there is something more to life than the Social Role. Type One – The Educator Type Two – The Special Friend Type Three – The Best Type Four – The Mysterious One, The Special Case Type Five – The Expert Type Six – The Stalwart Type Seven –The Energizer Type Eight – The Rock Type Nine – Nobody Special Keep a small notebook with you during the day and jot down experiences of being aware of identifying with your Social Role. The purpose is to notice the behavior and attitude, to “catch ourselves in the act.” The very act of being aware gives us time in a higher level, because we can only observe those behaviors that exist at lower levels. Cultivating the Observer, the Witness, moves us into more and more healthy or liberated levels of consciousness. As Janet recognizes herself as “Nobody Special” she can observe herself as trying to be compliant, pleasant, and agreeable, using a self-effacing attitude to avoid conflict by acquiescing to others. Her challenge as a Nine is to find a sense of self that can survive conflict, so that her connection with others is true relationship rather than a form of using other peoples’ boundaries to define herself. If she has a sense of her own identity she does not risk fragmenting any time she loses connection with someone who is important to her. In order to further explore your own levels of development related to your Social Role, read Riso and Hudson’s Personality Types. |
| ©2002 Enneagram Institute of Central Ohio | |
