A Liberation Psychology

Dr David Daniels (1934 - 2017) co-founder of Enneagram Studies in the Narrative Tradition and Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, called the Enneagram a 'liberation psychology' because an understanding of it brings an awareness of self that starts to move us beyond the trappings of ego. By coming to understand how our ego operates, we start to loosen its grip on us.

We do not need to have done any work with the Enneagram to know when we are struggling. We can sometimes feel pushed up against ourselves, feel limited in some way or frustrated at being unable to access parts of ourselves that we feel are there but that are blocked in some way. Or we may simply feel that we do not have the resources necessary to deal with life, that we are somehow not enough or are deficient in some way. In reality, as the Enneagram reveals to us, we do not actually know ourselves very well. In fact our ego has stepped in to compensate for a feeling of lack and so is a coping mechanism to make us feel whole. As a coping mechanism, however, it is therefore fearful of being found out. The irony though, is that we do not find wholeness through the ego and that unless we know what it is looking for - born originally out of this feeling of lack - we can find ourselves going round in circles, stuck in repetitive reactions and patterns of behaviour which do not serve us well and leave us feeling as trapped in ourselves as ever. To the extent that we understand and integrate the Enneagram, we are turning a key in the lock of our psyche to help us open up. In doing so we access more of what we have to offer and can develop beyond the defensive restrictions of ego. Hence it being a liberation.