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The Enneagram: An Enhancement to Family Therapy

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Abstract

The enneagram (pronounced any-a-gram) is an ancient tool consisting of nine points depicting personality styles. It is a tool that can be integrated into different theoretical approaches. The enneagram is adaptable to the unique style of each client and can aid a counselor in conceptualizing a client or family. This manuscript includes the enneagram theory integrated within a family systems framework. To demonstrate the enneagram’s compatibility with family systems perspective, the enneagram is presented to facilitate therapy with a couple. A case study is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the enneagram as a tool to promote awareness in the counseling relationship.

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Correspondence to Miles Matise.

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Appendix

Appendix

See Fig. 1.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Derived from Palmer (1988) and Riso and Hudson (1996) models

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Matise, M. The Enneagram: An Enhancement to Family Therapy. Contemp Fam Ther 41, 68–78 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-018-9471-0

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