The Essential Enneagram: The Definitive Personality Test and Self-Discovery Guide [Paperback]

I have used the Stanford Enneagram Discovery Inventory as a key resource in helping students to discover their Enneagram personality type in an introductory workshop environment. After taking the test, we discuss how to discriminate between types using that section of the book. After more than 200 introductory students, I continue to be amazed at how much progress the students make within the course of a single day.

The final section of the book on general and specific practices for personal and professional development is a real gem. David Daniels brings his expertise as a psychiatrist (professor at Stanford Medical School plus private practice), his years of experience teaching the Enneagram with Helen Palmer to thousands of students, and his own personal embodiment to this deep and rich description of practical and simple practices for human and spiritual development. I personally will refer to this section often as my own development continues to unfold.

the essential enneagram is a whole library's worth of wisdom in a book...don't miss it!

My concern is how valuable this book alone is as a diagnostic tool. The book is short (about a hundred pages, with lots of diagrams and white space), much of which will be irrelevant or marginally relevant to you. (If you find you're a type four, you probably won't need to read about type one.) You determine your personality type quite simply, by reading nine paragraphs (that describe the nine personality types) and choosing the one that fits best. It's a great introduction, but I think calling it "The Definitive Personality Test and Self-Discovery Guide) is a bit of an exaggeration.

This is an absolutely fabulous "user-friendly" book! I'm a psychologist and I've been able to use it quite comfortably with my clients who are totally new to the Enneagram : Not only does it provide an exceptionally effective way for everyone to discover their own type, but it also provides a daily spiritual practice specifically tailored TO each type. In terms of identifying one's own type, the reader is supplied with the following concise and comprehensive information applied to each type:

The fundamental principal I lost sight of: What I came to believe instead: The strategy I developed to cope with this belief: Because of this strategy, my attention is on: I put my energy into: I do everything I can to avoid: My strengths: What causes me stress: What makes me angry: The nature of my anger: The ultimate goal of my development: How I can further my personal development: What hinders my personal development: How others can support my development:

But as if this weren't enough, by far the most useful and important gift of this book is to be found in Section 2: What to Do When You Have Discovered Your Type. This section provides us with a daily breathing and centering practice for all, complete with Five General Principles: (Three Laws of Behavior; Three Centers of Intelligence; Three Life Forces; Three Survival Behaviors {the Subtypes}; and Three Levels of Knowing and Learning). Best of all, we are then provided with a specific daily meditative practice for each type which covers practices in awareness, taking action, previewing/reviewing our progress and reflection. Whether or not you are a student of the Enneagram, I highly recommend this book to you.