Two Ways to Use the Enneagram in Therapy

By Ann Galloway, LPC · October 17, 2026

Do you have to teach your clients the Enneagram to use it in therapy? You don’t. There are two ways to bring this framework into your work, and both begin with understanding the person sitting in front of you.

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1. Use the Enneagram directly with your clients

In this approach, the Enneagram becomes part of the conversation. You introduce the framework, explore possible types together, and help the client notice patterns in their own experience.

The purpose is more than finding a number. It is helping someone understand what happens within them. What feels threatening? What are they trying to protect? What do they keep reaching for, and how does that shape their relationships?

As those patterns become more visible, you have a shared language for exploring them. A client might begin to recognize when they move away from conflict, work harder to earn approval, or become caught in self-criticism. You can then connect that recognition to the work you are already doing together.

2. Use the Enneagram behind the scenes

The other approach begins with your own understanding. The client may never hear the word “Enneagram,” yet what you know about personality can inform how you listen, the questions you ask, and the possibilities you consider.

Think about two clients who both struggle to say no. One may fear disappointing someone. Another may worry about what a boundary will mean for their security or belonging. The behavior looks similar. The experience underneath it may be quite different.

An Enneagram lens can help us become curious about those differences. Rather than moving straight to a boundary-setting technique, we can explore what makes that boundary difficult for this particular person.

We still need to listen. A possible type is a working hypothesis, and the client’s actual experience guides our understanding. We hold the framework lightly enough to let the person surprise us.

Which approach should you use?

That depends on the client, your relationship, and your own familiarity with the Enneagram. Some clients are interested in learning the framework. Others benefit from a conversation focused on their experience without introducing another system.

You can also move between the two approaches as the work develops. There is no need to make every session a lesson on personality. The question is whether your understanding helps you meet the client with greater clarity and responsiveness.

A question to take into your next session

Think of a client whose behavior you understand fairly well, but whose motivation still feels unclear. What might you ask if you became more curious about what that behavior is doing for them?

This is a place to begin. Learning to use the Enneagram in therapy involves learning the framework and continuing to test your understanding against the living person in front of you.

Ann Galloway is a Licensed Professional Counselor and the founder of Enneagram in Therapy.