• Remembering
    David Daniels

    • David Daniels Personal Bio
    • David Daniels Formal Bio and Enneagram Contributions
    • How David Daniels Discovered the Enneagram
    • David Daniels and the Enneagram in the Press
    • David’s Recommended Resources
    • Quotes from David Daniels, MD
    • “Ask David” Archive
    • David’s Blog Archive
    • “David’s Weekly Thoughts” Archive
  • The Enneagram &
    Getting Started

    • What is the Enneagram?
    • Getting Started with the Enneagram
    • The Enneagram’s Basic Propositions
    • Descriptions of the 9 Enneagram Types

      • Enneagram Type 1
      • Enneagram Type 2
      • Enneagram Type 3
      • Enneagram Type 4
      • Enneagram Type 5
      • Enneagram Type 6
      • Enneagram Type 7
      • Enneagram Type 8
      • Enneagram Type 9
    • History of the Enneagram as We Know It Today
    • Quick Tips for Each Enneagram Type
  • Enneagram
    Articles

    • VIEW ALL ARTICLES
    • The Enneagram, Transformation
      & Growth

      • Why the Enneagram for Development?
      • The Enneagram Triads
      • The 5 As of Transformation
      • What is Integration? Insights from the Enneagram
      • The Enneagram and How We Actually Change
      • The Pause and Miracle of Receptivity
      • The Pause in a Fast-Paced Day
      • Using the Enneagram to Understand and Manage Anger
      • The Enneagram, Loss, and Grief
      • Inspirational Enneagram Stories
    • The Enneagram
      & Neurobiology

      • Our Neurobiology and the Enneagram
      • Nature AND Nurture: Acquiring an Enneagram Type
      • Temperament and the Enneagram
      • Scientific Study of the Enneagram
    • The Enneagram &
      Spirituality

      • Enneagram’s Holy Ideas: Essential Spiritual Qualities
      • For What Are We Remembered?
      • Integrating Our Enneagram Essence in Our Lives
    • The Enneagram for
      a Better World

      • Why the Enneagram and What Really Matters
      • Greed to Generosity and Enneagram Types
      • Enneagram and Saving Our Lives and the Planet
      • A New Paradigm: The Enneagram Prison Project
      • Enneagram Prison Project and Teaching in Prison
      • Forgiveness: How It’s Truly a Path to Freedom
      • The Roots of Violent Behavior
      • Who Exactly Are the “Good Guys” with Guns?
      • Losing Robin Williams: 7 4 1 Triad
    • The Enneagram &
      Important Topics

      • Enneagram’s Narrative Tradition
      • Enneagram Typing and Children
      • First Enneagram Global Summit
      • Russ Hudson and David Teaching the Enneagram
  • Growth &
    Wholeness

    • The Universal Growth Process
    • Universal Growth Process by Enneagram Type
    • Fundamental Breath Practice by Dr. David Daniels
    • Growth Practices

      • Growth Practice for Everyone – All 9 Enneagram Types
      • Enneagram Type 1 Growth
      • Enneagram Type 2 Growth
      • Enneagram Type 3 Growth
      • Enneagram Type 4 Growth
      • Enneagram Type 5 Growth
      • Enneagram Type 6 Growth
      • Enneagram Type 7 Growth
      • Enneagram Type 8 Growth
      • Enneagram Type 9 Growth
    • “Personality and Wholeness in Therapy” by Dan Siegel, MD

      • An Overview of the PDP Model and the Enneagram
      • Enneagram Type 1 Wholeness
      • Enneagram Type 2 Wholeness
      • Enneagram Type 3 Wholeness
      • Enneagram Type 4 Wholeness
      • Enneagram Type 5 Wholeness
      • Enneagram Type 6 Wholeness
      • Enneagram Type 7 Wholeness
      • Enneagram Type 8 Wholeness
      • Enneagram Type 9 Wholeness
    • Weekly Reflections for Each Enneagram Type
  • The Enneagam
    & Relationships

    • The Enneagram, Relationships, and Intimacy
    • BOOK RESOURCES: The Enneagram, Relationships, and Intimacy
    • The Enneagram, Love, and Relationships
    • Enneagram Types in Relationship and 45 Combinations
    • Why Do We Love?
    • Touch, Love, and Enneagram Types
    • A Separate Self and Love
    • Dao and Enneagram Practices for Relationships
  • Enneagram Test
    & Resources

    • Take the Essential Enneagram Test: Discover Your Type
    • Enneagram Resources for University Students
    • Stanford Enneagram Test & Guide
    • Essential Enneagram Books
    • Enneagram Audio & Podcasts
    • Enneagram Videos & DVD
    • The Narrative Enneagram (TNE) Training
    • International Enneagram Association (IEA)

Getting Started with the Enneagram

How to Learn the Enneagram

Step 1 – Discover Your Enneagram Type by Taking the Scientifically Validated Essential Enneagram Test >>

Step 2 – Sign-up (FREE) for David Daniels’ Weekly, by-the-Season, ENNEAGRAM REFLECTIONS >>

Step 3 – Go Deeper by reading, The Enneagram, Relationships, and Intimacy >>, written by David N. Daniels and Suzanne Dion.

Step 4 – Begin working with an experienced and skillful Enneagram Coach

Step 5 — Attend Enneagram Trainings, Conferences, and Workshops offered by credible, experienced teachers and organizations

      • The Narrative Enneagram (TNE) >>
      • The International Enneagram Association (IEA) >>

David Daniels on the Process of Getting Started with the EnneagramIT’S A PROCESS — Take Your Time and Give It Your All

It’s a rather universal ache, within each of us, to come to “know ourselves.”  “Who am I?”  “Why do I always do that?”  “What overcame me yesterday?”  “Why do I…?”  “Why did my partner…?”  “Why do I always feel…?” And, and, and…

As the Enneagram gains popularity, conversation around the different ways that people “behave” and “respond to things” takes shape and a desire to understand where we ourselves might fit into this “Enneagram” system captures our curiosity.  The Internet now boasts hundreds of thousands of Enneagram searches per month. Instagram, YouTube, and facebook now readily share countless entertaining as well as informative videos on the subject. While countless years in development and dissemination, the Enneagram is today is hitting a critical mass of interest — offering the world a profoundly insightful tool for needed and so valuable self-and other-understanding.

Understanding the Basics of the Enneagram — Where We All Start
When studied superficially, the Enneagram can be an interesting, broad-strokes way to identify some of our behaviors and those of others. A basic understanding of differing behaviors, driven by different personality “structures,” can shed some light on our own proclivities as well as lighten up our tendency to expect others to behave as we do, at all times.  With just a cursory study of the Enneagram, a little more compassion can be had for one’s self and for others, we might understand something about ourselves or a loved one a little better, and that’s all a good thing.

David Daniels on the Process of Learning the Enneagram Nine Personality Types & PracticesBecoming a Life-long Enneagram Student and Practitioner for Self-mastery
When studied deeply; however, thoroughly and experientially, the Enneagram can become a life-enhancing game-changer. Deeper Enneagram study brings us to self-awareness practice, a tolerance even a skillfulness for the present moment, and the overtime development of self-mastery. We will come to understand not only our Enneagram types’ often-turned-to behaviors, but our defense system and its mechanisms, including how often we slip from the present moment into “scripted ways of thinking, feeling, and acting out,” and, how to potentiate our own divine nature and essential self as we free ourselves from many of the confines of the resistances and adaptations we developed in accordance with our type structure, in order to grow from childhood (and what we encountered) to adulthood.

While a superficial understanding of the Enneagram can be attained with a weekend workshop or time spent with good handouts and online videos, a more thorough deep dive with the Enneagram will take a much more vigorous devotional study, one that includes over-time exposure and learning, skillful teachers, knowledgable and insightful Enneagram books, experiences with practice, and relational learning with others studying the Enneagram.

Loving the Process — It’s Worth It
There’s a bit of a learning curve to really understanding the system and all of the complexities it has on offer; so, whatever you do, don’t get discouraged along the way. Just keep at it! The process of knowing ourselves is a precious one, and requires a concerted effort, lots of patience, and lots of self-love along the way. Enjoy the process — from your first year of cursory discovery to the many years of self-learning that will follow. We are certain you’ll find this endeavor and the many years of self- and other-discovery beyond personal valuable and so well worth it!

 


The Essential Enneagram 25th Anniversary
AUDIO BOOK
Available on AUDIBLE.


The Essential Enneagram 25th Anniversary PAPERBACK and KINDLE
Available at BARNES AND NOBLE, BOOKSHOP.ORG, or on AMAZON


The Enneagram, Relationships, and Intimacy PAPERBACK and KINDLE
Available at BARNES AND NOBLE, BOOKSHOP.ORG, or on AMAZON

The Enneagram Relationships and Intimacy book cover

Enneagram Types Relationship Matrix, $15

Enneagram Types Relationship Matrix book cover

Learn more about using the Enneagram and the PDP Model together.

Personality and Wholeness in Therapy

The Essential Enneagram Online Test, $10

The Narrative Enneagram Essential Test
The Legacy of David Daniels, M.D.

Feel free to get in touch! We welcome your ideas and inputs about how to further share the Enneagram, including getting started, accurate typing, and the Enneagram for bettering relationships—all of which David cared so much about.


If you would like to hold a workshop, training, or a book club series with Suzanne Dion, David’s co-author of The Enneagram, Relationships, and Intimacy please reach out.

Learn and Grow with the Enneagram
  • Remembering David
  • David’s Enneagram Books
  • The Essential Enneagram Test
  • Quotes from David Daniels, MD
  • The Enneagram, Love, and Relationships
  • The Universal Growth Process
  • Our Neurobiology and the Enneagram
  • The Enneagram Triads
    • Personality and Wholeness in Therapy by Dan Siegel and the PDP Group
Connect

Address: San Francisco Bay Area, U.S.A.


Contact Denise Daniels: +1 650 868 3895
Contact Suzanne Dion: +1 831 359 0332


email: denise@denisedaniels.com
email: suzanne@drdaviddaniels.com


© Copyright 2025 | David Daniels, MD. | All Rights Reserved