Widely recognized as an astute psychological system, the Enneagram is more correctly seen as a codification of spiritual obstacles for different types of people. In this presentation, type speakers will be interviewed about their psychological coping strategy, the crux of which is a recurring emotional habit, traditionally called the “capital vice.” We will also examine two distinctly different Spiritual practices, known to Christian tradition as the Via Positiva (way of affirmation) and the Via Negativ a (way of negation). The two Vias are positioned in the Enneagram model and organized to accomplish the “vice to virtue conversion,” a contemplative strategy that relaxes and “metabolizes” the suffering of type, instead of fighting or fleeing from it.

Helen Palmer is the best-selling author of five books in the human consciousness field. Her Enneagram titles are now in nineteen languages and the subject of a recent PBS television documentary, Breaking Out of the Box: Discovering the Enneagram. An elected fellow of Institute of Noetic Sciences, Helen directs the Trifold School for Psychological and Spiritual integration with David Daniels, M.D. (866) ENN-TYPE (366-8973),