What’s the difference between Enneagram-informed therapy and Enneagram coaching?

When it comes to your personal growth and self-discovery process, there are countless resources and tools promising to help you become a “better version of yourself.”

I’m here to tell you, the best version of yourself is already inside of you. You are not broken. There’s nothing wrong with you. Neither therapy nor coaching are about making you “better.” It’s about investing in yourself so that you can improve in areas that you want to improve in, break patterns that aren’t serving you anymore, and feel confident in who you truly are.

Sometimes, we get stuck in behavioral patterns that are no longer serving us. When we recognize something about our behavior that we want to change, we’re empowered to instigate and maintain that change for ourselves.

As a therapist, I use many tools to help guide my clients through the growth they seek for themselves. I’m trained to help them reflect on their past and make connections to their present situation. I’m also trained to help them arrive at their own answers about what they want and need out of life.

One of the many tools I use in therapy is the Enneagram. After studying it in depth, I started offering Enneagram coaching as a service.

Though Enneagram-informed therapy and Enneagram coaching have a lot of overlap, there are some key differences to note before you decide which path is better suited for you.

Legal differences between therapy and coaching

Licensed therapists are required to complete a graduate-level degree, pass a strenuous licensure exam, and complete a set number of clinical hours under supervision before they can begin working with clients independently.

Therapists must meet specific requirements and pass exams in each individual state they wish to practice. Then, they are only allowed to practice in those states. For example, a therapist who is only licensed in Kansas can only see therapy clients in Kansas. (There are exceptions to this rule and many licenses that apply to multiple states, however, it is important to note your specific therapist’s license and capabilities to see people out of state.)

Additionally, therapists are also required to participate in a certain number of continuing education courses and remain in good standing with the National Board for Certified Counselors in order to maintain licensure.

Coaching is a little bit like the Wild West of the mental health world. On one hand, working with a coach allows you to bypass all the legalities around licensure, geography, etc. However, anyone can call themselves a coach. There is technically no accountability for the amount of education or training a coach has to go through. Nor are there any legal checks and balances in place to ensure a coach is practicing in an ethical manner.

Note: many coaches complete rigorous training and receive certifications that note their aptitude and success. It is worth looking into your coach’s reputation, certifications, and training history to ensure they have the skillset you’re looking for.

What Enneagram-informed therapy is like

There are many different flavors of therapy. I am a licensed marriage and family therapist (L-MFT), which means I primarily focus on family systems. When you show up for your first therapy session, I’m interested in getting to know you for you. I want to hear all about your family history, your upbringing, the challenges you’ve faced up to this point in your life, and what aspects of your life are causing you the most stress or pain.

As you share your story with me, I help you begin to make connections between your past experiences and your current situation. This might mean exploring the effects of your past traumas or addressing negative narratives you’ve held about yourself since childhood.

All of this work is aimed at finding the root of whatever it is that’s holding you up. The thing that you’re stuck on may be an emotion like anger, fear, or grief. It might be a coping mechanism that is no longer serving you, like withdrawing from your loved ones or experiencing addiction. The more we work together to find the “why” behind your feelings and behaviors, the more we can work together to unravel those feelings and behaviors and learn how to handle them in a way that serves you best.

By incorporating the Enneagram into your therapy, we can often get to the root of the things that are bothering you, much faster.

Your Enneagram number does not define you. However, it does offer a lens to examine your core motivations, fears, and tendencies. It’s much easier to implement behavior changes when you have a clear understanding of what caused you to behave this way in the first place.

In therapy, we can overlay the Enneagram on top of a number of other therapeutic models including EMDR, Internal Family Therapy, Polyvagal Theory, etc.

Enneagram-informed therapy should feel…

• Empathetic
• Holistic
• Affirming
• Normalizing
• Healing-focused
• Mobilizing toward change once you’re confident and ready

What Enneagram coaching is like

Enneagram coaching is different from therapy in the sense that I have more freedom to propel my coaching clients into forward motion and growth. In coaching sessions, we really zero in on specific patterns related to your Enneagram number and ask questions like, “How are these patterns active in me now?” “When did these patterns start forming?” “How are they helping or hurting me?”

As a therapist, we often reflect our clients back to themselves and lead them to finding their own answers. As a coach, I’m able to be a lot more blunt and offer my own suggestions and solutions without my clients needing to arrive at a conclusion on their own.

Enneagram coaching is best for people who are already self-aware and have done significant self-work. These people have already made connections between their current behaviors and their past experiences and are motivated to make changes going into the future.

Enneagram coaching should feel…

• Empathetic
• Goal-oriented
• Personally challenging
• Reflective and honest
• Motivating
• Empowering

Because coaching is more focused on forward-movement, we don’t spend a lot of time processing past trauma. Once the need for processing trauma arrives, that’s when I typically guide a coaching client toward therapy. I am always happy to help coaching clients find a therapist who fits their needs, and that has happened more than a few times!

You are always at the center of your self-growth process

Though there are some distinct differences, there is also a lot of overlap between Enneagram-informed therapy and Enneagram coaching.

No matter which course you decide to pursue, know that you should always be the center of your own journey. If a therapist or coach ever tries to center themselves or their own motivations above what you want for your life, that’s a red flag signaling it’s time to shop for a new therapist or coach.

If you have any questions about what it’s like to work with me as a therapist or a coach, please reach out to hello@michaelshahan.com or DM me on Instagram at @michaelshahan_therapy.