Welcome to Contemplating the Enneagram

I am a certified Enneagram teacher working in the Narrative Tradition. I hold a PhD in Human Development with a concentration in Marriage and Family Therapy from Virginia Tech.

My doctoral research involved creating and validating an expanded Enneagram typology that integrated Enneagram types and adult attachment styles.

In the fifteen years since I completed my dissertation, research on attachment processes has continued to grow and expand. New fields of study have developed out of the original ground of attachment theory and my understanding of the Enneagram is evolving along with these new theories and research findings. In particular, I am incorporating new research and practice from the field of Mentalization theory.

My understanding of the Enneagram continues to be shaped by unfolding research regarding the ancient history of the Enneagram. We now know about the central role that Evagrius, a Christian philosopher who lived and worked in the Egyptian desert outside of Alexandria in the mid 300s CE, held in the development of the Enneagram. And we are learning that Evagrius in turn was drawing on even more ancient theory and practice as he developed and taught his own unique philosophy of how to live.

I believe that the philosophy and practices that Evagrius developed are being rediscovered, in a sense, by Mentalization theory researchers and clinicians.

The purpose of this project is to explore, by moving back and forth across the centuries, whatever it is that these two vastly different, yet eerily similar approaches to human healing and development hold in common.

A project like this is never a solitary pursuit. I am delighted and honored to be joined on this journey by my sister Karen Bedow whose editing and administrative skills are invaluable to this work and whose insights and questions make the whole thing fun.

Karen and I hope you will continue with your insights, comments, questions and corrections, so that together we can create an ever richer, more accurate understanding of the Enneagram.