Finding Yourself After Narcissistic Abuse with the Enneagram

By Sybil Cummin, MA, LPC, ACS

I love a good personality quiz. 
 
It always brings back memories of getting my monthly Seventeen magazine and taking the different quizzes to learn all about myself. 
 
What kind of friend am I?
 
Which new hot celeb should be dating?
 
What does my style tell others about me?
 
I loved every single one of them. And still do!
 
Now that I'm older though, there really needs to be a little bit more depth before I am going to spend the time learning more about myself through a quiz (unless I'm waiting at the dentist office).
 
How does this relate to survivors of domestic violence and narcissistic abuse?
 
Well, one of the most horrific consequences of domestic violence and narcissistic abuse is that your identity and sense of self are under attack and often completely stripped away. It can be exhausting and scary to try to figure out who you are again, what makes you tick, and then to accept and love yourself for all of those things?!?!
 
One tool you might want to add to your tool belt as you find your sense of self and learn to love and embrace who you are is the Enneagram. I recently had a conversation with my good friend and colleague, Talya Dash, LCSW, on how the enneagram can be used to find empowerment and sense of self as you heal from your abusive relationship.  Below are a few of the key takeaways from this conversation.

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