Transformation Process and Therapeutic Recommendations

We will start with a beautiful text that explains a large part of the Sexual 1’s searches and needs:

"When I started loving myself, I discovered that heartbreak and emotional distress are just warning signs that I was living against my own truth. Today I know that this is authenticity. When I started loving myself, I understood how much it can offend someone when I try to force my desires on that person, even though I knew it wasn’t the right time and the person wasn’t ready for it, and even if that person was me. Today I call it respect. When I started to love myself, I stopped longing for a different life and I could see that everything around me was inviting me to grow. Today I call it maturity. When I started to love myself, I understood that, above all, I am always in the right place at the right time, and everything happens at the right time. That way, I could have peace of mind. Today I love my self-confidence. When I started to love myself, I stopped stealing my own time and stopped designing big projects for the future. Today I only do what gives me joy and happiness, things that I love

to do and that make my heart happy, and I do them in my own way and at my own pace. Today I call it simplicity. When I started to love myself, I freed myself from everything that is not good for my health: food, people, things, situations, and everything that was knocking me down and pulling me away from me. At first, I called this attitude healthy selfishness. Today I know it’s self-love. When I started loving myself, I stopped trying to always be right and, since then, I have made fewer mistakes. Today I found out that it is modesty. When I first started to love myself, I refused to live in the past and worry about the future. Now I just live in the moment, where everything is happening. Today I live every day, day by day, and I call it fulfillment. When I began to love myself, I recognized that my mind could disturb me and make me sick. But when I connected it to my heart, my mind became a valuable ally. Today I call this connection wisdom of the heart. We no longer need to fear arguments, confrontations, or any kind of problem with ourselves or others. Even the stars collide, and new worlds are born from their confrontation. Today I know that this is life!" — Kim McMillen

The poem reminds us that E1 has a hard time admitting that he needs help because he feels he has the truth and is self-sufficient. He is full of judgments and prejudices and puts his security in his thoughts and in his ability to reason logically, of which he is very proud. He has little contact with feelings, of which he knows very few, such as impetuous and aggressive anger, sadness, and depression. It is very unlikely that he will recognize that he needs help and admit that someone could help him, because it is almost impossible for him to recognize that there may be someone above him. To acknowledge such a thing is to give up power and hand it over to someone else who is, in principle, untrustworthy. This makes him feel very vulnerable. The E1 has a lot of difficulty with people who exercise authority because the experience of their past has taught them that they are not trustworthy. In that case, how do you submit to an authority you don't trust?

When the Sexual 1 is able to recognize the therapist and have professional respect, he usually greatly softens his inclination for the struggle for power and places himself in the condition of a learner, willing to listen to the therapist’s interventions. He then uses his capacity for understanding and mental agility to articulate ideas — which he has used in an evil way before in the struggle for power and in the desire to annihilate authority — and to understand the mechanisms of the ego. The therapist’s loving firmness opens the doors of emotions, with their different nuances, and presents him with a world that until then was totally unknown to him.

In its positive version of the inner path, the obsessive-compulsive tendency of the Sexual 1 becomes determination, an indispensable element for a seeker who longs for a distant goal. This characteristic guarantees the sexual such firmness and willingness to seek, extracting the energy he needs from the immense source that makes up his repressed anger. This, in itself, has a great transformative effect, because — like someone looking for a lake of clear and clear waters — the E1 manages to drain the energy of anger and set out on the path of searching for himself. He then begins to deepen his contact with this other dimension of his being, and after an initial moment of alarm, he finds himself and strengthens himself on the path.

This unwavering determination in the search and aspiration of an integral transformation, overcoming once and for all the traps and distractions of the ego, materializes when the inevitability of the egoistic nature is assumed, and a state of inner harmony is achieved. It is then understood that the ultimate metamorphosis will be achieved by forging a new interaction with the egoistic facet, which, although it does not have an autonomous existence, turns out to be an essential factor for existence and establishing relationships in the material realm. Another pitfall of the sexual is to take it as a false source of power to become more skilled in the way it judges and condemns others.

The truly essential first step in the transformation of a Sexual 1 is for him to recognize that he wishes to move from his obsessive-compulsive situation "on autopilot" to the heavenly fields of serenity. Most likely, the next steps will consist of absorbing the psychology of the Enneagram and the teachings and experiences that can be obtained during his process of self-knowledge. However, the process will certainly have to go through the stages of self-observation and self-reflection to achieve the desired self-development.

Naranjo summarized the process during an interview in June 2019, shortly before his death:

"What we call 'working' with the Enneagram is no different from what used to be called work for the cleansing of sins. All of this can be said without the religious terms: we are trying to find shadows. We don’t call them sins in our modern language. Ichazo used the word passions instead of sins, and when I started teaching, I emphasized passions, because sin is a nuance: sin is tainted with the idea that God gives us these because of our mistakes. The word passion is them, but it does not include an accusation. It also suggests that it incites us to fight against certain enemies, because pride, lust, and anger are our enemies in the sense that they interfere with our lives. It's one thing to try to be ourselves, and another to try to satisfy this or that passion. So I tried to create a directory and introduce the modern notion in psychotherapy of doing away with neurosis instead of the old term [of sin], which is more or less how God treats, and is based on moral rules."

Those who feel guilty are the best seekers, the ones most brought to the fullness and pain of conscience. It’s easier to remain unconscious... The ego, which until then has been an enemy to be fought fiercely and obstinately, becomes an indispensable ally to acquire a full and enlightened consciousness, a deep knowledge of consciousness, to reach the nature of the mind of which Tibetan Buddhism speaks to us through the lamas and realized masters.

"My search began when a friend gave me a description of the characteristics of E1 to read. I was stunned when I discovered my dark side, clearly exposed for me to see. This recognition exploded virulently into my consciousness, and I was so relieved when she assured me that there was a path I could take to the light side. Soon after, in 2007, I started to learn more during the Enneatypus Psychology course. A long series of SAT courses and related activities followed (in Brazil, USA, Germany, and Italy), with the support of Claudio Naranjo and many capable and dedicated therapists. An additional important step toward the "nature of the mind" was to complete the three-year course of Gestalt therapy." — Jurgen Kramer

"Discovering the Enneagram as a tool for self-knowledge was for me the spark that ignited everything else. I have always been a seeker of knowledge and now I have found it. In SAT I, even with a broken leg, I gave myself to work. Then the desire arose to expand my training as a therapist, and I started training in body therapy and Gestalt." — Isabel Herrera

The psychology of Enneatypes is not merely a descriptive system and an education in the recognition of character types. It offers a psychodynamic interpretation particularly appropriate to each type according to the emotional background underlying the behavior and the notion of particular strategies and visions of oneself and the reality implicit in each type of character.

As Naranjo repeatedly pointed out on the SAT, to identify the predominant passion and related fixations, writing an autobiography constitutes a crucial component in the practice of self-observation and introspective study. Such an autobiography should include childhood memories, especially those linked to difficult situations and experiences in the family nucleus of the early years. It is evident how, throughout the narrative of childhood, the personality was shaped, highlighting how it was configured as a coping mechanism in the face of painful challenges.

After the story of childhood, it is worth observing both personal growth and self-growth during adolescence, a time when the pain of childhood becomes aware of itself, a time when the longing for what was missing in childhood shapes the first dreams and life projects. This stage is particularly important for Sexual 1 because he had to disconnect

from his needs as a child, and it is essential to be tactful also with the innocence of his child, integrating the feelings of tenderness and delicacy into the work.

When we think about self-love and embrace our interior, the possibility of change opens up in the path of self-transformation.

The psychodynamics typical of the sexual will become clearer and make it easier for him to leave behind defensive attitudes towards what he experiences as criticism and the eventual relaxation of the need for self-criticism and self-control. Gradually, this will make him more open and less reactive. He will learn to be more tolerant and to accept that he has relaxed. He will have much less to defend himself from; he will accept being corrected and will live with increasing satisfaction from this new vitality and vivacity. Thus, instead of trying to be perfect, he will realize more often that serenity is not a mental attitude but the natural expression of wholeness, which will lead him to accept his emotional calm more and more.

Specifically, the transformation and growth process of the Sexual 1 subtype involves recognizing and addressing the underlying fears, desires, and motivations that drive your behavior. This means cultivating self-awareness, self-acceptance, flexibility, self-compassion, emotional openness, and letting go of the need for perfection.

Be Aware of Yourself

Developing self-knowledge is crucial for growth. Encouraging the sexual subtype to explore their motivations, fears, and unconscious patterns can help them better understand their behaviors and reactions. The process of transformation begins with becoming aware of this passionate impulse and recognizing how thoughts, emotions, and actions influence. This involves recognizing the influence of El personality traits (e.g., perfectionism, criticality) and the sexual subtype's emphasis on passionate connections and intensity.

This may involve becoming aware of repressed emotions and allowing yourself to experience and express those feelings in a healthy way. By delving into their own desires and tendencies, the Sexual 1 can understand the underlying causes of their actions and reactions. Integrating and channeling instinctual energy into creative or personal growth activities can be transformative. Engaging in mindfulness practices, meditation, or body-centered therapies can also help you develop a healthier relationship with your instincts.