Personality and Wholeness in Therapy: Integrating 9 Patterns of Developmental Pathways in Clinical Practice by Dr. Daniel Siegert is a long-awaited and much-needed addition to the conversation surrounding the Enneagram, particularly in the therapeutic context. Dr. Siegert offers a practitioner’s guide that bridges the gap between the Enneagram framework and developmental psychology, helping clinicians to foster deeper understanding and healing for their patients. His approach challenges traditional boundaries, presenting a synthesis of spiritual, psychological, and empirical perspectives that are crucial for modern therapy.

The book’s main hypothesis is a compelling one: while innate factors and life experiences shape our default patterns, through intentional growth, individuals can evolve into states of connectivity, self-expansion, and harmony. Dr. Siegert introduces the concept of Patterns of Developmental Pathways (PDP) to explain this, drawing upon the foundation of a lifespan model and the three subcortical emotional-motivational systems—agency, bonding, and certainty—that guide our behaviors. This approach provides a scientifically grounded framework for understanding the motivations behind each Enneagram type.

One of the book’s key insights is the emphasis on changing the language we use when discussing Enneagram types. By framing them as “patterns” rather than static “types,” Dr. Siegert allows for more fluidity in understanding and interpreting our patterns of behavior. This shift encourages personal growth and facilitates a more open-ended exploration of how individuals can move beyond their default patterns.

Additionally, Dr. Siegert’s integration of somatic awareness is particularly noteworthy. He redefines spiritual concepts like “energy” by linking them to the physical reality of neural firing, grounding these ideas in the empirical world of neuroscience. This connection between the body and mind is crucial for therapeutic practice, offering clinicians a tangible way to approach the Enneagram’s spiritual language within a clinical setting. 

Another valuable aspect of this work is the connection between emotional regulation and PDP. Dr. Siegert links emotional regulation strategies—upregulation, downregulation, and shifting—with the motivational energies associated with each Enneagram center of intelligence (body, heart, and mind) to identify the default pattern within each center. This insight enriches our understanding of how individuals experience and navigate their emotional worlds and how therapists can help them cultivate integrated emotional patterns.

Personality and Wholeness in Therapy: Integrating 9 Patterns of Developmental Pathways in Clinical Practice is a groundbreaking textbook that fills an important gap and moves forward the conversation of the modern Enneagram. It provides a comprehensive, clinically applicable framework that offers hope for both therapists and patients looking to foster personal growth and a more integrated sense of self. For practitioners seeking to deepen their understanding of the Enneagram, this book is an invaluable resource and will undoubtedly become a go-to reference in therapeutic settings.