I think of myself as an Enneagram Activist now. Because I looked at the state of the world. And as an American, and as a black American, I look at what is happening, not just in this country, but really around the world, where people are marginalized for the color of their skin. I looked at my love for the Enneagram. And it occurred to me that it made absolutely no sense for someone to not know the Enneagram.
Dr. Deborah Egerton is a guest in Enneagram Insights Podcast
Dr. Deborah Egerton is a renowned psychotherapist, an IEA Accredited Professional with Distinction, a certified Enneagram teacher and a bestselling author.
She is also a woman, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a daughter and a black American.
Dr. Deborah Egerton uses the Enneagram as a way to unite a divided world.
That is a beautiful mission, so we invited her as a Guest on “Enneagram insights podcast – On Awareness presence and Relationships”.
She relates to point one in the Enneagram.
Her unique work with the Enneagram is focused on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-racism (IDEA) and she gives the opening keynote at the Global Enneagram Conference in 2023.
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Know Justice – Know Peace
Dr Egerton´s book “Know Justice – Know Peace. A Transformative Journey of Social Justice, Anti-Racism and Healing through the Power of the Enneagram” is a groundbreaking book on how to heal the othering and live more awake and to choose love.
We talk about this subject in the podcast.
No matter where you live in the world, you will meet or discover biases in your self and others and Dr. Deborah’s work will help you become more curious about that in order to change and become an activist and create conscious communities.
Part of Dr. Deborah’s mission is to use the Enneagram as a tool to become fully present as we grow and learn how to be Allies and Advocates to one another across differences.
Becoming an Enneagram Enthusiast and Advocate
Dr. Deborah Egerton tells in “Enneagram Insights podcast” that, while working as a Psycoterapist at a university, she stumbled on the book “The Wisdom of the Enneagram” by Russ Hudson and Don Riso.
She began studying at the Riso Hudson Enneagram Institute.
It improved her relationships and also became a great tool for helping others as a psychotherapist and in her work.
“I recognized that I had finally found the intersection of my love for psychology and my love for my spiritual path.
It’s where those two things came together.
And it allowed me to see things about myself that I otherwise would not have discovered. So that was how I ended up becoming an Enneagram enthusiast and advocate at that time.”
The painful mirror and inner work
“I was very enthusiastic about the Enneagram, even though it was painful, the early parts of the journey are painful.
You know, when you pick up that mirror and start to look at yourself, you don’t necessarily see what you want to see.”
Her husband noticed a change in her and started studying the Enneagram himself.
It changed their relationship after more than 40 years together – and they got even closer and more accepting of each other’s differences.
Be on the Journey – before you teach
In the first years of Dr. Deborah Egerton´s journey with the Enneagram she didn’t use it for her students or clients.
She started using it for herself first.
“I’m a strong believer in recognizing the difficulty of trying to take someone on a journey that you haven’t been on yourself.”
But something landed or shifted in Dr. Deborah Egerton and she incorporated the Enneagram as a tool in her work.
Enneagram Activist and Love Warrior
“I think of myself as an Enneagram Activist now.
Because I looked at the state of the world.
And as an American, and as a black American, I look at what is happening, not just in this country, but really around the world, where people are marginalized for the color of their skin.
They’re marginalized based on their choices around who they choose to love, how they chose or were born into certain religions, worship, that we find so many ways to marginalize people, and instead of bringing them into a circle of belonging, we push people out.
I looked at my love for the Enneagram.
And I looked at what was happening in the world, and what was happening up close and personal in my world.
And it occurred to me that it made absolutely no sense for someone to not know the Enneagram.
And to not understand the reality of how important it is to respect the reality that we are all connected. There is no place where I begin and you end, we are connected.
Your actions affect me, my actions affect you.”
In the podcast she also talks about how we can become Love Warriors and Ennegram Activists.
Embrace each other
“We cannot continue to harm, and to oppress, and to separate and ostracize people from the global society that has become what is the reality of the world that we live in”, says Dr. Deborah Egerton.
“And so we have to learn how to accept, embrace and celebrate each other.
And the Enneagram sort of gives us a roadmap to doing that.
So it’s just, it is something that I actually pray that people wake up in the morning with an epiphany that says:”
Oh my gosh, you know, this will help me to accept my neighbor. This will help me to love people that I don’t necessarily understand. This will help me to move through the world with more love, empathy and compassion. And that’s what I’m going to do.
Bend towards justice
When asked about how Dr. Deborah Egerton hopes the Enneagram will be used in the future she states:
“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about bending the moral arc towards justice.
And I believe that the Enneagram is one of the mechanisms that we can use to bend the moral arc towards justice.
I believe that we have an obligation, a responsibility to those who will come after us to do the very best that we can. And with my hope in this work is that people recognize the Enneagram.
Absolutely, not only can each individual have a self realization of who you can be and how you can show up in the world, but also how when we come together.
We actually are leaning on that moral arc, and we are going to make it to justice.”
Listen to the podcast
Listen to Charlotte Haase´s conversation with Dr Deborah Egerton on Enneagram Insights podcast and be inspired on how to use your inner work and knowledge of the Enneagram for greater good in a divided world.
Dr. Deborah Egerton also shares a personal story about her husband´s encounter with the police.
And she elaborates on what the Enneagram has taught her about being human.
Dr. Deborah Egerton is also the founder and president of Trinity Transition Consultants, LLC. She works with individuals and organizations to help them release false historical narratives and to open their minds and hearts to a more compassionate and connected approach to life.
Useful resources:
The work of Dr Deborah Egerton
Dr. Deborah Egerton is giving the opening keynote at IEA’s Global Conference: “Unite & Ignite” in San Francisco. It is possible to get virtual passes.
