TYPE 2 OF ENNEAGRAM
Enneagram Type 2 (Enneatype 2) – The Helper
Popularized in the 1970s in the mainstream of humanist psychology, the enneagram is a method of personal development and management.
The Enneagram describes nine different ways of approaching the world, and consequently nine very different ways of interacting with it. Ennea means 9 in Greek. Each of the 9 Enneatypes has its strengths, its weaknesses. Each of us privileges certain information and leaves others aside, in an unconscious way, limiting ourselves to one version of reality. This personal development tool allows you to get to know yourself better and to free yourself from certain sometimes limiting automatisms, and thus improve your interpersonal relationships and well-being.
The enneagram fits well with approaches in modern psychology. Like mindfulness, it emphasizes the importance of arousal over the “autopilot” of daily routines. Like cognitive and behavioral approaches, it relies on beliefs and the identification of inappropriate patterns. Its cognitive and emotional structure can be a useful and powerful guide.
Each individual has the nine profiles of the Enneagram within him, but does not develop them all in the same way. What makes each person unique.
See below the description of type 2 of the enneagram
Famous Helpers
What I feel. How i see myself
I easily see what others need even when I have just met them. I am very sensitive to the feelings and recognition of others. Besides, I attach great importance to human relationships.
I give a lot of myself for others and I devote a lot of time to them, more than to myself. I find it hard to say no. However, I don’t like people not recognizing my usefulness and the hard work I do to satisfy others. I feel good when others are doing well. Otherwise don’t worry, I always have the right advice or the right opinion to give them.
I like
- To give advice
- To please, to give presents
- Being at the center of the group’s life
- To guess what others need
- To be appreciated for my support
I don't like
- To say no
- To be alone
- Have no one who needs me
- Have to wait
- Stay alone in a corner
How others perceive me
Type 2 is expressed by evaluating the world in terms of the help he can provide. He hides his own needs for affection and acceptance by making himself indispensable and anticipating the needs of others.
This propensity for allocentrism nevertheless conceals an underlying egocentrism! The type 2 need to be needed. His love is not completely without ulterior motives. Very active, he is charming, motivating, stimulating, but also versatile, often changing and sometimes manipulative.
Altruism
People with this personality type feel good about being helpful to others. Love is their highest ideal. Selflessness is their duty. Participative, socially aware, generally extroverted, Twos are the type of people who remember everyone’s birthday and go above and beyond to help a colleague, spouse or friend in need.
Many Type Two people have this self-image and do not tolerate any threat from this self-image. Both are deeply convinced of their selflessness and it is true that often they are genuinely helpful and concerned about others. However, it is also true that both need to be appreciated.
Ego, compulsion
Type 2 ego leads him to believe that he will only be accepted if he gives others love and help without openly acknowledging those needs for himself. From this he takes great pride which crystallizes his dominant passion: pride.
Type 2 knows how to make himself indispensable while praising the qualities of his friends. He can become intrusive, and may be offended if he is rejected. So he can sometimes suddenly go off his hinges, be angry and sensitive if his help is not appreciated at its fair value. He can be authoritarian, feeling quite justified in these conditions, because he has won rights and his intention is good.
Nonetheless, if he feels appreciated, he finds it hard to say “no”, and does not lack an energy that makes him make quick, even hasty decisions.
The Enneagram Type 2 Profile
I love, I help
Unconditional scheme
“To get love, I must first give it and be generous”
Conditional scheme
“If I don’t help others, I won’t be appreciated and I’ll be excluded”
Consequences
I am used of taking care of others, focusing on their needs at the expense of my own.
support others
Paradoxes :
- hiding your own needs always generates dissatisfaction
- Forgetting yourself to find your place produces discomfort
Lots of energy, sensitive, generous, genuinely interested in others, social, team spirit.
For this: I repress (defense mechanism) my own needs. So everything is fine, I don’t need anything.
I am so busy with others that I end up being and finding myself indispensable.
Risks :
of being seen as intrusive, who has trouble saying no, who can prevent the development of the autonomy of the other by too much presence and help.
Authenticity
- Be aware of your personal needs and wishes
- Learn to receive
- Develop your independence and autonomy
- Develop the independence and autonomy of others
Projections and wings
When type 2 is under stress, he projects towards his region of disintegration. He then resembles type 8 by his aggressive and domineering side.
In the phase of security and tranquility, type 2 projects into his integration zone and behaves like a fulfilled type 4 taking care of himself, while sublimating his emotions and his artistic soul.
- With a pronounced wing 1: the Servant.
- With a pronounced wing 3: the Host.
Confusions and similarities with other types
Enneagram type 2 characterizes itself incorrectly if it does not have a helping role in its professional life. He may not recognize the extent of his involvement in helping others. This is especially true for men 2, who did not receive the same social incentives to help as women.
Men 2 frequently believe they are type 1 or type 3, their Enneagram wings.
Women of all types tend to identify with some of the type 2 dynamics because these qualities have been socially reinforced. Women 9, for example, are particularly prone to think of themselves as type 2, especially if they are mothers of young children. But unlike 2, 9 types are self-sufficient and humble. Both are proud of the support they provide and have a strong sense of their own worth.
Other Enneatypes
Description of each of the other Enneatypes
