Process Com or Enneagram
Introduction
The Process Communication Model (Process Com) and the Enneagram are two well-known personality tools. They are widely used, from American universities to NASA, and by many psychologists worldwide. Both describe personality types and, above all, seek to highlight unconscious motivations that influence our behaviors and emotions.
If you do not yet know your type:
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For Process Com, you can read the excellent book by Gérard Collignon (How to Tell Them…), or consult our article summarizing the six personality types.
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For the Enneagram, you can explore our dedicated menu on the @Prisme website or try our free test.
Process Com in a Few Words
In the 1970s, American psychologist Taibi Kahler developed the Process Communication Model, extending Transactional Analysis. He received the Eric Berne Prize in 1977 for this work.
The model focuses on communication:
“Our future is not only based on self-understanding. We must also know how to communicate and show others who we are.”
From this foundation, Process Com identifies six personality types: the Harmonizer, Thinker, Persister, Promoter, Imaginer, and Rebel.
6 types of personality
Each person has one dominant type (the “Base”), and often a second type more frequently used (the “Phasing”). Each type is described through:
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A main source of motivation.
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A preferred communication style.
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A typical reaction to stress.
In other words, if needs are not met positively, they are often sought negatively through ineffective behaviors. From childhood, we learn that negative attention is still better than none; this explains many stress reactions.
The table below shows the existential question, the psychological needs, the negative satisfactions of each of the 6 types of the Process Com.
Scenarios and Failure Patterns
In Process Com, each type is linked to a failure scenario—a repeated belief formed in childhood and reinforced over time. These are summed up in key words such as after, always, until, or never. They describe the unconscious patterns that can trap us.
The table below contains the failure patterns and beliefs related to each of the 6 types of Process Com.
Miscommunication
Taibi Kahler also studied the mechanisms of miscommunication—the misunderstandings and conflicts that arise in daily interactions. Under stress, people no longer see situations objectively but interpret them through their own filters. Masks appear, and “masks invite masks.”
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First degree of distress: unmet needs lead to negative drivers, expressed unconsciously.
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Second degree: the person wears a “mask,” unaware of their negative behavior. This often provokes defensive reactions and can escalate into the Drama Triangle (victim, persecutor, rescuer).
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Third degree: rare but serious, this corresponds to sustained distress and may lead to burnout.
1st degree of miscommunication (1st level of distress)
If people are not able to satisfy positively their psychological needs, they will enter in a first level of distress that corresponds to the drivers of the transactional analysis. In an unconscious way!
And to do it in a negative way!
2nd degree of distress: the failure mechanisms
If my first degree of distress is not released, I will enter in a second degree of distress, very visible for my interlocutor: I will wear the mask!
I am not aware of having had negative behavior, so I do not understand the strong reaction that my interlocutor can present.
My interlocutor seeing me wearing the mask will also tend to put himself on the defensive position.
I will unconsciously set up a failure mechanism.
There is a great risk of escalation, misunderstanding. A risk of entering in the famous drama triangle: the game of the rescuer, the persecutor and the victim.
3rd degree of distress
The third degree of miscommunication corresponds to a state of severesustained distress. Fortunately the 3rd degree of distress is rare: it corresponds to the Burn-out…
The famous drama triangle
Thus every type will tend to position itself in the dramatic triangle as a victim, a rescuer or a persecutor.
Below is an example of typical exchanges in a dramatic triangle frame.
For example, the miscommunication between a Harmonizer type and a Persister type can go as far as breaking up in a couple. And I confirm. By personal experience.
Comparing Process Com and Enneagram
Both methods have much in common:
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They describe personality types.
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They explore unconscious motivations.
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They explain automatic, maladaptive behaviors that appear under stress.
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They draw on the concept of defense mechanisms.
More in details within 3 personality types :
The driver “Please” is here again well adapted.
CThe fear of conflict for type 9. The need for a goodrelationship with the other person and the analysis of a situation through hisfeelings for type 2 and 9.Toncern for the image that others have ofthemselves.
And the difficulty to assert oneself.
The driver Be Strong corresponds well to its two types.
You have to respect their needs in terms of time and loneliness, and not force them to discuss about everything.
Action is not vital for these types.
Their security is their intimate world. They draw on it a great capacity for introspection and reflection.
The driver “Be perfect” matches between the 2 types. Time management, or lack of fun as long as the work is not finished. They are theking of planning and they have sense of responsibility.
Attention, the Enneatype 3 can be mistaken for an Enneatype 1 or a Thinker type. Indeed they have similar points like the driver but they don’t have the same motivation.
However, there are also clear differences.
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Process Com is mainly a communication tool: it shows how to interact better and manage relationships.
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The Enneagram goes further by addressing the “why”—the deeper fears and desires that drive us. It avoids long psychoanalytic explorations but still provides meaning and direction.
More in details within the 3 other personality types
in the opposite for the 3 other types the correspondances are more nuanced, or there are disagreements between the differents authors.
The Driver “Be perfect / Parent” corresponds to the type 3.
He sets a goal and needs to go until the end is the right definition of Enneatype 3.
The persister seeks first to know the opinion of his interlocutor, or to expose his opinion, as well corresponds to the image of sales rep for the type 3.
It is interesting to note that in the Process Com it is the Promoter who is labeled “Sales Rep.”.
Finally like type 6, under stress, he tends to see only what is wrong. Focus on mistakes, it becomes more and more rigid.
The driver Be Strong / Parent seems well adapted.
Their side Adventure and “I have trouble finishing well along-term work” corresponds to the Enneatype 7 and the 6 conterphobic.
The approach “I do not know to stop”, also corresponds to Enneatype 7 (gluttony) but also to type 6 conterphobic (risk taking) and type 8 in the provocation.
Finally, like type 8, when he wants something, it is everything and from right now. It’s white or black.
Effectively the Try Hard is still well suited to Enneatype 4. Wecan consider that the type 7 and 8 are in opposite reaction to this driver. It makessense.
They work poorly from requirements and poorly support directivity.
They react badly to the constraint, turn easily and become very quickly unpleasant and can by reaction easily blame the interlocutor.
The original customized clothing fit well with type 4. But the 4 does not live in the moment. He lives in the past. As the 7 lives in the future.
The tendency to look for fun everywhere with the type 7.
Motivation in the Two Models
Both tools are based on motivation, but not in the same way:
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Process Com links motivation to unmet psychological needs that seek recognition.
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The Enneagram explains motivation through avoidance and fear—each type represses one inner center (instinctive, emotional, or mental) and overuses another.
Thus, defense mechanisms differ, except for projection, which is common to the Persister (Process Com) and Type 6 (Enneagram).
Another difference: the Enneagram is older and sometimes carries a more esoteric image, which can limit its acceptance. Still, many find in it a spiritual dimension, which is part of its richness.
Strengths and Limits
Both tools are extremely useful but must be handled carefully. Like all powerful methods, they can be misused by manipulative people. This risk of sectarian drift does not come from the tools themselves, but from how they are applied.
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Process Com shines in explaining communication dynamics, stress reactions, and failure patterns.
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The Enneagram shines in identifying deep motivations, fears, and paths for personal growth.
Together, they are complementary.
Conclusion
In practice, Process Com and the Enneagram can be combined. For instance, the Enneagram highlights fears and unconscious dynamics that Process Com does not. Conversely, Process Com clearly describes failure scenarios not as visible in the Enneagram.
Personally, I believe the Enneagram takes us further in understanding the “why” behind behaviors, while Process Com provides a simple, effective framework for observing communication in action.
One last note: Process Com is a registered trademark and requires certification. By contrast, the Enneagram is accessible to everyone.
👉 Used together, they provide a powerful and complementary vision of personality and communication.
To know more :
- To chose between MBTI and Enneagram
- Enneagram, tool for change
- Correlation Enneagram vs the Big 5
- Back to the main page Enneagram
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