# Is it possible to change Enneagram type?



## Adena (May 14, 2014)

I'm just wondering here, since it's not cognitive-related: is it possible to change types? Have you ever changed types?


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## tresemme (Jun 21, 2014)

I think the main fixation stays, but when there is oscillation in health, especially high and low ends, you'll see the ego fix expand and contract. This gives it the effect of changing types, but not really. 

Do you feel like you've changed types, OP?


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## Adena (May 14, 2014)

tresemme said:


> I think the main fixation stays, but when there is oscillation in health, especially high and low ends, you'll see the ego fix expand and contract. This gives it the effect of changing types, but not really.
> 
> Do you feel like you've changed types, OP?


I don't feel like I know my type, so no haha. But I see your point, it's logical.


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## Malandro (Jul 17, 2014)

I read we're not supposed to change types, but under stress and when we're healthy, we can adopt certain qualities from other types. 7s are supposed to act like 5s when charged and like 1s when stressed. At least that's what I've read XD


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## Lord Bullingdon (Aug 9, 2014)

Most authors will insist it's not. Those people have studied many of thousands of individuals and feel that it's the same basic pattern throughout your life.

I personally do not have the answer, though I'd like to examine someone who claims to.


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## Quang (Sep 4, 2014)

The Enneagram suggests the genetic temperament that we are born with, while character (level of development) is influenced by our environment. Faurve's research indicates that enneagram tritype is neurological and doesn't change.


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## charlie.elliot (Jan 22, 2014)

You can "integrate" and "disintegrate" but that's not the same as changing types-- i.e. being *a 9 that's integrated to a 3* is not the same as *being a 3*. In that case you might be considered "an integrated 3" but logically, then, you're still a 9 (because only 9s _can_ be integrated 3s). 

Personally I don't take it that literally-- there are lessons to be learned from every other type that can be helpful to you. 

And no, its definitely not possible to really change your type.


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## Blazkovitz (Mar 16, 2014)

How about wing becoming a dominant type? For example a 1w2 focusing on his 2 wing so much that eventually he becomes a 2w1?


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## charlie.elliot (Jan 22, 2014)

Blazkovitz said:


> How about wing becoming a dominant type? For example a 1w2 focusing on his 2 wing so much that eventually he becomes a 2w1?


Well you would have to change your entire internal ego structure. Which is something that is built up over a lifetime. You start out life as a certain type, and it all just builds from there. So it seems nonsensical that you could just change all that. You'd have to live your whole life over again. 
I think it would be possible, if you had a strong wing, to _act _like your wing, some or maybe even most of the time, but it would just be an act. 

Also, think about the fact that your Enneatype is essentially a problem. Its something you should transcend in your lifetime. So the best journey you can take is leaving your own type behind and becoming a flexible free-flowing personality with little structure. 
And while doing that, its healthy to adopt strategies from any or all of the types, if they seem to help you. But if you were becoming another type, you'd then have all the problems of that type, and have to work on those problems... So whats the point?


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## leadintea (Nov 22, 2011)

charlie.elliot said:


> Well you would have to change your entire internal ego structure. Which is something that is built up over a lifetime. You start out life as a certain type, and it all just builds from there. So it seems nonsensical that you could just change all that. You'd have to live your whole life over again.
> I think it would be possible, if you had a strong wing, to _act _like your wing, some or maybe even most of the time, but it would just be an act.
> 
> Also, think about the fact that your Enneatype is essentially a problem. Its something you should transcend in your lifetime. So the best journey you can take is leaving your own type behind and becoming a flexible free-flowing personality with little structure.
> *And while doing that, its healthy to adopt strategies from any or all of the types, if they seem to help you. But if you were becoming another type, you'd then have all the problems of that type, and have to work on those problems... So whats the point?*


The grass is always greener, as they say.


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