Projection

Two-day workshop with Helen Palmer
Date and location to be announced.

Please see current schedule for other Enneagram workshops in the Narrative Tradition. 

Projection is a misreading of reality that is rooted in type and held in place by specific unconscious defense mechanisms. Unlike accurate observations about the environment and other people, projection describes our shared tendency to look outward – to hold others accountable – rather than recognizing our own system of defense. In a positive projection, you seem to be the source of my well being, while negative projections cast you as causing my distress.

Each type projects, but they project a different scenario. Threes see task approval; Sixes see danger; and Nines see other people’s agendas as a way of forgetting their own. When emotions run high, projections intensify until we are caught in a subjective illusion – a misperception that seems accurate, truthful and well reasoned.

Projection also clouds insight and spiritual knowing as each type reads their bias into the work of growth. Then Threes are prone to see inflated merit in their meditation; Sixes become convinced that progress is doubtful; and Nines project the impossibility of paying attention. This misreading of reality is well described in the psychological literature, but the best technology for cutting through projection can be found in sacred tradition.

This seminar includes short panels to uncover each type’s specific projections and supporting defense mechanisms. That knowledge becomes personal through interactive exercises, point group process work and activities to strengthen the inner observer. Throughout, we will combine the psychological work of recognizing the cues and signals of projection with the spiritual practices of separating, cutting through and relaxing a projection “on the spot.”

Psychological-Spiritual Curriculum overview

Other topics:

Type and False Identity
Presence and Self-Forgetting
Spiritual Antidotes
Virtues of the Heart
Retrieving the Holy Ideas
A Spiritual Strategy for People in Relationships
Type and Intuition
The Enneagram for Counselors, Spiritual Directors and People Working with Others

Trifold School current offerings

San Francisco Bay Area workshops and classes