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The Enneagram is a personality typing system based on ancient spiritual traditions which describes people in terms of their core motivations, desires and fears.

The word "enneagram" comes from the Greek "ennea," meaning nine, and "gramma," meaning something drawn or written. The Enneagram describes nine personality types and maps each of these types on a nine-pointed diagram which helps to illustrate how the types relate to one another.

Used widely in counseling, business and spiritual settings, the Enneagram helps people to better understand what drives them and how to harness their natural strengths. Learning your Enneagram type can illuminate how you view the world and help you discover the roots of who you are, from your foundational childhood experiences to the choices you make today. The Enneagram helps us to better understand ourselves, be more empathetic to others and find our distinct paths to personal happiness and growth.

The centers of intelligence, or triads, are a foundational part of the Enneagram. The nine types of the Enneagram are divided into one of three centers of intelligence: Heart Types, Head Types and Body Types.

Heart types (Types Two, Three and Four) depend on their emotional intelligence to understand their own reactions and connect with others.

Head types (Types Five, Six and Seven) depend on their intellectual intelligence to make sense of things and navigate the world around them.

Body types (Types Eight, Nine and One) depend on their instinctual intelligence to follow their "gut" and respond to threats and opportunities.

These centers, also called Enneagram triads, help us to understand our type's gifts and challenges, as well as why other types see and interact with the world in drastically different ways. They also help us understand why we get stuck in certain patterns of thinking and behaving and why we may struggle to understand or communicate with others.

"Wings" is the term given to the two Enneagram types found on either side of your core type. For example, a Nine's wings are Eight and One, a Seven's wings are Six and Eight, and a Four's wings are Three and Five. Enneagram wings represent related personality styles which we can lean into, in order to develop new facets of ourselves.

Some people adopt one wing as part of their type identification, (i.e., "I'm a 4w3"), identifying strongly with the description of one wing as well as their primary type. In this way, wings can be understood as a more detailed way of typing yourself, also known as a subtype.

Wings can also be understood as flexible opportunities for growth. Rather than choosing only one wing that you clearly identify with, you can think of both wings as optional styles that you have access to as you further your development. Because both of your wings have qualities that are adjacent to your own type, Enneagram wings offer new but accessible ways of approaching thought and behavior.

Each basic type in the Enneagram is also connected by two lines to two other basic types. Each line has an arrowhead on it, one pointing towards the primary type and one pointing away.

Arrows represent the aspects of our personality that we need to develop to become more whole and balance out the limitations of our core type. The first line, pointing toward the core type, connects to the type which the person has left behind or repressed in childhood; the characteristics of this type must be re-integrated for the person to develop. This is called the "against" arrow.

The second line, pointing away from the core type, connects to the type which the person may grow into once they are ready to reach a higher state of development. This is called the "forward arrow." In the example below, you can see that for a Type One, the "against" arrow moves from Seven to One and the "forward" arrow moves from One to Four.

The Enneagram provides deep insights about your emotions, motivations, and values, which can help you to better understand what drives you and how to make decisions that are right for you.

According to the Enneagram, each of the nine personality types is defined by a particular core belief about how the world works. This core belief drives your deepest motivations and fears - and fundamentally shapes a person's worldview and the perspective through which they see the world and the people around them.

Our core beliefs are not necessarily incorrect, but they can be limiting and operate as "blinders" for people. Understanding our Enneagram type and how it colors our perceptions can help us to broaden our perspective and approach situations more effectively.

Understanding a person's Enneagram type helps us to see why they behave the way they do. Behavior that may seem confusing or contradictory can often be explained when we understand a person's Enneagram type.

Take the Test

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This free Enneagram personality test will show you which of the 9 personality types suits you best. See how you score for all 9 Enneagram types, and understand where you fit in the Enneagram personality system.

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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School Whole-Child Design Inventory | Turnaround for Children

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Behavior Matrix Lesson Planning Templates

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Behavior Matrix Lesson Planning Templates

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An ACE score is a tally of different types of abuse, neglect, and other hallmarks of a rough childhood. According to the Adverse Childhood Experiences study, the rougher your childhood, the higher your score is likely to be and the higher your risk for later health problems. You can take the test below:

So, you've got your score. Now what?

First, remember that the ACE score isn't a crystal ball; it's just meant as guidance. It tells you about one type of risk factor among many. It doesn't directly take into account your diet or genes, or whether you smoke or drink excessively - to name just a few of the other major influences on health.

To learn more, check the CDC's ACE Study website. You'll find, among other things, a list of studies that explore the ways adverse childhood experiences have been linked to a variety of adult conditions, ranging from increased headaches to depression to heart disease.

Remember this, too: ACE scores don't tally the positive experiences in early life that can help build resilience and protect a child from the effects of trauma. Having a grandparent who loves you, a teacher who understands and believes in you, or a trusted friend you can confide in may mitigate the long-term effects of early trauma, psychologists say.

"There are people with high ACE scores who do remarkably well," says Jack Shonkoff, a pediatrician and director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.

Resilience, he says, builds throughout life, and close relationships are key. Recent research also suggests that for adults, "trauma informed" therapy - which can center on art, yoga or mindfulness training - can help.

How best to find and help kids who are experiencing abuse and neglect right now?

Child psychologist Hilit Kletter, of Stanford University's School of Medicine, says that to spot these children, she looks for visible signs of stress to understand what might have happened to them and how best to intervene. Some kids have nightmares or recurring thoughts of a stressful event, she says, or may re-enact the trauma through play. Or the child may seem distracted or withdrawn.

"This will come out at school," Kletter says. "Teachers will tell parents [their child] seems to be in a daze in the classroom, not paying attention."

Kletter says reactions to trauma are sometimes misdiagnosed as symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, because kids dealing with adverse experiences may be impulsive - acting out with anger or other strong emotions.

"It's something that's very common in trauma: difficulty in regulating emotions and behavior," she explains. "That's why a lot of these kids get in trouble with the classroom."

Shonkoff's research center at Harvard tests interventions that can build resilience in kids who are growing up with adverse experiences - not just problems in the family, such as those the ACE study investigated, but also trauma stemming from poverty, for example, or from the chronic stress of racial or gender discrimination.

To bolster parents, the Harvard team is testing interventions right now that use video coaching to show moms and dads how to engage their babbling infants, using sounds and facial expressions in a style Shonkoff calls serve and return.

Shonkoff says these early interactions - a kind of conversation - have been shown to help children with later learning and literacy. Even more important, they boost kids' resilience, by helping them build secure attachments with caring adults. Research suggests that just one caring, safe relationship early in life gives any child a much better shot at growing up healthy.

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Take The ACE Quiz - And Learn What It Does And Doesn't Mean

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First developed in the 1990s, the 10 questions of the Adverse Childhood Experiences test are designed to take a rough measure of a difficult childhood. Finding out your score is easy. Now what?