TEACHING + COACHING + CREATING TOGETHER
Hi! I'm Annie Dimond.
I am a teacher and a coach of the Enneagram of Personality, certified through The Narrative Enneagram. Truly, I am a student of many disciplines, and it is hard for me to keep them all separate (nor, frankly, do I want to). My appreciation for the enneagram began while I was studying Philosophy as an undergrad. I remember thinking "all philosophy students should have to look at the ways their embodied fears and desires affect their thinking." In grad school for Composition and Rhetoric, I extended that thought into a project with some friends that we called "The Institute for Embodied Learning". We worked from the assumption that these fears and desires were present, even close to the surface, silently or not-so-silently guiding all students in their academic pursuits. So we acknowledged the presence of these fears and desires and listened for what they had to say about life as a student. I think we all learned quite a lot. And it was really fun, if you are into that kind of stuff.
Personally, the enneagram has helped me to name with specificity, accept and compassionately appreciate the voices that tend to take most of my inner airtime, so that I can listen to the Voice that speaks more quietly, less forcefully, and yet with powerful truth about what is really going on here. The enneagram has become an integral part of my posture in prayer and a tool for the work of healing and finding agency in my own life. It beautifully supports my Christian faith. While this is deeply and inextricably true, it is important for possible clients to know that I do not only work with Christians or people who know or practice Christianity, so please do feel invited and free reach out, whatever your way of living and worshipping in our crazed world. Conversation is, on the whole, based upon difference. And I love a good conversation.
I have a PhD in Christian Ethics and Practical Theology from the University of Aberdeen. Whilst living in Scotland, I researched and wrote about Multi-Faith University Chaplaincy, how chaplains understand what they do as they attempt to carve out a unique space in the university, and how we discern what good listening is within such an arrangement. Since listening is taken up as a part of almost every practice we participate in (including, of course, coaching), it was important for me to work through my own "ethics of Christian listening," which I'm very happy to speak to you about, should you be interested. Otherwise, just know that when I'm doing the work I do with individuals and groups with the enneagram, I'm very interested in these sorts of questions, and always happy to discuss them.
Please do reach out with any questions you have about using the enneagram as a tool and a resource in your life, your relationship, your community, or your workplace.
With love from a heart type,
Annie