Enneagram Prison Project

04/07/2026

When he was little, Dustin didn’t dream of being a gang member or a menace to his community. He never imagined what it would be like to be a crystal m**h addict, or an absent dad, and he had no fantasies of spending his twenties or thirties going in and out of county jail and prison.

When Dustin was little, he ran around in his shorts and cowboy boots, wearing a red Superman cape and a little six-shooter cap gun on his hip. “Little Dustin,” imbued himself with all the supernatural powers a child’s imagination could muster. He then climbed onto his grandparents’ old wooden picnic table, got a running start, and leaped into imaginary battles against evil. He was the invincible, adorable hero, and always one of the good guys.

To continue reading, follow the link in the comments below.

03/31/2026

Falling in love with all of the Enneagram Types, one EPP Ambassador at a time.

After 26 years of incarceration, a Type 9 comes to teach the rest of us about what it means to belong to yourself.

01/30/2026

Freedom—an inside job.

The men in our Board of Parole preparedness course at San Quentin are collectively serving a sentence of 509 years. There are eight of them. I’d invite you to do the math, but I know it doesn’t add up. A few have fixed sentences: 75 years, or 40 years. The rest fall within ranges like “25 to life.” They call themselves “Lifers.” I call them courageous.

Another man, a Type Seven, is doing 305 years to life. He said his sentence was “justifiable.” The irony is uncomfortable because Sevens are the ones who come to teach the rest of us about freedom. It’s not because Sevens are fun; they are, I’m married to one, but that’s not what freedom means when it comes to the Enneagram. It’s one thing for the justice system to condemn someone to life; it’s quite another when we do that to ourselves. Personality is a distortion of what’s essentially right in us. Our Seven has forgotten som**hing essential about himself—sometimes we have to learn the hard way that freedom is an inside job.

See comments for a link to my full posting on my blog.

01/27/2026

THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” —Albert Camus

I recently asked our newly forming class in San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, “Why are you here?”

To be clear, I’m not asking what anyone did to end up in prison. I ask everyone I work with the same question—whether they’re a CEO or behind bars. I know why I’m there. I’m there because working with the Enneagram compels me to look more deeply into why I do the things I do; every time I work with it. Other personality tools show patterns in behavior; I’m interested in what drives people—the why before the what.

Over the years, the depth of self-inquiry I’ve witnessed in prisons using the Enneagram has convinced me that a compassionate approach is the most effective one. Going gently begets the kind of honesty I think inner work requires. Folks are terrified of their unconscious. I want people to experience me as a guide, not a judge or critic— they already have one or both of those.

My work on the inside inspired me to found Enneagram Prison Project (EPP) in 2012. Our vision is to free people from the prisons of our minds.

It’s working.

Alan is the first one to answer my question. He clears his throat and says, “I did 49 years in prison...

See comments for a link to the complete post on my blog.

05/22/2025

The next offering of our foundational Enneagram course, 9PrisonsONEKey, starts on Sunday, June 1. Registration is closing soon! Don’t miss this opportunity to experience our compassionate curriculum for yourself in an intimate online learning environment.

We hope to see you there!

This foundational Enneagram course, 9PrisonsONEKey, introduces our shared compassionate approach, which starts with what is "right" about us. The coursework provides the opportunity to come away with a deeper and more compassionate understanding of why "we do what we do" by recognizing personality a...

12/20/2024

12/15/2024

Happy 3rd Birthday, The Human Potentialists!

Register today to receive a special 20% birthday discount. Discount ends at midnight and cannot be combined with other discounts.

THP's unique and compelling application of the Enneagram is inspired by our work with thousands of people in both physical prisons and our self-made ones. We know that the Enneagram was always meant for everyone, and we are working to democratize it for the greatest human good.

12/01/2024

is a global generosity movement. Together we are unleashing the power of radical generosity.

Please consider designating your gift to this GivingTuesday. A gift of $600 provides the key to freedom for one participant in EPP’s in custody program. Be the ripple. Every gift counts. Every gift matters.

https://give.enneagramprisonproject.org/give/565396/ #!/donation/checkout

11/30/2024

Join the EPP Ambassador community on Monday, December 2, 2024 from 6:30 - 7:45 pm PT for a virtual Community Celebration featuring our EPP Ambassadors and Ambassadors In Mentorship.

This 75-minute gathering is an opportunity to welcome our newest Ambassadors In Mentorship, and share our profound appreciation for the leadership and contributions of all of our EPP Ambassadors.

REGISTER: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEkde6qrT0sH9EWFzDSZqeVuIZJVK-pwhJQ #/registration

11/24/2024

Tune in today at 9 am PT / 10 am CT for a special conversation between EPP Founder Susan Susan Coleman Olesek and EPP Faculty Member and Guide Phil GebbenGreen at Edgcume Presbyterian Church in Minnesota!

Link to join the livestream below!

I am on the road this week visiting our team in Minnesota and celebrating the return of EPP programming at Shakopee Women's Prison. It has taken a minute for EPP to find our way back inside Shakopee since 2020, and I feel honored to be able to celebrate our return by joining the women inside for a g...

11/22/2024

The hexad, the 7 pointed figure that connects 1 - 4 - 2 - 8 - 5 - 7 and then back to 1 represents the Law of Seven, or the universal Law of Change.

Like the laws of nature, everything is in motion, even when it's so minute that we cannot discern the movement. The moon stays full for only a moment, yet to the human eye it's several days of fullness. So too is our inner landscape, always in movement and motion, even when we can't yet know/feel/sense the shifts.

George Gurdjieff refered to the Law of Seven as a cosmic law that explains process, noted by fluctuations and ups and downs. On a musical scale, we start with the 'do' (do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do) - so too, a myriad of events can thus "strike the do" and begin the process as expressed by the Law of Seven. It takes a concsious interception in the movement of ups and downs to move into a different process.

Can you find your breath? Can you follow it from the very beginning of your inhale, all the way through your exhale, and back to the top of the inhale? That too is the Law of Seven at work inside of you. Unconciously flowing in and out - what happenes when you intercept your breath with more awareness?

11/20/2024

The equilateral traingle that connects points 3 - 6 - 9 on the Enneagram represents the Law of Three, or the Law of Creation. There are opposing forces inside everything and everyone. Everything that is, also is NOT. The Enneagram helps us to understand the paradoxical relationship of our ego self and gently, with time, make space to meet the two opposing forces with presence rather than resistance or judgment. When we are able to meet the two forces with presence, we make space for a third, or reconciling force. The third force is what allows us to come out of our automatic responses and ways of doing things by creating som**hing new. The third force propels us toward som**hing bigger and previously unimaginable!

Can you bring presence to the Law of Three operating in your life and the world this week?