The Enneagram Type 9: The Peaceful Mediator

The Enneagram Collection #9

by Beth McCord, Ryan O'Neal (Foreword)

Type 9: The Peaceful Mediator , from The Enneagram Collection, is for anyone who loves the Enneagram and wants to go deeper with this interactive book exploring the unique motivations, longings, and strengths and weaknesses of a Type 9—those who have a core desire to have inner stability and peace of mind.

The Enneagram has never been more popular. This ancient personality typing system identifies nine types of people and how they relate to one another and helps people discover what motivates them, their fears, and how best to interact with others. With the growing popularity of this self-assessment tool in all spheres of life, including personal relationships, professional relationships, faith communities, students, and even pop culture, these interactive books are great for anyone newly interested in the Enneagram or the longtime Enneagram enthusiast. With space to journal about the unique motivations, longings, and strengths and weaknesses of a Type 9—those who have a core desire to have inner stability and peace of mind, Beth McCord shows how to transform self-limiting behaviors into life-enhancing personal empowerment.  

In addition to deeply informative content from Enneagram expert Beth McCord, the pages include interactive prompts and space provided for reflection and notes. Each book teaches about the strengths, challenges, and opportunities for that personality type in order to lead to a more meaningful life, lasting relationships, and a deeper understanding of God and yourself.

Genres: Nonfiction, Christian, Personal Development, Audiobook, Psychology, Faith

160 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 10, 2019

About the author

Beth McCord, founder of Your Enneagram Coach, has been an Enneagram speaker, coach, and teacher for more than fifteen years. Having been trained by the best Enneagram experts and pouring hundreds of hours into advanced certifications, Beth is passionate about coming alongside individuals and helping them rewrite their story, allowing them to see that lasting change, meaningful relationships, and a life of deep purpose are possible. Beth lives outside of Nashville and has been married to her best friend, Jeff, for 23 years, and they have two teenage children.

Reviews

[Marcus Lenden · Rating 1 out of 5]

This isn’t very nine of me, but honestly, this book was kind of frustrating for me as a non-Christian. It briefly mentions god on the back of the book but if I knew know much it mentioned him in the book I wouldn’t have bothered. I figured a book dedicated to type 9 would really increase my understanding of myself but honestly, you get a better understanding by reading the ‘enneagram type 9’ webpage. This book is 15% ‘this is what’s meant by core desire’ (for example) 5% type 9, 50% god, 30% reflection. The worst part is the slight percentage about type 9 is really, really basic and generic and not thought provoking in the slightest. The only exciting thing about it is that the foreword is written by Ryan O’Neil.

[Jenni Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having been familiar with the enneagram for a while this book did not add anything new to my knowledge of my number. It was pretty simple and you could tell that the chapters were {basic enneagram explanation} followed by {number specific info} in a cookie cutter fashion to get all the info out. Why I gave this book a 4 (instead of a 3) is not because it gave fantastic new insights, but because when I used it as intended (reading only 1 chapter a day and journaling through it) I found I was able to try to engage myself in the process and not just read details and move on.

[Hartley Blessing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beth Mcord brings a delightful perspective on the enneagram completely centered around the Gospel. This workbook was refreshing, challenging, and enlightening. I recommend this series who anyone who wants to dig deeper into their type.

[Lilly Fountain · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my boyfriend's number best friend's number and my mom's number it was very helpful to get a basic understanding of how their brains work ❤️

[Jenny Mikac · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very basic information on the types that can easily be found for free online, and the bulk of the content is actually Christian in nature, which was a big turn-off for me personally. This is kind of hard to avoid because the Enneagram is really popular with Christians. You’ll gobble this little boom up pretty fast if you skim past the religious rambling like I did.

There’s some nice journaling questions to help you explore your type, which is probably the only redeeming thing about this book.

[Emma Shaffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually really liked this book, definitely helped me understand myself more!

[Melissa Rivera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although it’s nice I feel like I learned nothing new.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading the forward written by Ryan O’Neal, a fellow “9,” was really great, as I’ve admired his songwriting skills and introspective nature for many years now. While the amount and depth of the information presented in the body of the book was a bit underwhelming, I do think it provides a good exercise in self-reflexivity—reading through the psychology and figuring what does and does not apply to you. According to the book, 9s are typically so focused on keeping the peace that they often fall asleep to themselves and their desires. This is something I hadn’t spent much time considering until now. Valuable food for thought!

[Lindsay Rossum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid overview of the enneagram and the strengths/challenges of type 9s. I think it would be best for beginners— as someone who has been studying the enneagram for a while, I didn’t necessarily glean too much new information. I found the daily reflection questions to be the most helpful part, as they helped me dive deeper into the concepts and think about how to apply them to my life.

[lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantastic introductory book. Highly recommend this series for those new to the enneagram. I am seeking a book that scratches more than the surface so it wasn’t for me.

[Scott Reinhard · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an Enneagram newbie, very informative and interesting. Super helpful insight into myself and others!

[readwithjesss · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this but I think I knew a lot of the content already from podcasts I’ve listened to. Would recommend though.

[Alicia Janssen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is for Christians and the best quality about it is the journal prompts to help Christian Enneagram beginners reflect on the basics. So I suppose if that’s you then go for it. But my honest review below:

I did not learn anything new, I didn’t realize how basic this book was but maybe that’s my fault. Another frustrating thing was how Christian it was, and I am a Christian. But that’s not really what I was searching for and that isn’t how the book is advertised. If you’re going to speak about God that much and frame the Enneagram through a Christian lens it should be advertised that way and directed towards believers. I cannot see that speech being beneficial for non-believers (regardless if she is speaking Truth or not as believed by a Christian) because it was framed in a “remember God loves you because the Bible says so”. I don’t believe non-Christians benefit from scriptures and “Christianese” being spoken at them, Gods love would come from relationship and the actions of a Christian loving them... maybe some people will “get saved” through reading this and justify the author’s reasons for writing this way but overall I don’t think this is the best approach. Again my biggest critique is that it should be more heavily advertised as a book for Christians. But even as a Christian the faith part didn’t do anything for me.

I would have appreciated more real-world examples and practical tools to help grow as a 9. If it’s not advertised as a spiritual book, maybe add that spiritual piece as one chapter or in addition to everything else for those who do have a faith so that those who do not are completely blindsided by it.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a super quick read and I love Beth McCord and her Christian POV on the enneagram. However, I was hoping the books would give me MORE detail than they actually did. I felt like I got more out of listening to the podcasts than I did from the this. The book was just an overview of the title type with reflection questions but she really doesn’t give a whole lot of details, examples, life scenarios or even her own experiences considering she herself is a type 9. She didn’t even cover how type 9’s react or get along with other types. Or what types that 9’s struggle with. Disappointing in that regard, but i still love the material in here and how much it rings true for me.

[Jazzlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a reread for me. I picked it up to give it another shot because last time I read it I don’t think I picked up a lot from it, it was like when I first read it it went in one ear and out another. This time I did pick up a lot more and have applied what I have read more then the first time. But I still felt like there could be more tips and tricks I felt like it was more just information. But I love how it is related to scripture and God. I also loved the interactive aspects that make you think even more.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read, but I feel like I was only able to scratch the surface of the wealth of knowledge this book could have been. I know it’s designed to be a devotional, but I think that this would have been much better written as an actual book about 9s as opposed to a devotional. Nonetheless, it was helpful and insightful and I still learned something new about the enneagram and my type while listening through this book.

[Brooks Lemmon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m dating an Enneagram Type Nine so I thought this might be a helpful read. And it was!

I know that the Enneagram is not 100% accurate for 100% of people, but I do see it as a helpful tool for gaining an understanding of people’s personality, fears, desires, and longings. I’ve decided that it might be beneficial to read up on the people I am really close to!

[Phil Shields]

This series would be helpful to anyone who is trying to understand themselves better. McCord wrote a book for every type with places to reflect on the positive and negative tendencies we have in our life. I enjoyed thinking through seasons of life and the journey God has me on. I recommend this series to anyone who is familiar with the Ennegram.

[Kristin Mullen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seems pretty shallow for a book intended to help deepen self-understanding. It feels like the author copied and pasted most of this book for use in all the Enneagram number books, then added a few buzzwords specific to this number, 9. Also offers very little explanation or interpretation of the buzzwords she throws in. Pretty disappointing and unlikely to finish this.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great daily reminder of God's love for his individuals, as well as a tool for growth! I always love me a good enneagram book!

This book was a 21 day short growing exercise to learn more about my nineness, and to learn really how it aligns with God's plan for me!

Key take away: My core desire is that my presence matters, and that can only be fulfilled by God!

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this book has some good content, it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. It briefly touches on the healthy and unhealthy 9s, the different paths, etc, but it's not as in-depth as i expected. But if you are looking for a simple enneagram devotional, this would be a good choice.

[J.J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview/workbook. Wouldn't recommend the audio version, as you'll have to start and stop to journal along with it. Or perhaps that's just my personality, the interruption of the flow of reading.

[Schuyler]

I'm a 9w1, so I wanted to check out a book specifically about nines. Most of the information here I already knew from other sources, but while I had heard of the stress and strength paths, the blind spot path was completely new to me, and I'm interested to learn more.

[Jaimee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I imagine this book would have been more insightful if I had done it in a straight 21-day period instead of 2 days a month, but my goal was to finish it this year! And I did! I absolutely learned things about myself, so mission accomplished.

[Janet Mcknight]

I quickly listened to the audio, but this is meant to be a daily journaling/reflection guide.

[CJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could give this book a zero, I would’ve done.

[Brooke Irwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly basic information I already knew, but some new info about types in stress and health was very interesting! Especially helpful for people just starting out with the enneagram.

[Ellen Podgorski · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Some good insights.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Interesting. I love learning about the enneagram

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief summary of 9 traits